Chapter 34
Lane (August 2023)
...
The morning air was cool during their drive. The sun hadn't risen yet and Lane sleepily lounged in the passenger seat of Ophelia's car. Music on the car radio softly played and Lane looked over to see Ophelia drinking her black iced coffee. They reached for their iced matcha latte that sat in the cup holder and in the darkness of the morning, Lane could barely see the green hue that the drink had. Their eyes adjusted and the green came more into focus. Lane sipped on their cold drink quietly and Ophelia noticed that Lane had woken up.
"Morning, sleepy," she said.
"Did I doze off?"
Ophelia nodded. "Have you gotten a good night's sleep recently?"
Lane shook their head. "No, not really. Not since the hearing."
It went quiet and Lane listened to the soft music that was playing. They didn't know the song but Ophelia seemed to enjoy humming along.
"Have you been staying off social media?" Ophelia asked, breaking the silence between them.
"Yeah I have. I haven't checked anything at all."
"That's good," Ophelia sighed. "Those assholes really don't know what the fuck was going on. I can't believe them."
"A lot of them were friends with Atlas before we started dating," Lane said while gazing out of the window. They were passing fields with cows grazing as the sun began to rise.
"You're gonna be okay, Lane."
"I know."
The best friends took time off of work so that they could spend the entire day together. They had always gone on day trips and mini road trips and this was the first one in a while. It was also the first one they had gone on since Lane had moved out of Atlas' house. Whenever Ophelia would ask Lane if they wanted to go on a quick road trip, Atlas would almost always say no when Lane would ask permission.
"What do you mean you can't go?" Ophelia asked one day.
"I just can't, okay?" Lane replied.
"It's Atlas isn't it?"
Lane was silent on their phone call.
Ophelia had had enough. "You can't let Atlas run your life like this. He's controlling you."
Lane laughed. "I don't think so. You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Lane," Ophelia replied, "He's keeping you away from everyone else in your life. For whatever reason he's trying to keep you away from me."
"That isn't true."
"When was the last time you spoke with your sister?"
"Not since she moved out of state," Lane sighed. "She abandoned me. Just like Mom and Dad."
Ophelia laughed. "She did not! She moved out of state to go to school. She texts me all the time and wonders where you are. She wonders why you never text her back. Reina misses you."
"She's never texted me."
Ophelia scoffed. "You better check your phone and keep it away from Atlas. He's probably deleting messages or blocking numbers. She's sent me screenshots of her texts to you. She's your little sister, Lane."
"Does she really try to text me?" Lane's voice sounded puzzled.
"Yes! Lane, you need to open your eyes. Please, realize what Atlas is doing to you. Please."
Lane didn't say anything on the phone for a while and Ophelia could only hear their shaky breath. After a while, Lane spoke and cried. "I'm so sorry."
Ophelia felt her heart break upon hearing Lane's voice sounding so quiet and broken.
"It's okay, Lane. It's going to be okay."
"Ophelia?"
"Yes?"
"I need help."
"Please just tell me everything. Do you want me to come get you?"
There was a moment of hesitation. "Yes."
Lane had missed going on their road trips and was glad they were able to take time off of work. Lane checked the phone and saw a text notification. It was their sister. Lane opened the text to read it.
"Good morning!"
Lane texted back. "Good morning. Do you have class today?"
After a few seconds Reina texted back. "No, not today."
Lane gritted their teeth and wrote back, "How's Mom and Dad?"
"They're good. Going to the beach today I think."
"That's good. Ophelia and I are headed to an aquarium."
"No fair! I want to go see sharks."
"Maybe soon you can come visit. My apartment is pretty much put together."
"I'd like that."
"I'll text you later, okay?"
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too."
Lane put their phone away and Ophelia turned her head for a moment to look at them. They had a slight smile on their face. "That was Reina," Lane said.
"Oh, how is she? Killing it in school like always?"
"Good. She doesn't have any school today."
"That's nice."
"She said my parents are going to the beach."
"Lucky them."
Lane felt their phone buzz again and reached for it to check the notification. There was a text from Lane's co-worker Tanisha and there were several screenshots sent with her message. When Lane looked through the screenshots they went cold and broke into an icy sweat.
Ophelia noticed Lane staring at their phone screen. "Everything okay?"
Lane sighed deeply. "Tanisha sent me screenshots of Atlas posting bullshit about me."
"Oh Lane, please don't look at those."
"She sent comments too."
"Fuck that," Ophelia said firmly. "You don't need to be seeing shit like that."
"Why won't he just stop?" Lane's voice ached. "He's making things up and lying to everyone about me. He's saying shit like I'm a cheater and he's calling me a whore. I don't know what to do, Ophelia."
"Don't look at any of that right now," Ophelia lightly scolded them. "We will get all of this straightened out later. People will know the truth! But today is our day to relax, okay? Fuck them."
"Okay," Lane sniffed and held back their tears as they put their phone on silent and threw it away into the glove compartment. "I'm okay."
"Yeah you're okay!" Ophelia said with a smile. "We're going to the aquarium!"
"We haven't been in forever."
"I know! I wanna see the jellyfish."
"I'm gonna take tons of shark pictures for Reina."