on the map//spencer 'spider' white

21

"Well, is this a safe space?" Zoe asks.

"I'd hope so," Jojo tells her.

"Or is it just a space that encourages teens to have sеx?" Zoe remarks.

Jojo shakes her head. "I wouldn't say that."

"Uh, I'm sorry, Miss, but I think Zoe and her Puritans are in the wrong class," Darren offers. "We're sеx positive here."

"Yeah, I'm sеx positive too," Zoe insists. "Positive that meaningless sеx leaves you feeling like shit."

"Speak for yourself," Amerie tells her.

Zoe pulls out her phone. "I am actually. I've gone... 56 days and I feel amazing. No masturbation, no sеx."

I squint to see the app on her phone. "What is that?"

"It's all over TikTok, that celibacy improves mental clarity and energy levels..." Zoe starts.

Sasha cuts her off, "I saw a TikTok that says orgasm actually improve the immune system and cardiovascular health."

"If we could all stop taking medical advice from TikTok, that would be great," Jojo tells us.

"I'm happier, I have a stronger sense of self-worth. I'm in a committed relationship. Felix. He's in Year 12," Zoe tells us. "He's not going to get to see my naked body until I'm sure he's in love with my naked soul."

"Give me a break," Harper remarks.

"It's the reason, uh, I don't get into the sort of unfortunate situations that some other girls have found themselves in," Zoe says.

"Fuck off, Zoe," Amerie tells her.

"Shut the fuck up," I tell her.

"Watch your mouth," Darren remarks.

"Let her keep talking," Harper says.

Zoe scoffs. "I'm just saying, if you've made it no secret that you're the kind of girl that has threesomes, has zero sense of self-worth and fucks other people's boyfriends..."

Harper stands up and walks towards Zoe. "Then what? Huh?"

Jojo steps towards the two of them. "Hey, okay, that's enough."

Harper walks out without another word.

"You know I'm all about defending mob but you're making it fucking hard right now," Missy tells Zoe.

"Hmm, guess not all skinfolk are kinfolk," Zoe remarks.

"Yeah, and my mom wants her fucking scone recipe back," Missy tells her.

"Why have you got to bring this up every time?" Zoe asks. "It is a family recipe, and you know that."

I'm in the library looking for a book for a history paper. Spider smiles as he walks up to me.

"You lost," I state. "SLTs run the oval now."

Spider smiles. "You were really good out there today."

I laugh. "You were shit."

"I fumbled one ball," Spider says.

"Arguably at the worst moment," I tell him. "You looked a little distracted. Wish I had made a bet on it."

"Would have tried harder if we had," Spider tells me.

"I'm sure you would have picked something offensive if you won," I remark.

Spider shakes his head. "Making you go on a date with me isn't offensive."

"That's what you would have asked for?" I ask.

"Yeah," Spider tells me. "What would you have bet?"

I smile. "I guess we'll never know."

I stand next to Amerie at her locker.

"Saw you talking to Spider," Amerie tells me.

"Really he was talking to me," I state.

Amerie nods her head. "You really over him?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I should be. Spider's a dick but..."

"But..." Amerie says.

"But I don't know I still think about him," I confess.

"I just crossed off Sasha as a suspect for Bird Psycho," Quinni says as she walks up to us.

"Oh. Right, cool," Amerie says.

"Which means that I only have seven names left on my red list," Quinni explains. "My red list is all of my prime suspects.

Amerie gasps when she opens her locker.

"What?" Quinni asks.

I peek into Amerie's locker and see a note.

"Sometimes you need to walk through the fire to be reborn" Amerie reads.

"What does it mean?" Quinni asks.

"It means Bird Psycho's not done with me yet," Amerie states.

My car is fixed which means no more train for Amerie, Harper, and I.

"Do you reckon people would be angry at me if I dropped the case?" Harper asks.

"People are always gonna be angry about some shit," Amerie reasons.

"This is your life, Harps," I tell her. "Nobody else's. You don't need to defend yourself to anybody."

"Who cares what anyone else thinks?" Amerie remarks.

"I only care what you think," Harper tells us.

Amerie laughs. "Well, that's good because you're my hero."

"So, what do you want?" I ask.

"I..." Harper sighs. "...wanna put this behind me and get on with my life. I wanna drop the case."

"Well, there you go," Amerie says.

Harper smiles. "Shit, that's big."

"Massive," Amerie agrees.

"Too massive for now," Harper says. "Tell me what's going on with Malakai."

"Oh, God, no. You don't need to hear me bang on about that boring crap," Amerie insists.

"With everything that's going on, I just wanna talk about stupid teenage stuff again," Harper tells her. "So spill. Every tiny, boring detail."

"You sure?" Amerie asks.

"Yeah. The more basic, the better," Harper tells her.