The Many Problems of Luka Erebi | Sapphic Romance | Chapter 8
Luka is well-loved
Luka’s jaw dropped when she read Bellamy’s text.
Bell.A: Luka! Mr. Holt said he’ll allow you to temporarily have a camera installed. Meet me at the bookstore.
She only saw it after morning class, so she made her trek over to the bookstore. The wind was picking up, clouds were rolling in, blocking out the sun. A big storm was coming tomorrow night. She zipped up her windbreaker.
Luka thanked Wren in her head for insulting her jacket for its ineffectiveness against the wind. She was practically a popsicle after riding on Wren’s motorbike. If Wren hadn’t, she would’ve just worn the same jacket from yesterday and regretted her decision.
Entering through the western entrance, Luka glanced at the workers by the counter. Bellamy wasn’t there. Then she turned her gaze to her left, seeing two familiar women sitting at a table by the window—one blonde and the other a brunette. It was Bellamy and Ari. Books and notebooks were spread on the table, like they were in the middle of a study session.
Bellamy wore a yellow dress over her pastel pink jacket, while Ari had on a sleeveless shirt with a fur jacket that was lowered to reveal her shoulders.
She took the empty chair and sat down.
“Did you really report Mr. Holt?” Luka asked.
Bellamy nodded. “I didn’t expect the Housing Office to respond so quickly.”
Ari blew out a huff, seemingly amused. “How could they delay an Apis?”
When she heard that, Bellamy pouted, but she didn’t respond to Ari. “Luka, you got time before your next class, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Let’s go to the mall.”
As if Ari already figured out Luka’s answer, she was starting to clean up her notes and stash them in her bag. She wasn’t wrong… Luka didn’t really have any room to say no to Bellamy.
Luka nodded, and Bellamy beamed like a ray of sunshine in the upcoming storm. She squinted against Bellamy’s brightness.
Bellamy hurriedly packed up her notes and books, humming some sort of tune. Meanwhile, Ari patted Luka’s back and said, “See? This is why you needed to tell her. An Apis gets things done.”
Upon hearing her last name, Bellamy once again scowled. “Are you the one who told her about my family?”
“Did I really need to? I figured everyone on this island already knew.” Ari wondered, placing a finger to her chin in a mock thoughtful expression.
Shoving her last book into her bag, Bellamy shook her head. “That’s a lie.”
Ari only shrugged without elaborating.
Luka gaped at the situation. Every time she saw Bellamy and Ari together, the same question always popped up in her head. Why did Bellamy befriend Ari?
When it came to Ari, Luka knew she enjoyed pushing buttons of anyone and everyone. Whether it was good or bad. Luka didn’t mind it too much, since most of what Ari knew about her was superficial.
But for Bellamy, Luka had only learned that her family recognition was a sore spot for her. Yet Ari kept poking at it.
Weirdly enough… maybe that was exactly why. Ari didn’t put Bellamy on a pedestal. She treated her like she would anyone else. Kind of like what Luka did, without even realizing it.
This didn’t mean Luka liked that this was how Ari was going to end this conversation.
“A-actually!” Luka said, almost shouting. “I learned about it myself.”
“Really? Why?”
“Um… because Wren berated me for not knowing about the history of Insecta…”
Sorry, Wren! Luka prayed this didn’t come back to bite her for throwing Wren under the bus.
“Oh. Ooooh!” It was like a light bulb flickered on in her head. Then she giggled. “I totally forgot that you were working for the House of Danaus.”
This got Ari to raise a brow. “I thought you worked at a cafe.”
“I mean, I am. I just didn’t realize the owner was… you know.”
“Pfft!” Ari stifled a chuckle. “You sure are collecting the House like it’s nothing. Maybe you should try to get on Professor Tera’s good side too while you’re at it.”
…
Professor Tera? How did I not realize until now?!
Before Luka could spiral on how ignorant she’d been, Bellamy pulled her along and they made their way to the train station.
There were only two malls in Locust Town, the Northern Locust Mall and the Southern Locust Mall. Since Lotus Academy was in the center of the Town, the distance between both malls was similar.
However… going up north just meant she was in close proximity to her father. Unlike the southern side of Locust Town, where there were more people and were in individual cliques, the northern side functioned more like a village-mindset. And that meant if she went up north without visiting her father, word would get back to him.
She’d rather not have a call from her father today. So she suggested they head to the Southern Locust Mall.
