It had been a few weeks since Arthur and I had sex for the first time. I had been super busy getting ready for finals and staying up with homework. In high school, I almost never studied for tests, but I wasn’t about to take that risk in college. Chani and I still hang out every day, whether it be in person or over a game of Overwatch 2 or Apex, talking on Discord, even though she’s only a few doors down.
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I barely hear from Alice, but she texted me a few days ago asking if I wanted to go shopping with her for her secret Santa gift. Our floor decided to do a secret Santa gift exchange, and despite her never being in the dorm, she apparently agreed to do it. Having not yet broken the news to Alice, I asked if I could invite Chani with us, where I planned to tell her about our relationship. Chani wasn’t exactly thrilled that I was letting Alice back into my life, but what can I say? I still care for her regardless of how she has treated me.
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So, here we are, at Cherry Creek mall, getting out of the car.
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“Alice.” I jogged to catch up with her. “We wanted to tell you something.”
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“Hm?” She raised her perfectly manicured eyebrow.
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“Chani and I are now in a relationship.”
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“Oh?” She glanced behind us at Chani.
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“We made it official during Fall break.”
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“Why her?” Alice lowered her voice slightly so Chani couldn’t hear.
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I looked at her in confusion. “Why not her? Chani’s great. You just haven’t gotten to really know her.”
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“I don’t mean to be that guy, but how will your parents feel about this? First to know you’re gay, then to find out it’s with a black girl?”
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“Alice!” My eyes widened. “First of all, why does her skin color matter? My parents shouldn’t care, and if they do, I don’t want anything to do with them anymore. And second, I’m bi, Alice. Well, pan, actually, but bi’s just easier to explain to people…” I trailed off, watching as Alice watched me with disinterest. “What?”
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“I’m just saying.” She shrugged slightly, stopping at the door and waiting for me to open it for her. I did and stayed there, waiting on Chani to pass.
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“You okay?” She asked as soon as she caught up. “You don’t look okay.”
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“I told Alice about us, and she just…” I sighed. “I’ll tell you what she said later. But I think going out with her was a mistake.”
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“We can go home now. I can call us an Uber.”
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“That’ll just piss her off.” I stopped a few paces away from Alice was who surveying the mall’s map. “I’ll just get through today and cut contact again.” I shrugged weakly.
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Chani slipped her hand into mine, squeezing lightly. I squeezed her hand back, feeling a bit better knowing she was here for me.
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“Come on.” Alice motioned for us to follow. We were now caught up to her, no longer having space to talk without her. “So, Alice, what have you been doing?”
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“Sorority stuff.” She shrugged. “I’m moving into the house next semester.”
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“Oh. Okay.” If you had told me at the beginning of the year that Alice would be moving out of our dorm room, I’d have been devastated, but now I was nearly indifferent, as she had such little contact recently.
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“Are you coming home with me for Christmas?”
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“I guess I haven’t told you yet.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Arthur’s taking me to Europe for Christmas.”
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“What?” She turned on her heel, turning to face me. “You? Going to Europe?”
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“Yeah.” I nodded. “Arthur planned the whole thing for us. I’m leaving soon, right after my last final.”
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She didn’t look happy receiving this news. I couldn’t help but to think she was jealous of it. She had gone with her parents plenty of times, usually during Winter or Summer breaks from school, but me finally getting to go really seemed to irk her.
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“Cool.” She turned back around and started walking off towards whichever store she was going to again.
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“She does not seem happy about that.” Chani whispered to me. Once again, there was a divide between us, I suppose in life as much as in personal space.
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“Yeah.” I nervously picked at a scab on my arm.
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“Don’t let her get you down, Mali.” Chani placed her hand on my arm, stopping the picking.
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“Oh.” Alice looked back at us with a large smile on her face. “Look.” She pointed towards the Santa in the center of the mall. She waited for us to catch up before telling us what he wanted to do involving him. “We should go to take pictures with him and whisper dirty things. See if we can get him hard.”
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“That seems kinda wrong, Alice.” I stated quietly. “With all the kids around, I mean. Plus, look how long the line is.”
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She crossed her arms over her chest, lowering her chin, glaring at me. “Why do you always have to be such a killjoy now, Malia? You used to be fun, well, at least more fun than this.” She turned on her heel and walked off again.
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“Alice.” I called after her, but it was too late, as she didn’t respond. “Let--let’s just do some shopping by ourselves and meet up with her afterward.”
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“Sure.” Chani nodded. “Just remember we can’t be here too long since we have dinner with Arthur.”
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“I’d never forget.” I smiled. “Are you nervous to meet him?”
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“Nah.” She shrugged as we started off in search of a Hot Topic. “He’s just some old white guy, seen plenty of those before.”
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I laughed, shaking my head. “Just some white guy, huh?”
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“Yep.” She looked over at me, becoming more serious. “You doing okay with all the Alice stuff?”
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I took a deep breath before answering. “I guess it doesn’t really bother me. Not anymore, at least. I kinda got used to not having her around and in a way, I liked it, the consistency, at least.”
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“Makes sense.” She nodded. “Sorry, Mal.”
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“Not your fault.” I shook my head. “Besides, we can still have a good time here without her, just pretend like she isn’t here.”
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Chani smiled slightly. “Sure. We might even find you a new dress to wear for tonight.”
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“I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”
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“Good. Let’s find you something then.”
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I pulled down the dress as it had ridden up in the car. Chani and I were heading to the restaurant to meet up with Arthur. We ended up taking an Uber home after Alice didn’t respond to numerous calls. She can be a real jerk when she wants to be, that’s for sure.
