#also yes i stole the optimal male energy line from the show 'you' but i'm rewatching it rn for a specific reason

[tefibetancourt]

tefi waved her hand dismissively. “oh, don’t worry about it! i’m the public transportation queen.” she had a driver’s license she earned by the skin of her teeth, just one point off from failing, but had never owned a car. not legally, anyway. if she drove herself somewhere, it was either a boyfriend or friend’s car that they misguidedly let her borrow, or a piece of junk she bought with cash off of craigslist or an old coworker. the latter was never registered with the state of california, and usually ended up in an impound lot within the next year or so. taking the bus (or subway, back in l.a.) sucked majorly, the complete opposite of glamorous, but it was cheaper than uber or old-fashioned taxis. either that, or she relied on rides from friends. “i love you for the offer, though.” and she mentally filed it away under: friends willing to drive her somewhere. a precious, finite resource, especially in a town where she barely knew anyone and somehow already burnt bridges.

she nodded along as phoebe explained foster’s whereabouts for the evening, giving a little appropriate laugh when she shot a wink her way. it was moments like these that made her feel bad again. the weight of a secret was crushing, but the weight of a secret she was dying to scream along the streets of blue harbor was nigh unbearable. grand schemes of revenge had to be slow and meticulous, tefi had come to find out. the agony, though, of wanting to tell phoebe so badly! to warn her of what was coming. of how foster could easily dispose of his fucking legally wedded wife. of how easily foster could disappear into the night, almost if he never existed at all. did he really need to wonder why she was so angry, so hurt? that was the ultimate goal, tefi thought, to get foster to feel just like she had. she needed phoebe to leave foster just as high and dry, as foster had done to tefi. he needed to feel the pain that she felt! he needed to know what it was like to have the person that loved you throw you away without a second thought. phoebe would get over it eventually, tefi assumed. she’d find someone better, so it was okay to betray her. to use her in such a way. maybe phoebe would still want to be her friend, too, in order to enjoy girls’ night regularly in the future!

“okay, perfect! i mean, no disrespect to your boy or anything, but sometimes male energy is just… not optimal.” tefi shrugged one shoulder, punctuating with a large gulp of her wine. she took stock of the snacks and started grabbing some more favored items into her arms, then cocking her head towards the living room. “shall we start our night of debauchery?” she asked giddily, already walking out of the kitchen.

If becoming friends with girls had always been this easy, Phoebe would have tried it a long time ago. She hated the toxic way of thinking her mom conditioned her into, hated that she waited until the end of her twenties to really try and do something about it. Maybe it was just the excitement running in her veins about having a proper girls night, but it really seemed like Tefi was a kindred spirit. They only had discussed mostly surface-level interests as of late, but anyone willing to do face masks, eat pizza and binge watch movies was someone who could become a fast friend of Phoebe Yates.

"I didn't know you got the bus here, I'd have totally picked you up!" She exclaimed, feeling bad Tefi had to lug a bunch of stuff over on the the less than reliable public transport of Blue Harbor, something she unfortunately could heavily relate to. "I mean, Earl is a bit jerky but at least you'd have the trunk to put your things in!" She opened her food delivery app on her phone, typing in Pie Numbers' name and smiling as she saw the little badge indicating they did in fact deliver, showing it off to Tefi. "Perfect, like the stars have alligned in our favor!" She teased.

Phoebe reached for the bag of gummy worms, taking one and chewing on it thoughtfully, letting out a soft hum at Tefi's question about Foster. Tapping her phone again to see the time, she smiled back up at her friend. "Work. If I knew how long the hours of a chef were, I would never have bothered." And she threw a wink at Tefi to show she was fully teasing. "Um, he'll probably head out with some friends afterwards, and well, he has his own place I can always force him to crash at if we're having too much fun, y'know? Last thing he'll want after a long day at work is to be met with two giggling wine drunk ladies deep in a Twilight re-watch."