“Do you have a cigarette?” Ivy deflected.

 Ivy hated cigarettes. The last time she had one she was twelve and her father had walked out. Yet now she found herself on top of the dorm leaning over the balcony ashing the cigarette she bummed from Harley on the heads of the students who were stumbling back to their own rooms.

 “You’ve got my back–”She finally scoffed. “Are you also going to tell me that wasn’t a humanities major Jason was kissing just now? Are you going to tell me that it’s all going to be okay—like this isn’t exactly what you wanted to happen?”

 Hot frustrated tears stung at her eyes. She felt stupid for crying, so she fought them back. None of this was Harley’s fault, but it felt good to have someone to blame. She had known for a while that Jason was cheating on her, but it had been so easy to over look—to just close her eyes and pretend like he was up late grading papers—like he didn’t smell like someone elses perfume every time he came over for a quicky.

 Ivy flicked away the finished cigarette and then turned to face Harley. She squared her solders and pulled her glasses away from her face.

 “If you want to help, Harls then you can start by helping me turn that bastard’s life upside down.” Fuck Jason and fuck everyone who thought they knew the real her.  “And call me Ivy from now on.”

 In a crumbling chapel she found Harley shivering on a vomit soaked mattress wavering on the spot half dazed half mad. The building was barely a wood shack on the far end of town that had long since been abandoned. Writing covered the walls and the initial smell had Ivy clutching her nose so as not to trigger her gag reflex.

 “Hey Peanut.” She crooned “Long time no see.”

 Harley was weaker and more pale then she had ever looked before. Her eyes seemed unable to focus entirely on the person before her, so Ivy made a point of approaching slowly. She didn’t want to frighten her.

 “Harleen, what have you done.” She thought. Instead she crouched down and extended a hand to see if Harley would take it.

 It was hard for Ivy to put a finger on what Harley meant to her. They had been childhood best friends, but kids grow up and life happens. One day you forget to call, you miss a lunch date, and before you know it you’re both five years older. Harley had been Ivy’s saving grace when her parents got divorced. When the fighting got bad Ivy could run away to Harley’s place and they would have adventures together instead.

 Ivy pulled out her phone. There were three messages.

*Selena*: “Hey Ivy, has Harley checked in with you lately. I haven’t seen her in a month and Bruce said she missed her parole meeting. If she doesn’t turn up soon they’re going to throw her in the hole for good. “

*Mrs. Q*: No idea. But if you see her tell her not to come by. Last time she stole 50$ and broke Tony’s nose.

*Ed*: She was hanging around the south end a week ago picking up cigarette buds.

 She tapped Selena’s name.

*Ivy*: I have her.

 Harley wobbled and fell into Ivy’s arms.

 “I feel numb” She mumbled into her shirt. Ivy held her close and stroked her dirty hair.

 “You look like shit. How does a hot meal and a shower sound?” when Harley clutched at her tighter she whispered softly. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you now and I’m never letting go again.”

“—but your crabs do”

 Ivy hissed and gathered up her books to sit somewhere else.  

 Gotham University had 20,000 students, a five story library, and a sprawling campus you could get lost in. Unless of course you were being fallowed by Harley Quinn. In which case the campus might have been three class rooms shoved together because no amount of sneaking around would keep her from finding you.

 “Why are you fallowing me?” Ivy snapped. “ It’s bad enough I have to see you every night—”

 Ivy glanced around the floor. Every table was taken. Midterms had even the most absent minded slacker scuttling to the library in order to cram as much information as they could into their skull. To her right a dark–haired girl was mid silent meltdown with big sloppy tears dampening the table and to her left a computer engineer was noisily typing away at his key board. Ivy slowly lowered herself back down into her seat and glared at Harley who appeared to look both amused and satisfied with Ivy’s discomfort.  

 “I just want to write my paper in peace.” Ivy sighed and set her books out on the table again.

 The problem with Harley wasn’t her choices in men or her attitude, Ivy would never admit it but sometimes she could even be funny, no the problem was that Harley was loud in every sense of the word. Her soft white hair was died bright colors at the ends, her lips were usually painted a velvet sort of red, her eyes were a rich deep focused blue that reached unknown depths, and it was all too distracting for Ivy to ever have a moments peace.

 Even if Harley sat stone still Ivy would find herself rereading the same sentence fifteen times never taking in a single word because her eyes would inevitably always find their way back to her.

 Why couldn’t she take a hint. Ivy wasn’t interested.

Yesssssss