━ " I CAN'T HANDLE CHANGE. "

           Cleo stares at her own mirrored reflection, running her fingers over her cheek. A pounding echoes through her head, one she tries to shake off by smoking a cigarette. She ties her hair into a messy ponytail, letting strands fall and frame her face. The memories from the previous night are somewhat of a blur, though she remembers Mason's words. Words she wishes could slip out of her mind.

To distract herself, she hurries back to Tracy's room. Evie and Tracy are still deeply unconscious, laying in the midst of the messy covers. Cleo twists her mouth into a smirk, pulling the covers off of them.

"Cleo." Evie mutters against her pillow.

"Get up. I'm bored." Cleo sighs, slumping down on the edge of the bed.

"Is that my brother's shirt?" Tracy quizzes, lifting her head up. Her gaze is narrowed and a bundle of blond crowns her face.

"Oh, yeah." Cleo looks down, having completely forgot about the borrowed shirt. "I couldn't find extra PJs." She shrugs nonchalantly.

Tracy heaves herself up, rushing to a drawer and yanking out a spare tank-top. She throws it in her direction, wanting the sight of Mason's clothes on her new best-friend gone. "Here you go."

Cleo switches shirts, smiling softly as she looks at her grey sweats that cover her feet and the adorable tank top that shows off her piercing. "Thank you." She winks, freeing her hair. Evie keeps her gaze trained on the brunette for an instant more, before standing.

They follow Tracy down the narrow corridor, giggling softly between each other. "Mom! I have to go to the bathroom, now!" Tracy exclaims, banging her fists on the door.

"Well, can't you hold it a minute?" Mel counters.

"That's how you get a bladder infection, child abuser." Tracy rolls her eyes, crossing her legs together dramatically.

Cleo grabs onto Tracy's hand, mischief glinting through her eyes. "Let's go outside. Live it up a little." She jeers, leading the two out of the house.

While Tracy solves her earlier urges, Cleo takes the opportunity to smoke one of her last cigarettes she had stuffed in her pocket. Leaning against the wall, she struggles with the lighter.

"You shouldn't smoke so much." A voice comments. Cleo turns her head towards the window, where Mason stands.

"And you should mind your business." She breathes out, turning to face the boy. "Want a drag?" She offers, not wanting to come off as too butt-hurt by last night's words.

"Sure." He nods, plucking the cigarette from her fingers.

"Oh, I have something that belongs to you." She adds, handing him the shirt from the previous night. "It's still a little wet." Cleo ignores how their hands graze as he takes it back, and how goosebumps line her skin.

"Thanks." He hands her back the cigarette. "Look, Cleo, I'm sorry about what I--" He starts to apologise. Though, he stumbles over his words as his gaze switches to something else, and his eyebrows knit.

Cleo follows the direction of his look for her own eyes to set on Evie, dancing right in his field of vision. Cleo rolls her eyes, heading over to the girl. "Trying to marry into the family?" She taunts, shooting her a smirk before heading towards Tracy.

━━━

Cleo sticks out her tongue in front of the dusty mirror as Tracy's eyes stay glued to the piercing on top, drool practically seeping out of her lips. The girl laughs, waving her tongue around and bopping the piercing up and down. Tracy has made her desire for a similar piercing transparent, so the girls took it in their own hands to bring her to the tattoo shop that began it all for them.

Cleo jumps in the chair, a grin dancing across her lips. "As your loyal customers, I think our pretty friend deserves a discount." Cleo pouts, holding Tracy's face softly. Evie lights her cigarette, having already done some arguing for Tracy to be able to have her tongue pierced.

"Fine." He finally agrees, grabbing the tools necessary.

Cleo and Evie hang on each side of Tracy's face, smirk dangling across their lips was they glance at each other. Tracy shakes sightly as she peers at the sharp needle.

"Does it hurt?" She asks, opening her mouth.

Cleo bites back an entertained smile as he voices something in Spanish, before taunting the girl. "I only put it in when I need to." He flicks his tongue up and down at the girl.

"He's just kidding." Cleo whispers in Tracy's ear as her body stills under the man's gaze. Before she can muster a reply, though, her tongue is pierced by the needle.

Cleo hurries to hold a mirror in front of the girl as she pokes her tongue out. A satisfied smile graces her lips. Cleo sticks her face next to the blond, sticking out her tongue as well. "We're twins now."

