They snuck into a darkened room and sat on somebody's bed.

Anisha rubbed the girl's back and said, "How do you feel now?"

"Not great," Maryam told her. "He said he was divorced. He said he never saw his daughter. He said he was lonely without his family."

Anisha felt a deep sense of disappointment in her father, but she couldn't bring herself to hate this girlfriend of his. "You were having an affair?"

"I didn't know it was an affair. He said he was-"

"Divorced."

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"I know!"

Anisha shook her head. "I never thought Daddy could do something like this."

They sat in silence as Anisha rubbed the girl's back. Maryam's dress felt nice and silky under her hand. She could feel the bumps of Maryam's spine, and the line of a bra strap. As her eyes adjusted to the moonlight, she noticed the shine of the fabric, as well as the sparkle of her own bee costume.

"How are you feeling now?" Anisha asked.

"Better. You can stop rubbing."

"Oh. Sorry."

Anisha backed off, even though she didn't really want to. She shrugged off her bee wings because they were starting to annoy her, and tossed them on the floor along with her antennae and purse.

"What are you doing?" Maryam asked, watching the items fall to the ground.

"Nothing. They were just bugging me."

Maryam laughed, and her lipstick shimmered in the moonlight.

"What's funny?"

"They're bugging you... and you're a bug."

Anisha looked down at her yellow and black striped bodysuit. "I'm a bee."

"A bee is a bug."

"I guess."

"Anything annoying is a bug," Maryam reasoned.

"Sorry. Am I bugging you?"

Sitting gently at the edge of the bed, Maryam turned her head and smiled. "No. No, I'm glad you're here. If you hadn't been here, I wouldn't know your father was lying to me all this time."

Anisha felt weirdly guilty, like she'd ruined this girl's perfect relationship. Even if that relationship was with a married man who just so happened to be her father.