Page 86 of Hide and Keep

She better not say anything even remotely sexual, I swear to fuck.

Glancing my way again, she smiles a hair too pleasantly, and says, “Shit, like every other person at Munreaux Manor.”

“Including you.” I don’t pose it as a question because I don’t need to. It was very much a statement. Ever is full of shit. All she fucking does is lie.

She’s probably lying right now. A potluck to celebrate first place? Shouldn’t the school host something special for them? In wrestling, we had a banquet at the end of every season, where there was an entire buffet for both the team and their families, a full bar for the parents, and individual awards handed out to the athletes.

That was high school though. I don’t know how things work at the collegiate level. Or for cheerleading. Just because Ever considers it a sport doesn’t mean everyone else does.

I don’t.

Enough time passes I think the topic is dropped until Ever mutters, “Including me,” surprising me even more, and possibly making those two words the first truth she’s told me so far.

First and probably last. I’ll never make the mistake of trusting her again. Never.

I’m pretty sure I just figured out why Arthur calls her that.

Thankfully, Ever helps me find which yeast infection treatment she needs but makes me carry the package through the store. Examining the box gets confusing, specifically the picture of the applicator.

“You gotta put more stuff up there? I thought that was what made you…sick in the first place.”

Ever snorts. “I’m not sick. My vagina is.”

An old lady walking by gasps and clutches her chest.

Neither of us acknowledges the possible heart attack in process.

“Um… Don’t you think that seems counterproductive though?” I ask.

“I don’t know. You can ask my gynecologist at my next appointment,” she says while beelining it over to the pickle section. “I’m sure he can do a much better job explain—”

“Wait. What’s a gynecologist do? Your…” I gesture at her lower region, not all that familiar with the word she’s using. I’ve used a lot of terms for a pussy, none of them technical.

“My vagina? Yeah. He’s a vagina doctor basically.”

“You have a male…” More gesturing. “Doctor?”

“Dr. Robbins.”

“He goes…in there?”

“Goes? Like it’s space exploration? And ‘in there’? It’s my vagina. Literally.”

“He touches your…”

“Not really touches but he does probe me for the pap smear.”

Jesus Christ. Jesus fucking Christ.

“What the fuck does he probe you with?”

“With the…probe thingy. I can’t remember what it’s called, but it’s a tool he inserts in my vagina that spreads my walls so he can inspect and swab my cervix.”

What kind of fucking job is that? He gets paid to dothatto women on a daily basis?

“Then what does he do?”

“Then he takes it out and… Oh, I guess there is touching. I forgot at the end he puts in two fingers and presses down on my stomach to—”

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