Title: Deepest Secrets
Status: Complete
Characters: Trish, Naomi
Rating: SFW
Classification: One Shot
Author: Anonymous
Naomi drummed her fingers on the table, tapping out a harsh staccato beat. To the casual observer she seemed to be her usual cheerful self, but inside she was fuming. Months of careful planning and meticulous scheming were all coming to naught. Despite her best efforts, it seemed that Anon had no intention of dragging Fang away from her own poor decisions. Worse, it looks like he may even be encouraging her! Naomi ground her teeth behind her placid smile, tapping away on the cafeteria table. There were only a couple months left until prom, if she wanted to salvage the last of the semester she needed to act. There must be something she can do to change course. Naomi scanned the cafeteria as she took a sip of water, taking note of who was talking to who. Nothing out of the usual, nothing with any real potential use later. Naser was out at a track team meeting, so she had their usual table to herself. That suited her today, this way she wouldn’t have to fake her way through another inane conversation. However, now she noticed she wasn’t the only one sitting alone. At a table in the corner, far away from everyone else, a certain purple triceratops was eating lunch by herself.
An idea came to Naomi. She dismissed it at first, but the more she thought about it the more potential she saw. Could she try to collaborate with Trish? It was no secret that Trish despised her even more than Fang did, but Trish also despised Anon with equal fervor. If Naomi approached her the right way, and deflected Trish’s antagonism onto Anon, it may work. Trish was closer to Anon and may know something about him that Naomi could use as leverage. Not to mention if things backfired, she could use Trish as a convenient scapegoat. There was even the possibility she could alienate Trish from Fang, if she played her cards right. Naomi wasn’t sure who Fang would side with if she had to choose between her childhood friend or her new boy toy, but either outcome suited Naomi fine.
Her mind made up, Naomi stood up and walked across the cafeteria. She smiled and waved to a few particular students as she passed them, either to give the impression they were in her good graces or as a subtle reminder that they had unfulfilled obligations. She approached Trish from behind, to make sure she wouldn’t have time to prepare any witty remarks. It’s always best to start a conversation with your opponent on the back foot.
“Hello Trish!” Naomi beamed, walking into Trish’s field of view. Trish sputtered into her water as Naomi surprised her mid sip. Naomi took the liberty of sitting down as Trish cleared her throat, acting innocent. She couldn’t help but internally gloat, things were already going her way. It would have been easy for Trish to refuse if she had asked to sit down, but now Trish couldn’t force her to leave without looking like the antagonist.
“What do you want Naomi?” Trish asked, narrowing her eyes. Naomi couldn’t blame her for being suspicious, Trish was one of the few people at school with a faint idea what she was capable of. This wasn’t an insurmountable problem.
“I just wanted to chat is all.” Naomi replied, which wasn’t a complete lie. “I feel like it’s been forever since we’ve talked. You’re usually hanging out with Fang.” Trish looked away for a moment, muttering something violent under her breath. Naomi’s smile grew wider, she knew she had her way in.
“Where is Fang anyway?” She asked, knowing full well what the answer likely is.
“She’s off with Anon.” Trish scowled, clenching her fists. “They ran off somewhere about an hour ago, probably to do something disgusting.”
“They really are getting close, aren’t they?” Naomi continued, enjoying Trish’s reaction. “It certainly seems like they’re spending a lot of time together.” Trish didn’t reply, but her darkening expression told Naomi everything she needed. No doubt Fang’s new romantic interest left little time for her old childhood friend. This was exactly the kind of motivation Naomi could use to get Trish onto her side.
“So… what do you think about Anon?” Naomi asked. The question sounded innocent enough, but there was still a flash of suspicion in Trish’s eyes.
“Why do you ask?” Trish replied, wary. She wasn’t foolish enough to trust Naomi so soon, but she was willing to talk.
“I’m just curious.” Naomi lied, looking Trish in the eye, “I think we might have… similar thoughts, regarding him.”
“I don’t think so.” Trish scoffs, but there’s something hidden in the edge of her voice. Was that fear, or doubt? She was so confident before, but now she can’t meet Naomi’s eye. There’s something going on here, Naomi wasn’t sure what, but she could still work it.
“Don’t be so sure.” Naomi leaned in, deciding to stretch things a little farther. “It’s not hard to see how you really feel about him.”
Trish’s eyes filled with panic. If she wasn’t nervous before, she is now. Her eyes darted left and right, terrified that somebody else might be listening in on their conversation. She tried to stammer out a hasty denial, but she’s too unnerved to speak.
“Relax, I won’t tell anyone.” Naomi smiled. Her expression was sweet, but her tone carried an unmistakable predatory edge. “I always keep secrets for my friends. We are friends, aren’t we Trish?”
“Yeah, of course!” Trish choked out, sweat forming on her brow. Naomi soaked in the feeling of triumph. This was her favorite way to manipulate people. No threat she could come up with was worse than whatever her victims imagined she might do. Plus, she still retained total deniability. After all, she hadn’t said anything wrong, had she?
“I’m so happy to hear that!” Naomi clasped her hands together, “I always knew we could get along. Now that we’re friends, could I ask you for a little help with something?”
“S-sure.” Trish tried to force a smile, but it wasn’t very convincing.