━━━

The three girls sit on the stairs below the library, Mel's given pick-up spot. Supposedly, they spent hours studying instead of piercing Tracy's tongue. "Don't open your mouth too much when you talk." Cleo advises her friend.

"Thanks. Oh, and Evie, can I ask you something?" Tracy sighs, switching her gaze back to the girl. Cleo predicts her next words. "You never did anything with the crusty tattoo guy right?"

"Yeah. He ate my pussy." Evie claims without hesitation.

"Oh my god." Tracy exclaims, furrowing her head in her hands in disgust. "Is--is she serious?" She turns to Cleo, eyes wide in horror.

Laughter bubbles out of Cleo's throat as she shakes her head. "Not that I know of."

"Trace, I'm kidding." Evie confirms, grinning softly.

Cleo nudges the girls though as her eyes set on Mel's car driving past. "Let's go. The studying is getting to my head." She jokes, placing a dramatic hand on her forehead.

"Hey ladies." Mel calls out. Tracy lets her fingers graze her mouth, probably thinking about the new piercing resting on her tongue. "Get a lot of studying done?" Her mother asks, fixing her sunglasses sitting on the crook of her nose.

"We were researching, Mom. I'm in charge of the module for the biochemistry project." Tracy smiles, the lie convincing enough for her mother to mirror her satisfied expression.

"Cool. What module are you two working on?" She quizzes Cleo and Evie.

"Oh, Mel. We're in advanced physics." Evie smiles.

"It's a lot of work, but we manage." Cleo huffs dramatically, feeding in the white lie as they slip in the backseats.

━━━

"Mom! Mom." Tracy says as she walks into the kitchen, a beam resting on her face. Mel has her foot hoisted on the table as she carefully paints her toenails, chatting with a client with foil stuck to her hair at the same time.

"Can you say hot?" Cleo and Evie say at the same time, looking at each other with a grin pasted on their lips. Evie places her hands on Cleo's hips as the two dance together. Tracy giggles, watching the interaction.

"That was Mason's favourite shirt." Mel scolds. Cleo looks down, part of her regretting the ruining of the boy's clothes. Another part of her smiles against the fit that hugs her body. "It's four o'clock, you need to eat something, Tracy." She adds as Tracy rummages through the laundry.

"If you drink ten glasses of ice-water you burn like three hundred calories." Evie claims, sipping on her glass.

Cleo ventures in the other room, Evie close in her trail. Their eyes land on the maroon purse sitting innocently at the same time. "My purse, I've been looking for that." Cleo jokes quietly, holding up the bag.

"Mom. Three strikes and you're out!" Tracy screams from the kitchen, holding a bundle of clothes in her arms. "How long are you going to let him fuck you over?!"

"Hey!" Mel exclaims.

Evie yanks the purse out of her friend's hands, stuffing it under the wooden chair before slumping on it. It's right on queue as the woman barges in the room, eyes scanning the space.

"Where's my purse?" She wonders, looking around.

"Cyn, go to the sink. I'll rinse your hair out." Mel tells the client, switching her focus for a second before turning back to her distraught daughter.

Cynthia continues to scramble around though, alerted by her bag's disappearance. Out of the corner of her eye, Cleo makes sure the purse is hidden and out of the woman's sight before helping her scurry around.

"It's here. Don't worry." Mel adds, slightly too preoccupied to join the two. "Thanks, Cleo."

Tracy runs her fingers along her hair, pulling at the strands in stress. "Mom, his clothes shouldn't be here." She sobs. "You promised Mason and you promised me."

"No, I never promised anything." Mel tries to calm her daughter with trouble.

"Yes you did!" Tracy yells.

"Cynthia, you're cooking with gas." Mel swivels around to take care of her client, torn between the two. She leads her to the sink, agitated.

"This is so fucked up." Tracy cries, gritting her teeth together.

Cleo recognises part of herself in the girl as she watches her shaky breath seep out of her lips, disappointment flickering over her features. Watching her mother betray her trust to satisfy the man she loves. A man that only ruins the dynamic of her home.

She reaches for the stolen purse under Evie, swinging it around in front of Tracy. "Look what we have here." Cleo laughs, lifting the girl's mood immediately.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I'm backkkk on this story !!! More Mason content next chapter !! I made a few changes in the last chapters, so feel free to check if you're confused by any details !! Love u all.