“Good idea,” Bellamy said. “I want to see how Wren’s doing.”
That wasn’t her intention, but she nodded in agreement. They took the southbound train.
“Let’s sit over there,” Ari said.
They all occupied the women-only seating, with Bellamy sitting in between Luka and Ari. This was the second time Luka had sat here in all her life going through public transit. She usually just stood and dazed away until the train stopped at her station. When she told Ari that, she just grimaced.
“This is how you get your things stolen or worse, groped.”
“D-does that really happen?”
Ari blinked. Then a mock smile appeared on her lips. “You know, I’m suddenly very curious about your upbringing.”
“Oooh! Me too!” Bellamy chimed in.
Luka wasn’t sure why they were so interested in her childhood.
“Um…” Luka crossed her fingers, resting them on her lap. “I grew up well-loved by my mom.”
Her mother used to bring her to Asacia Park and other playgrounds when she was a kid, whether it was a reward for her hard work or if her father was too frustrated by her. It was one of the times when Luka could feel free to be herself.
“But maybe a little too much.”
Unfortunately, after that incident when she was ten, her mother was too wary to let her go outside ever again. So besides school and the occasional grocery grab with her mother, Luka stayed home.
“I didn’t get to go out because of that.”
When she got accepted into Lotus Academy, she pleaded with her parents the entire summer to let her live nearby so that she wouldn’t have to take the train home everyday. Eventually, her father allowed, but only if she maintained straight As and a perfect attendance.
“My father can be a little pushy, but I think that’s just because he wants me to be the best I can be.”
Luka watched the expression, or rather, the lack of expression from the two women. Was her retelling that boring and uninteresting?
Ari and Bellamy looked at each other, like they were communicating through their eyes alone.
Then Ari spoke up. “So you didn’t go on any school trips? Even I went on them and I caused tons of trouble for the teachers.”
“N-no. My mom was worried something might’ve happened to me.”
“Let me guess, she calls you every day now that you’re not in her nest anymore?”
How does Ari know that? “She used to...”
“I see you talking to someone on the balcony every Fridays, is that your mom?” Bellamy asked.
“Y-yeah.”
“Wow. And here I thought Bellamy would be the sheltered child,” Ari said with a hint of razz.
Just as Bellamy turned to visibly sulk at Ari, Luka took that as an opportunity.
“S-say… I’ve been curious for a while now, but how did you and Ari meet?”
That pulled Bellamy from her sulk. She turned to face Luka and said, “Believe it or not, I met Ari during the bi-annual Assembly a year ago.” Luka’s vacant expression must’ve given her away because Bellamy added, “It’s like a gathering of Natives.”
I didn’t realize Natives had a gathering… Wait…
“Does that mean Ari is a Native?”
“On my mother side,” Ari answered, though she seemed uninterested in the topic. “And no. I’m not part of the House of Natives.”
“I have to go to every single event, so I basically know everyone there. That’s why Ari caught my attention because I’ve never seen her before. People seemed wary about her so I decided to talk to her. I thought we were getting along well…” she giggled. “Only to find out she stole my wallet afterward.”
From the way Bellamy laughed, Luka wasn’t sure if she should as well. Ari looked at her nails. She made it look like she wasn’t listening, but her other arm rested on the top of the seat like she was putting her arm over Bellamy.
“It was easy to find her since I had a tracker on my wallet. And… that’s how we met.”
Luka had way more questions than she had answers, but before she could ask for more, they were already at their designated station.
“Let’s get going,” Ari said, and got off her seat.
———
They spent about half an hour in the mall, having walked around until they found a store that sold doorbell cameras. Bellamy kept saying she would pay for it during the walk, and Luka knew how determined Bellamy could be. So she deployed backup in the form of Ari.
“Ari, could you distract Bellamy so I can pay for this?”
Ari grinned, and without replying, she sauntered over to Bellamy and began to direct her away from the cashier. It was enough to let Luka pay for the camera. Ninety-nine Insecta dollars lost. Her wallet cried.
I may have lost the battle, but I’ve won the war.
Luka might’ve gotten that mixed up.
When Bellamy saw Luka walking out with a bag in hand, she pouted at Luka and Ari. “No fair. You two planned this.”
“Y-you’ve already done so much for me,” Luka said.
Besides, if we can fix this within thirty days, I can still return this.
