Tea Stains

(Contains reference to infidelity.)

The sky was raining tea that day. It was spilling over the rooftops. Pooling in the gutters. Dumping out the downspouts and washing through the sewer grates when Lavender ran up to Matcha’s bench under the awning.

Her hoodie was dotted with droplets. She was half an hour late for her appointment

“Sorry I’m late, but you will not bel-eeeve what happened in class!” Lavender’s eyes were lit up. She was waving her hands as she spoke, a sure sign the story would be potent.

Clouds were brewing, rolling over the high-rise buildings. Cars whisked by the park.

Matcha held out a milk tea and smiled. “Okay, just start from the beginning and keep going til the end.”

Lavender traded her a ten for the tea and sat down. She shook it up. The plastic “popped” as she stabbed the wide straw through the lid.

Matcha followed suit and sipped at her own herbal blend.

“Crumpet brought a friend to class today! I don’t know the friend’s name, so let’s call them… Biscuit! They sat right up front. Professor Oolong took roll and turned off the lights for the presentation. When the preso was over we all started working on assignments. Oolong left the lights off because it puts a damper on conversation.”

An evil glitter sparked in Lavender’s eyes. “So it’s dark, right?”

“Right.” Matcha agreed, sipping her drink.

“Mm-hm…” Lavender said, clearly attempting to control a laugh. “So, Biscuit is like checking social media on the computer while Crumpet is working. They tried to whisper-talk to Crumpet a couple times but Crumpet waved them to simmer down so they could work.”

The scent of glazed cinnamon rolls drifted by from the bakery down the street.

“Well, Biscuit got bored and pulled out their phone; apparently they didn’t remember which media they had running before class…”

Matcha raised an eyebrow. “So, I’m assuming they should have plugged in headphones before turning it on?”

Lavender tried to press her smile to keep from laughing as she nodded. “Mm-hmm. Cause, it turns out they had it full volume and the last thing they were watching was porn.”

Matcha felt her eyes widen. “NOooo! What happened?”

“Oh, it was so bad! Everyone was quiet and then there were the sounds and the corny music. Biscuit scrambled to turn it off. There wasn’t any doubt where it was coming from, they jostled the keyboard trying to get the pause button but it wouldn’t turn off! They had to power off the phone. Everyone just sat there in shock. Crumpet stared at Biscuit and they just stared at the screen. Everyone was just frozen. Oolong didn’t care, they rolled their eyes and kept working.”

Matcha squinted her eyes. “So no one said anything?”

“That’s where it gets funny. Green was next to me, and everyone else as far as I can tell are looking at their computers, like me. I’m just looking at my computer, but no, not Green. She’s looking around. And after a few minutes of complete silence, and I mean you could hear a tea leaf drop, she just blurts out, “Are we all just going to pretend that didn’t just happen?”

Matcha laughed, “Green is not one to beat around the bush!”

“Nope! Nope, she is not. So I’m sitting there, and she just says that so loud. And I’m like, “Yes, Green. Yes we are.”

“Did she say anything else?”

Lavender giggled, “Nope, she just went, “Okay,” and everyone was silent the rest of class. Biscuit was frozen until class ended and then bolted.”

“Well, I don’t blame them.”

“Oh, it was just so awkward! You should have been there.”

“Well, I had my own class…”

“Hey!” The word rang like a storm in a teacup as it carried across the sidewalk.

Matcha and Lavender looked to see Chai marching toward them. The shoulders of her zip up coat were damp and her hair was slick with rain.

“Oh, she looks upset,” Lavender said quietly. “I don’t think I want to be here for this.”

“We can finish later then?” Matcha smiled.

“Yeah…” When Chai got close she said, “Thanks for the milk tea! Hi Chai! Sorry, I gotta run.”

Chai didn’t look at Lavender. “I need to talk to you,” she said to Matcha as she sat down.

Matcha sipped her tea. “Who are we mad at today?” 

“Chamomile is sowing lies about me!” Chai’s face was flushed.

The rain fell more heavily on the grass.

Matcha frowned, “What is he sowing?”

“He knows about me and Ginger! He’s telling everyone!”

“He doesn’t live in the dorms, how would he know that?”

“People in our class have been looking at me weird so I asked Nettle if she knew why and she apologized and told me she’s been hanging out with him after school and a week ago she told him but she said she told him not to tell anyone and he is!”

“Why would he tell everyone?”

Chai threw her hands up, “I don’t know! I guess he’s mad I don’t like him.”

Matcha frowned. “Okay…that doesn’t sound like something Chamomile would do. Have you asked him about it?”

“No, and I’m never talking to him again!”

“Okay, but if you haven’t talked to him, how do you know he’s doing it?”

“Nettle said he is.”

Matcha wasn’t convinced, but Chai wasn’t one to budge when she made up her mind. “So what exact rumor is he spreading?”

“He’s telling everyone that Nettle, you, Lavender, and Green are all helping me sabotage Ginger’s relationship with Peppermint so I can be Ginger’s girlfriend.”

“Woah! Why’d he drag me into it? I’m not even involved in that scenario.”

