Wendy stood on the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for the traffic light to turn green. A breeze rustled the leaves of a nearby maple tree and tickled her face. Swayed by the moving air, a desiccated leaf fell in front of her. She brushed aside some strands of her honey blonde hair that covered her eyes. Hearing some hurried steps behind her back, Wendy turned her head around. A girl with a flushed face covered with strands of wavy red hair greeted her.
"Cynthia."
"I've finally caught up with you, Wendy!" Cynthia rest a hand on Wendy's shoulder while panting heavily.
"You need something from me?"
"No, not exactly..." Cynthia removed her hand but continued standing close to Wendy.
The traffic light cycled back to red.
Once Cynthia caught her breath, she continued, "I want to talk with you about something very important."
"What is it?" Wendy barely knew Cynthia. What important issue would there be to discuss?
"Not here. Let's go to that park for a chat."
The two girls walked to the nearby park and sat in the bleachers. As they sat down, Wendy noticed the prominence of Cynthia's breasts, which strained against the tight turquoise turtleneck sweater and didn't seem to be held up by a bra at all. Her view moved up to Cynthia's freckled face.
"I know what you're doing with Sarah is all an act, just like the show that night."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Wendy averted her eyes.
"You do know. The relationship you now have with Sarah is fake and you're not really a lesbian. You're doing all this just for winning Daniel back."
Wendy's mind raced. She was suddenly afraid of the possibility that Lauren knew all along what she was doing with Sarah and had played right into Lauren's hands. If that's the case, then everything she done so far was for naught.
"No, it's not that it at all. I-I'm into girls. I'm really in love with Sarah."
"Don't worry, Wendy. I haven't told Lauren about it. Your secret is still safe with me."
"It's no secret. I'm not straight, I'm--"
"Wendy, I'll stop beating around the bush. It doesn't matter if you're a lesbian or not. I'm here because I need your help."
"Help? With what?"
"Getting Lauren back. She's drifted apart from me recently. We're not as close as we're before."
"But I'm new to this relationship scene myself. How can I help you on this?"
"I want your help in making Lauren realize that I'm her only true lover."
"I don't think I can help you with that."
Wendy wanted to leave politely but was afraid Cynthia would spill her secret to Lauren, if she hadn't done so already.
"Yes, you can, Wendy, and I'll help you too, in getting Daniel."
Wendy's eyes lit up at the mentioning of Daniel, but suspecting a trap, she continued with her denial.
"I'm not interested in Daniel anymore. I'm a lesbian and in l-love with Sarah, really." Wendy hoped that was convincing enough.
"I know you don't trust me right now, but whoever you really love, Sarah or Daniel, I can still help you. If you really are in love with Sarah, I can help you prevent Lauren from breaking your current relationship apart, or if you actually like Daniel, I can help you win him back to your side."
At that point, Wendy was really tempted to admit to Cynthia the truth, but resisted, remembering the promise she had made with Sarah.
"But Sarah's already hel-- I mean I'm already in a relationship with Sarah. I trust her. She won't break up with me for Lauren."
"Whatever is the case, you don't know everything about Lauren, and neither does Sarah. I grew up with Lauren and have been her close friend for years. I know her very well: her likes, her dislikes, and what makes her tick. She's a seductress. She likes to seduce people, play with them, and then dump them once she gets bored."
It wasn't news to Wendy. Sarah had told her about Lauren's personality.
"If she's like what you say she is, then why do you still want a relationship with her?"
"I don't know... Love is a strange thing..." Cynthia had a dreamy look on her face.
Despite Cynthia having a close relationship with her love rival, Wendy was starting to feel some sympathy for her.
Cynthia continued, "Wendy, I know you find this hard to believe, but right now she's already trying to seduce Sarah and Madelynn and turn them away from you."
"How do you know?"
"I noticed Lauren acting very friendly with Sarah recently, and right after lunch today, I saw Lauren kissing Madelynn."
Wendy knew about the kiss between Madelynn and Lauren, but was hoping that Lauren's attempted seduction of Sarah wasn't true. She looked at Cynthia's face for signs of deceit, but found none.
"But she already has Daniel! And why would she want Sarah and Madelynn!?"
"Lauren's probably doing this to spite you. This would be bad for both of us if we don't put it a stop to it."
"What can we do about it?"
Cynthia touched Wendy's hands gently and lightly stroked the skin. "I want you to seduce Lauren."
"Seduce Lauren?! But... Sarah is already my... my... g-girlfriend..."
"That's not a problem. I don't think Sarah would mind you doing this, as long the reason is important. In this case it is. Lauren already has some interest in you, and you could use that to your advantage by fueling that interest, turning it into something bigger. She'll be hot for you if you play your cards right."
Wendy recalled how Lauren would occasionally give her seductive looks. "I thought she was just playing around with me."
Incredulous of the Cynthia's proposition, Wendy asked, "Wait, won't it work against you if I seduce Lauren?"
"It won't, if we do it right. We're going to work together of course. The crucial part of the plan is to make Lauren realize that she can't treat people who love her like dolls to be played with and then thrown away. She needs to realize what she's doing is wrong."
"You mean I'll have to seduce her, then talk to her about why it's wrong to be a player?"
"No, not like that. We'll give her a taste of her own medicine. You need to seduce her, then make her feel jealous and know what it's like to be dumped."
"That doesn't seem like a nice thing to do... I'll have to talk to Sarah about this first. She might not like what you're suggesting."
"Yes, that's what I need you to do. Here's my cell number. Talk to Sarah about it first and tell her to call me. Remember, don't talk about this to anyone else besides Sarah."