Their Forgotten Girl

It was the third time this month I’d covered cleaning duty for Claire, the girl both my childhood best friends were in love with. After the final bell, just as I was heading for the door, they cornered me, all easy smiles and familiar charm.

“Hey, Lia,” Leo started, slinging his arm around my shoulders. “Could you do us a solid and cover for Claire in the chem lab today? We’re taking her out—kind of a date thing. You’re the best.”

I looked up from under my bangs, my voice barely a whisper. “I can’t today. I… I have plans.”

The warmth in Leo’s eyes vanished. A smirk, sharp and humorless, pulled at his lips. “If you don’t want to do it, just say so. Don’t make up lame excuses. Who would you even have plans with?”

When I didn’t answer, the smile on Nathan’s face dissolved completely. He moved, quick and silent, and pressed me back against the cold cinderblock wall. His voice was low, intense.

“You really have a date?” he demanded. “With who?”

1

The final bell had just shrieked through the halls, and I was pulling my umbrella from the side pocket of my backpack when Leo stopped me.

“Hold up, Lia. Can you handle the lab cleanup?”

I glanced back at the whiteboard. Under ‘Chem Lab Duty,’ Mr. Henderson had clearly written Claire Danes.

“It’s not my day—”

“Claire’s got cramps, she’s feeling awful,” Leo said, his smile effortless. He had these fox-like eyes that always seemed to be laughing at a private joke. He gave my shoulder a friendly, proprietary pat. “So, be a pal, yeah? I’m gonna give her a ride home.”

As if on cue, he slung his backpack over one shoulder and crouched down in front of Claire’s desk. She swatted at him, a flicker of a smile playing on her lips.

“Don’t be so dramatic, I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.”

Leo looked up at her, his expression a perfect performance of concern. “Of course it’s a big deal. Girls need to rest when they’re on their period. Lia gets it. She’s a girl, too.” He turned his gaze on me. “Right, Lia?”

I bit the inside of my lip. “…Okay, fine.”

I’d just dropped my bag when a long, pale hand plucked the umbrella from its side pocket. Nathan was taking off his rimless glasses, frowning at Leo.

“Are you planning on letting her walk home in this downpour? Getting chilled is the last thing she needs.” He shot a quick, dismissive glance at me. “I’m taking the umbrella. The rain will probably let up in a bit. You can just wait it out.”

And just like that, the two of them were gone—Leo carrying Claire piggyback, and Nathan holding my umbrella over her head. Claire looked back over Leo’s shoulder, her perfect face a mask of polite apology.

“Sorry about this, Lia! We’ll see you tomorrow!”

Their figures blurred and then vanished into the gray sheet of rain.

I turned away from the window and started cleaning.

This was the third time this month. Claire was only scheduled for lab duty three times a month. The first time, she had a piano lesson she couldn’t miss. Before I could even respond to her asking, Leo had already volunteered me. “Your piano is more important, you’ve got your certification exam coming up. Lia doesn’t have anything better to do anyway.”

The second time, a new movie she was dying to see had just come out. Both Leo and Nathan wanted to be the one to take her, so cleanup duty naturally fell to me.

I swept the floors in silence, the rhythmic scrape of the broom the only sound. I mopped until the linoleum gleamed under the fluorescent lights, then moved to the whiteboard. It was massive, and I couldn’t reach the formulas scrawled across the very top. I jumped a few times, my fingers just brushing the slick surface.

I was about to drag a stool over when a hand reached past me from behind. It was a beautiful hand, clean, with well-defined knuckles. It took the eraser from me and, in a few easy swipes, cleared the entire top of the board.

I flinched, spinning around to find Noah Carter, our class valedictorian, standing right behind me. He was so close I could smell the clean, crisp scent of lemon and sea salt on his shirt, a startling pocket of dryness in the damp, rainy air.

Before I could speak, he did. “This isn’t your day for cleanup, is it?”

There was a long-running, pointless debate among the girls at our school over who was the ultimate heartthrob: Leo, Nathan, or Noah. Maybe because I was so used to Leo and Nathan, seeing Noah up close felt different, more impactful. His eyes were a clear, warm hazel, and his dark lashes were so long they looked like tiny, delicate wings.

“Claire wasn’t feeling well,” I explained, my voice sounding thin. “I’m covering for her. What are you still doing here?”

Noah’s expression didn’t change. He just took the eraser and methodically cleaned the rest of the board. “Had to drop off some papers in the faculty office. On my way back, I saw you…” He paused, and a small smile touched his lips. “Jumping.”

Heat flooded my cheeks. “Oh. Uh, thanks.”

“No problem.” He placed the eraser back on the ledge. “All done? Ready to go?”

I shook my head. “You go ahead. I don’t have an umbrella. I’m just going to wait for the rain to stop.”

He pulled a sleek black umbrella from his bag.

“I have one,” he said simply. “Let’s go.”

2

As we walked, he broke the comfortable silence. “Do you cover for Claire a lot? I feel like I’ve seen you doing this before.”

“Yeah. She’s… busy sometimes.”

“She must be a very busy person,” he commented, tilting the umbrella so it shielded me more than him. “You seem pretty close with Nathan and Leo.”

“We all are. Me, them, and Claire. We’re all friends.”