“I mentioned Anon earlier, but I don’t really know anything about him.” Naomi adjusted her glasses, finally getting to the point. “I don’t suppose you could help me… get to know him better
?”
“Get to know him?” Trish repeated, not taking the hint.
“You know…” Naomi continued, trying to get Trish to pick up on what she wanted. “He likes to keep things close to his chest. He’s a real mystery. I just want a… little peek behind the curtain, you know?”
“Really?” Trish asked, her nervousness edged out by surprise. “Wow, I didn’t think you were interested in him, like…at all.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Naomi batted her eyelashes, “I told you we feel the same way about him.”
“Yeah… yeah, I guess you did.” Trish rubbed the back of her head, “I just figured… well, with you and Naser I thought-“
“Naser has nothing to do with this.” Naomi cut her off, eyes narrowing. Naser’s untarnished reputation and impeccable character were some of his most valuable traits. Naomi would not tolerate anything that could blow back on him.
“Right, got it. I understand. This is a personal thing.” Trish seemed to have calmed down by now, “I know what you’re after. How about we met up the library after school? I think you’ll like what I’ve got.”
“That sounds lovely.” Naomi grinned. This was going better than she could have hoped, it sounds like Trish is completely onboard, and already had information for her. She isn’t sure what kind of dirt Trish could have dug up, but Naomi wasn’t dissuaded. If Trish couldn’t find anything useful, threatening to reveal her subterfuge would be excellent blackmail material. Naomi didn’t have to fake her smile as the bell rang and she parted ways with Trish. As usual, she had found a potential solution to her problems in no time at all.
____________________________________________________________________________
Naomi wanted for Trish in a secluded study room in the far corner of the library. Most of the other students had rushed for the front doors as soon as the last bell rang, and a few pointed looks cleared out the last couple stragglers. Now Naomi had the place to herself, confident nobody would overhear them. She didn’t have to wait long for Trish to arrive.
Trish peered around the door as she pushed it open, glancing left and right before she entered. Naomi suppressed a groan as Trish approached like a nervous fawn, her amateurish attempts at stealth only making her more conspicuous. Naomi decided she would need to give her a few lessons if she wanted this partnership to be an asset instead of a liability.
“Were you followed? Trish asked, taking one more paranoid glance at the library doors
“Not unless you gave somebody a reason to.” She couldn’t help but snap back.
“Good.” Trish slid into her seat across from Naomi, oblivious to her annoyance. Naomi’s mood lifted when Trish reached into her backpack and pulled out a bulging Manila folder, and a USB thumb drive. Trish may be an amateur, but she must have been working on this for months. Naomi retrieved her laptop and plugged in the thumb drive, her eyes widening at the files began to synch.
“61 gigabytes?” She exclaimed, scrolling through the cascading list of folders. This was more than she ever could have expected.
“Sweet, right?” Trish grinned, “Most of it’s just pictures, but there are a couple videos in there as well. It’s a bit of a mess though.”
“How did you even get all this?” Naomi asked, eyeing the bulging Manilla folder on the table. She picked it up and uncoiled the red string holding it shut, pulling out a stack of laminated photos.
“I snuck a camera into his apartment a couple months ago.” Trish explained as Naomi thumbed through the stack of photos, “His room is so messy he never noticed. So, what do you think? Good shit, right?”
Naomi didn’t hear the question. She was incapable of hearing anything at the moment, besides the rapid thump of her heartbeat. Her fingers trembled as she looked at the photo in her hand. It was a picture of Anon as he left the shower, with nothing but a small towel hanging over his manhood. Steam billowed out from behind him, moisture glistening on his skin.
“Naomi?” Trish asked, gesturing to the tip of her snout. “You okay? You’ve got a little, um…”
“This is… um.” Naomi retrieved a handkerchief and dabbed the end of her snout as she flipped through more of the photos, each more risqué than the last. “This isn’t quite what I had in mind.”
“What do you mean? I thought…” Trish’s eyes widened as the realization set it. She had drastically misinterpreted their earlier conversation. Now Naomi was holding a literal pile of evidence of her deepest secret.
“HA HA JUST KIDDING BY THE WAY GOT TO GO!” Trish snatched the folder out of Naomi’s hands, her face a bright furious shade of red. “TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS AND YOU’RE DEAD!”
Trish yanked the thumb drive out of Naomi’s laptop and sprinted for the exit. She slammed into the door as she tried to open it, leaving three large circular cracks on the glass. Trish stumbled through the door and took off running down the hall, almost slipping on the linoleum.
Naomi was still sitting at the table, not having moved an inch in the last minute. She was still trying and failing to process what had just happened. Try as she might, she couldn’t. Naomi felt like she was thinking through quicksand as she contemplated what to do next. Her eyes slid down to her open laptop and saw that it had completed downloading Trish’s files only a few moments ago. The safest thing to do would be to delete everything and pretend this horrible day had never happened. However, something stayed her hand. It would be a waste to destroy everything, right? There must be something salvageable in there, amongst the hundred and photos and hours of footage. It would take a long time to look through it all, but she could do that. Afterwards she can delete everything that isn’t useful, and nobody would know a thing. Naomi leaned forward as she opened the first folder, grabbing her handkerchief as she felt another trickle slide down the end of her snout. No time like the present to get started.