“I don’t know, but he’s ruining my reputation at school!”

“Okay, you should really talk to him about it. I know you don’t like him, but he’s just socially awkward. It took me a whole quarter to warm up to him, but he really doesn’t intend any harm. I could ask him if you want a mediator.”

“No! I’m not talking to him and neither are you!”

“You’re saying he threw my name into the pot to boil along with others, that part of it is my business.”

“I’m telling you right now you aren’t talking to him. I’m not paying you to talk to him, you’re just here to let me vent. I’ll handle it.”

“Okay, is there anything else you need to vent?”

“No, that’s it.” 

Chai gave her fifteen dollars. Matcha folded the bills into her pocket as she stood.

“Let’s go then.” Matcha dropped her empty tea cup in the garbage bin and set off with Chai.

They parted ways at school, each to a different evening class.

The information simmered in Matcha’s mind while she listened to the lecture.

It wasn’t like Chamomile to plant pumpkin seeds in the rose patch. He didn’t have anything to reap by steaming Chai and he wasn’t uprooted about the fact she didn’t like him. He’d said as much in his vent sessions. There was no need for him to lash out at her.

She reviewed the conversation again as she walked to the dorms.

Why would Chamomile care what Chai was doing with Ginger? Ginger was in a different program. As far as Matcha knew they were strangers and Chamomile had never shown judgment or care about the tea others brewed.

Nettle on the other leaf…

Ginger, Chai, and Nettle all worked together. Matcha had seen Nettle and Ginger talking before. She leaned in to everything he said and laughed a little too hard at his jokes, just like Chai did. Matcha wouldn’t put it past Ginger to drink from two side cups. Since he wasn’t satisfied with Peppermint it’s possible he wasn’t satisfied with just Chai either.

Chamomile might not have anything to gain from a slanderous rumor about Chai, but Nettle sure did. If word got back to Peppermint, she may demand Ginger stop speaking to Chai.

Matcha was still thinking about it when she got to her dorm. She didn’t like the part of the conversation where Chai said she’d handle him. That could mean anything, but any of the things Matcha could think of did not bode well for Chamomile. 

Chai salted the fields of her friendships at the slightest provocation, as she’d told Matcha many times in her vent sessions.

Matcha wanted to nip it in the bud before Chai decided to trim the flowers with a chainsaw.

She grabbed her laptop and laid back on the bed, opening a direct chat.

The app showed Chamomile was online. That was a cup of good fortune.

Matcha opened the chat box. 

Chai had been very explicit that she didn’t want Matcha to meddle in the situation.

But she had said the rumor involved several people plotting as a group. That part of the conversation was ripe for the picking.

If Matcha got involved she may lose the extra money Chai paid to offload her secrets and call into question whether Matcha could be trusted to keep those secrets; however, she was very certain Chamomile was innocent.

She moved her fingers to the keyboard, felt the raised markers on F and J and alternated tapping her index fingers on them for a few moments before typing a message. 

Matcha read the message, then pressed backspace to delete it. 

She typed another message.

A few minutes of clack-clacking and back-backspacing went by. Finally she stared at the new message in the box and slid her pinky finger over the Enter key.

Her whole hand raised up as her little finger hovered on the key. 

Then she pressed.

The message sent.

Matcha:

“Hey, Chamomile, I need to ask something.”

The message was marked as sent.

A minute went by. 

Then the message was marked as read.

The box read: Chamomile is typing a message.

Chamomile:

“Heya Matcha! What can I do for you?”

Matcha bit her lip. The bag was already infusing the water…might as well drink it.

Matcha:

“I just have a quick yes or no question. Whatever your answer is, I’ll believe you.”

Chamomile:

“Sure thing, what’s up?”

Matcha:

“Have you been spreading a rumor that myself and others are plotting to break up a relationship?”

Chamomile:

“What the bitterleaf are you talking about???”

Matcha:

“I just need a yes or no.”

Chamomile:

“NO. What the LEAF are you talking about???”

“What did you hear?”

Matcha:

“I believe you. I heard you were talking ferment and dragged my name in. That is the extent of my concern on the subject.”

Chamomile:

“Talking ferment about what?”

“I have never spoken ill of you ever.”

“You are like- the last person I would speak bad about.”

“Who made these accusations of me?”

Matcha:

“Thank you for answering my question. I just needed to clear up the part about my name. I can’t spill the tea on my source, you know I’m paid for discretion.”

Chamomile:

“Hang on, I need to make a call!”

Matcha exhaled. The call was probably to Nettle.

Nettle was smart enough to throw Chamomile’s name into the compost. Chai already didn’t like him and she would rather launch burs at someone she disliked than feel like she’d misjudged a confidant.

Matcha stayed with the computer. She pulled up homework to occupy herself.

She’d started the business of giving people a place to vent shortly after starting school. It partly put a stop to the invasive nature of grapevine gossip since she was very good at keeping secrets.

Forty minutes later the computer pinged with a new direct message.

Chamomile:

“Just got off the phone with Nettle.”

No surprise there.