Maybe if everything went in Luka’s favor, she might also win the battle in the end.
“A-anyways! Didn’t you want to see Wren?”
Her workplace wasn’t far from the mall. Just one train station away.
The Cusp was aptly named after the Cusps District, the southern area of Locust Town. Coincidentally, the train station was on the south of the district.
Since it bordered Asacia Park, the district had a strict no-cars policy. The only way to travel around this area was through the underground metro, the bus, bikes or any other small travel devices like skateboards.
“You know… I just realized, how does Wren get her motorcycle through?” Luka wondered aloud.
“She probably says it’s an e-bike,” Bellamy said. “It technically is all electric.”
Luka did notice Wren driving slow when they were in the Cusps District and then speeding up considerably once they were out.
Bricks layered the road with visible lines drawn for designated bike, bus, and walk lanes. The district had four major roads connected by a roundabout. This was where The Cusp resided, on the northwest side of the roundabout.
Luka recognized Wren’s motorbike parked with the various bikes. Even with a couple e-bikes… it was very obvious that hers wasn’t one of them. One of these days, she was going to get a ticket. If she hadn’t already.
Inside, Luka saw a handful of customers. Not enough to require three servers. Reggie was working today along with Caspi. The duo that Luka wouldn’t want to work with. But, separately, they were fine.
It appeared Ms. Danaus wasn’t here today.
“Yo, Luka!” Caspi waved and walked over. “I swear, I’ve been seeing you everyday. You must really love this place, huh?”
He was wearing a cute mask with a rainbow rhino today. Luka felt like she’d never actually seen his face since she started working. Still, she could see his smile through his brown eyes.
“I mean… it’s a good place to study,” Luka said.
“Can we get a table for three?” Bellamy cut in.
“Sure, just sit anywh—wait woah!” Caspi gawked at Bellamy, eyes wide. Then he grabbed Luka by the shoulders and whispered, “You never told me you were friends with Bellamy.”
She felt like he was squeezing the life out of her with his vice grip. Caspi also attended Lotus Academy, and was one of Luka’s sources on the men’s opinions on Bellamy.
“Um…”
With some of the comments she’d heard about Bellamy from him… it was fair that she didn’t want to tell him.
“You never asked.”
Before he could reply, Ari slipped her finger under his pinky and pulled it up, forcing him to release his clutch on Luka.
“Ow!” He shouted, giving Ari an indicator to stop.
“Let’s keep our hands to ourselves, hm?” Ari said, giving him a smile that was anything but.
Caspi leered, his expression caught in between a glare and astonishment. Luka might not be super informed about the people in the Academy, but she at least knew about Ari’s reputation. Even if it was through passing gossips.
Reggie walked over, his hand placed on Caspi’s shoulder, and said, “Alright, enough bothering the customers. The boss might not be here, but Imon definitely is.”
With the mention of Imon, the head cook, Caspi went right back into work mode and ushered them to a table toward the right side. What luck, because this just so happened to give them a better look into the side of the kitchen Wren was working at. Well, Luka wouldn’t see since she sat facing the patio while Bellamy and Ari sat together.
He handed the three ladies each a menu and headed back behind the counter.
“Hm… what do you recommend, Luka?” Bellamy asked, giving the menu a serious look-through.
“Are you planning on eating?”
“Of course. What about you two?”
“S-sure. I mean, I haven’t really eaten anything but a granola bar today,” Luka replied.
Luka and Bellamy then looked to Ari for her answer, only to see her loosely holding the menu and not staring at it. She was looking toward the kitchen, directly at Wren. Focused.
“Ari?” Bellamy called out to her. Then she also followed her gaze. “Do you also know Wren?”
“Also?” Ari finally snapped back. She looked at Luka, having gotten her answer. “Ah. Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting a Vespula to be your cousin. What sort of fuckery went down for that to happen?”
Something in Bellamy’s expression flickered. “Ari! Don’t talk about Wren like that. You don’t even know her.”
Ari had on a slight smile, like she wanted to say something, but chose to let it go. “You sure got me there. Maybe you should introduce her to me, then. I’d love to meet her.”
A meeting between Ari and Wren… Luka couldn’t imagine how that would turn out. Something in the pit of her stomach told her it wasn’t going to end well. But she hoped it wouldn’t get out of hand.
“So…” Ari propped her chin on her hand, elbow on the table. “Tell me about her.”