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“Arthur’s here.” I nodded toward him. He was currently sitting down in the waiting area on his phone, likely playing a game of sudoku, like usual. “Hey.” I greeted him as we neared. He looked up and locked his phone before standing up.
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“Hey, Mal.” He wrapped his large arms around me, squeezing me tightly in a hug. He pulled back, not kissing me, though I didn’t blame him for not wanting to do it in front of Chani.
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“Arthur, this is Chani.” I motioned towards her.
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“Nice to finally meet you.” Arthur held his hand out to her. She shook it with a small smile. “Malia has told me a lot about you.”
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“Same.” Chani responded, stepping back by me.
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“Let’s get a table.” Arthur suggested, walking over to the maître d. He got us a table, which we sat down at. After ordering our meal, we began chatting.
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“Thanks for taking us out, Arthur.” I smiled at him, dipping my bread in the olive oil and herbs.
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“Of course. I’m glad to finally get to meet Chani. Malia’s told me a lot about you, but all good, I assure you.”
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“I’d hope so.” Chani laughed quietly, looking over at me.
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“You two go to the same college, but I don’t think Malia’s told me your major. Or perhaps I just don’t remember.” He shrugged gently.
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“Art history.” Chani answered.
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“It’s more fun than mine.” I added. “At least from what she’s told me.”
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Arthur chuckled, shaking his head. “Then maybe you should take it instead.”
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“Maybe.” I shrugged slightly. I had also told Chani about my struggles to find interest in my degree and my hopes to have an antiques shop one day. She had told me maybe I should go into business instead then and see if Arthur will help me pay for the shop. Sometimes I can’t help but to feel as if she only sees him as a source of money for me.
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“Or business.” Chani suggested again.
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“We’ll see, we’ll see.” I put my hands up in surrender.
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“Mali’s told me that you haven’t told her much about your trip to Europe. Care to share anything now, so I don’t assume you’re just taking her out of the States to harvest her organs?”
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“Chani.” I looked over at her in shock, but Arthur’s chuckle seemed to ease the tension.
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“I still would like for it to be a surprise, but I suppose I can share a bit. We’re going on a Christmas-themed river cruise.”
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“Bleh.” Chani stuck her tongue out.
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“She hates Christmas. She’s basically a Grinch.” I explained to Arthur. “But that sounds awesome to me.” I turned to Chani. “He hadn’t told me about the cruise part, so I’m stoked!”
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“I’m glad it’s a river cruise and not an ocean one. I’ve been Poseidon before, so that’d leave me worrying about you the whole time.”
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“Cruises are plenty safe.” Arthur tried to reassure her.
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“If you say so.” She shrugged.
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We turned our attention to the waiter as he brought our food over. Every place I had been dining with Arthur was nice, this place included.
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“Do you travel much, Arthur?” Chani asked.
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“Not anymore.” He shook his head. “I use to some for work and my ex and I use to travel for pleasure rather often.”
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“Your ex-wife, right?” Chani asked and Arthur nodded. “Why’d you end things?”
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“Chani.” I looked over at her again. Even I hadn’t really asked about his ex.
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“It’s alright, Mal.” Arthur reassured me with a soft smile. “Things just didn’t work out. We had been married for seventeen years and had just gotten tired of each other.”
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“Are you going to get tired of Malia eventually, then?” Chain crossed her arms. I watched her with surprise, but after looking over at Arthur who didn’t seem to mind, I let them keep speaking.
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“I don’t have intentions to, no.” Arthur shook his head. “But both of you have barely even lived as long as I was married. Once you get to my age, perhaps you’ll understand.”
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“Why date someone so young, then?” Chani was really grilling him. She could’ve at least given me a warning, but at the same time, I appreciated her asking questions I was too scared to ask.
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“I didn’t seek someone young out. I just happened upon Malia. Which I consider myself lucky for.”
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“Hm.” Chani made a noise of understanding, seemingly ending her barrage of questions.
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“Soup’s good.” I finally spoke up as neither of them continued.
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“I’m glad to hear it.” Arthur smiled. “How are you liking your food, Chani?”
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“It’s good.” She shrugged casually.
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We talked through the rest of our meal, taking about some of our favorite meals as well as the reasons we had gone vegetarian, which Arthur seemed to find interesting. After finishing our meal and Arthur paying, we said our goodbyes and headed back to our cars.
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“Could’ve warned me, Chani.” I spoke quietly as she dropped into the driver’s seat.
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“Sorry, Mali.” She looked over at me. “I didn’t mean to do that really. Just heat of the moment it felt necessary.”
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“It’s okay.” I shook my head. “Just warn me next time, okay?”
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“Alright. I will.” She nodded. “Promise.”
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“You worried about your finals? Cause I am.” I rubbed my arm as we drove out of the parking lot.
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“A bit, but not too much. I have a feeling they’re not nearly as complicated as some of yours are going to be.”
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“Probably.” I agreed though I was unsure. I am sure her classes expect the same amount of memorization.
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“You’ll do fine, I’m sure. You just need to get through them, and then you get to go to Europe. On an expensive, I’m sure, river cruise.”
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“The thought is what matters more.”
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“Yeah.” She nodded in agreement.
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“But I am excited. Really excited. I’ve never been out of the country before.”
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“I’ll just have to find a god to pray to while you’re on that damn plane. Shit scares me.”
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“I’ll be fine.” I rolled my eyes with a small smile.
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“You better be or else I’ll piss on your grave.”
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“Thanks, Chani.” I laughed, shaking my head.
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