“If you’re friends, how come you’re the only one doing all the work?”

I didn’t have an answer for that. I just kicked at a small pebble on the sidewalk.

“You’re busy too, right?” he continued. “I heard you have SAT prep classes at night. Why don’t you just say no?”

I hesitated. “They wouldn’t like it. We’re all friends.”

“And what would happen if they didn’t like it?”

“We… wouldn’t be friends anymore?” The words came out like a question, an automatic fear. “They’re the only friends I have.”

“Then let me be your friend.”

We reached the entrance to my apartment building and stopped in unison. The rain had knocked the purple blossoms from the jacaranda trees, and the wind swirled the petals at our feet.

Noah stood there, holding the black umbrella, and smiled at me. “So, are we friends now?”

No one could say no to that face. I nodded. “Of course. And thank you, for walking me home.”

“Is a ‘thank you’ all I get?”

I blinked, looking up at him. I finally noticed that the right side of his school uniform was completely soaked, while I was almost perfectly dry. He didn't seem to mind at all, the gentle smile never leaving his face.

“Then… how about you let me treat you to the library on Saturday? You wouldn’t say no to a friend, would you?”

3

After my shower, I saw the group chat notification. Claire had tagged me.

“Lia, you get home okay? So sorry to make you do that again today. It was all Leo and Nathan’s fault, they were being so overprotective. I told them I was fine, but they insisted.”

I towel-dried my hair, typing back a simple, “I’m home.”

Suddenly, a message from Leo popped up. “You didn’t have an umbrella. How’d you get back?”

“Someone walked me.”

“Ooooh, who?” Claire sent a voice memo, her tone teasing. “Is our little Lia finally dating someone?”

Nathan rarely posted in the chat, usually only replying when Claire said something.

“Not a chance. Who would ask Lia out?”

Leo chimed in immediately. “Exactly. She’s a total bookworm. Who’d be into that?”

Claire’s laughter echoed in another voice memo. “You guys are so mean! Lia is wonderful. She’s smart and pretty.”

“Pretty?” Leo sent a scoffing emoji. “Compared to you? If she’s pretty, what does that make you, a goddess?”

Nathan added: “Claire, you’re just too nice. If no one tells her the truth, she’ll get the wrong idea. What if some guy takes advantage of her?”

The messages kept coming, one after another. The little bubble of warmth Noah had given me deflated, leaving a familiar coldness in its place. I put my phone down and stared at the ceiling.

This wasn’t new. I knew, deep down, that in our little group, I was always on the lowest rung. And I understood why. Nathan, Leo, and Claire were the suns of our high school universe—effortlessly cool, from wealthy families, born to shine. I was just… me. The quiet, plain girl who orbited them. If we hadn’t grown up on the same street, our paths would never have crossed.

Both guys were in love with Claire. When the four of us were together, I was just part of the background, a ghost at their table. It had been that way since we were kids. I was so used to it that saying no felt like speaking a foreign language.

I rolled over, Noah’s parting words echoing in my head.

“The way they treat you… are you sure they see you as a friend?”

4

On Claire’s next cleanup day, Leo predictably shoved a broom into my hands.

“We’re taking Claire to the movies tonight. You’ve got this, right?”

Nathan had already slung Claire’s backpack over his shoulder. She waved at me with a bright, unapologetic smile. “Thanks a bunch, Lia!”

I paused, then pushed the broom back into Leo’s chest.

“Sorry,” I said, my voice steadier than I expected. “I have plans today.”

The smiles on all three of their faces froze.

“Plans?” Claire’s voice was laced with a kind of magnanimous disbelief. “Haha, Lia, it’s okay if you don’t want to do it. I know I’ve asked you a lot this month.”

Leo’s dark brows furrowed. “Plans? With who? C’mon, Lia, if you’re going to make an excuse, at least make it a good one. Who do you even know besides us?”

Nathan’s eyes, cold and analytical behind his glasses, fixed on me. “Lia, don’t be dramatic. Claire really wants to see this movie. What’s the big deal with covering for her one more time? You’ve done it before.”

“It’s true,” I said, looking down. “We made plans to go to the library. I’m not making it up.”

Claire raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you just do the lab first? It won’t take that long.”

“No.” I glanced at my watch. “I’m going to be late. I have to go.”

The smile on Claire’s face faded. She gave Leo’s arm a slight tug. “Can you guys talk to her for me? Maybe she’s mad at me for asking so much. Or… are you dating someone now? Was it that guy who walked you home the other day?”

In my peripheral vision, I saw the expressions on Leo and Nathan’s faces darken.

Nathan blocked my path. “Who walked you home last time? Who are these plans with?”

Before I could answer, Leo slammed his hand against the wall next to my head, trapping me. “In such a hurry to leave?” His voice was a low growl. “Lia, spell it out. Are you seeing someone?” His eyes were dark, intense. “Who is it?!”

“Me.”

Noah walked into the classroom, pulling me out from under Leo’s arm. He was just as tall as Leo, and he met his glare with a calm, even smile.

“Lia has plans with me today.” He turned to me. “Ready to go?”

He took my backpack, and as we walked out, his gaze swept over Nathan, as cool and undisturbed as a calm lake.

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