Chamomile:

“Last week she spilled the tea about Chai fooling around with some guy named Ginger and how she felt so bad for his girl, Peppermint and stuff. I didn’t think about it until you asked that question.”

Matcha:

“Sorry to ask so cryptically but I only felt I could ask about the part that involved me.”

Chamomile:

“It’s okay. Anyway, Nettle spilled everything on me and said Chai confronted her and she panicked and said I was the one planting seeds. I told her she needed to tell Chai the truth. She cried more and said she was afraid to. I don’t like making girls cry, but she can’t just lie like that. That’s not okay!”

Matcha:

“I agree, it’s not okay. Did Nettle say she would tell the truth?”

Chamomile:

“Yeah, she said she would.”

Matcha:

“Hopefully she does.”

Chamomile:

“Yeah. I’m going to try to go to bed now. Thanks for letting me know.”

Matcha:

“Any time. Sleep well.”

Chamomile’s status went offline.

Matcha pushed back in her chair and contemplated. Chai was not going to be happy with the truth. There was nothing more to be done and nothing for it. The leaves would be read in the morning.

…

Chai stomped up to Matcha’s lunch table the next day.

Matcha broke off the story she was telling to friends when Chai planted herself across from her and shouted, “When I tell you not to talk to someone, you don’t talk to them!”

Matcha calmly stood as everyone in the room silently looked between the two girls. “Shall we talk over there?”

Chai was clearly boiling over as she led the way down the hall to a relatively quiet cross section and whirled.

“Nettle called me at 2am, sobbing!”

“That’s an unfortunate time to have a chat.” Matcha knew there wasn’t much she could do to lower the temperature of the conversation. She kept her tone neutral.

“I was asleep when she called! She called three times until I woke up and told me you talked to Chamomile!”

It was clear Chai was giving her space to react. Possibly waiting to see if Matcha would be apologetic, or maybe hoping she would be defensive so she felt more justified in steaming at her.

“She probably could have waited until the morning.” Matcha murmured. 

“Yeah! I don’t do well unless I get a full eight hours, so I was in the middle of sleeping and she woke me up by calling and started sobbing at me. So I’m hazy and confused and she starts apologizing and telling me that Chamomile called her and demanded she tell me the truth about who was planting seeds about Ginger and that she’s really sorry and she panicked!” Chai looked more intensely at Matcha. “I want my money back. I told you not to talk about what I told you.”

Matcha met her gaze. “I messaged Chamomile and asked him if he had been spreading a rumor that myself and others were plotting to break up a relationship. I didn’t mention you, or Ginger, or Nettle. I asked about the part that concerned me. I agree that receiving a call at two in the morning is not the time to be having a conversation but I am not the one who made that call. I’m sorry that you are sleep deprived, but I think it’s good that you have more information on the subject.”

“No, it’s not good! It’s not good at all!” Chai’s eyes glistened as they brimmed slightly with tears.

“I know you aren’t fond of Chamomile, but he didn’t do anything.” Matcha said soothingly.

“No, it’s not okay because I already went to the Dean!”

Matcha almost took a step back. “Wait, you went to the Dean? When? Why?”

“After I talked to you! I demanded he expel Chamomile!”

“Why would you do that? You need to give a good reason for them to remove a paying student.”

“Slandering my name is a good reason. And now I’m embarrassed because I had to sit there and tell the Dean all about my personal business and what I am doing with Ginger and how Chamomile made stuff up.”

“You wouldn’t be embarrassed if you’d asked a few more questions. Are you going to clear things with the Dean?”

“No, you shouldn’t have said anything! I’m not venting to you anymore. I want all my money back because you clearly can’t keep a secret.”

Matcha expected this. “I haven’t shared any of what you’ve told me in two years, and you’ve slung dirt on Chamomile, Lavender, Green, Ginger, Nettle, and everyone we know. You’ve spilled so much tea on me it’s left stains in my soul. This would be a favor, giving the money back I wouldn’t have to keep those secrets anymore.

Chai looked stricken. “I didn’t mean all from previous sessions. I mean all the fifteen from yesterday.”

“I can give you back your money if you really want, but just know that if I do I will feel no further obligation to keep this secret for you; so, when I go back to that table and Green inevitably asks me what all this was about, I will be free to tell her that you falsely tried to expel the wrong student for dragging dirt over your part Ginger’s infidelity; and that, when you were given the truth of the matter you refused to correct the situation because you were too prideful to face the Dean again.”

“I never said I wouldn’t clear things up with the Dean!” Chai was actually pale.

“Would you like me to give your money back?”

“No.”

“Don’t wait too long or the Dean might pull Chamomile into a meeting. It’ll look worse for you if the Dean wastes their time on this middle school tea time than if you just clear it up first.”

Chai exhaled heavily. “I’ll do it after class.”

“Sounds good.”

Matcha went back to the lunch table.

Green was alert and curious. “What was that about?”

“Nothing I can talk about.”

“Okay. Hey, did you hear what Cookie did in class yesterday?”

“No. What did Cookie do?”

The tea continued to rain and left its stains behind.