Sweet Nothings

Chapter 13: Movie Night (Eden)

We were watching 'The Final' and the white boy in the mostly white group of misfits gave me school shooter vibes. The fact that he killed his friend for letting the black kid escape made me hate him. His generic, fake deep speech made me and Tiffany groan. Bianca threw popcorn at the laptop.

"Boo! Just kill them already!"

"I know, right? Listening to him talk is torture enough," Tiffany said, eating a handful of popcorn.

Suddenly, a white girl in a mask smeared a white cream on another girl's face. It burned her skin and she screamed in pain. Why? Because she called her a freak once. I guess, nothing could be a better push for change than having a permanent injury. My sympathy for her was gone.

I covered my eyes during the scene where a boy got his fingers chopped off. Bianca wrapped her arm around my waist. Tiffany tapped me on my shoulder.

"You can look now."

I turned my attention back to the movie. The rest of it was a chaotic mess. The black kid called the police in a white man's voice and a girl got her tongue cut. All of the kids at the party escaped. Before the ending credits appeared, I turned off the movie.

"Shit. We need a palate cleanser after all that," Tiffany said, crossing her legs.

I chuckled. "You're not wrong. That was disturbing."

"I bet you $20 that the would still be a bitch to everyone, if the movie was even a little bit realistic," Bianca whispered, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

I nodded in agreement. The man who made that movie clearly thought getting permanently disfigured was a punishment. I never wanted to watch it again. Anyway, I picked a movie called 'Birthday Behavior' to cleanse my mind.

I relaxed and ate a handful of popcorn. Bianca smiled at the dark skinned couple's chemistry onscreen. They were cute together, so I couldn't blame her. My phone vibrated next to me. I checked it. A message from my mom appeared on the screen.

You need to stop avoiding Nathan and talk to him.

Oh my God. She reached out to me on my 20th birthday just to bring up that asshole?! I rolled my eyes. The thought of hearing Nathan's voice made my blood boil. I furiously typed on my phone and sent a reply.

'I won't. I'm done with him.'

I frowned and out my phone down on my lap. As the women in the movie got ready for their fun birthday weekend, Bianca and Tiffany looked at me. Tiffany paused the movie. Bianca turned to face me.

"What's wrong?"

"My mom sent me this," I admitted, handing her my phone.

"Is she fucking serious? Doesn't she know that Nathan's an asshole?"

"Um...about that..."

"You didn't tell her?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because she hates me."

My mom didn't say she hated me, but I read between the lines. She wouldn't have called me a slut if she still loved me. Bianca pursed her lips and stared down at my phone. She gave me my phone back.

It vibrated in my hand. A message from my mom appeared on the screen. Bianca snuck a peek at it. I let out a heavy sigh.

How can you say that? You two were so good together!

Nathan and I were only as good as we made ourselves out to be. Of course, she fell for it. I didn't want to tell her the truth, but I had to. Maybe she'll finally stop talking about Nathan. I sent a response.

We weren't actually a couple. We faked it, so I could spend time with a guy I actually liked.

In the moment, A burden was lifted off my shoulders. Even though, my mom would still get mad at me for this. At this point, Tiffany staring at my phone too. Instead of sending me a message, my mom called me.

"Hi, mom," I said.

She sighed. "You two lied to me?"

"Technically, yes."

"Why?"

"Because you wanted us to be together so bad, you followed us on our first few 'dates'."

"I just wanted you to be with a nice boy. You could've told me you didn't like him."

"That 'nice boy' called me a tease for not actually wanting him. He did me dirty, mom."

She got quiet. My eyes filled with tears. I couldn't believe she had the nerve to expect me to tell her anything after she sided with Nathan's fake ass. I cried myself to sleep for two days because of her. The tears spilled down my face.

Bianca gave me a box of tissues. Tiffany rubbed my back. I wanted to hang up, but my mom needed to know how much she hurt me. I refused to hide my feelings for her benefit.

"Oh my God. I can't believe he would do that to you," she said, in a remorseful tone.

I sniffled. "I was afraid to talk to you, because you cared more about Nathan's feelings than mine."

"Eden, that's not true."

"Then, why did you listen to him instead of me?"

"You know what? I can't have this conversation. Happy birthday."

She hung up on me. This was so typical of her. I wiped my tears with a tissue. If I had to feel bad, so did she. She deserved it for starting this uncomfortable conversation on my birthday.

Bianca and Tiffany hugged me once I started sobbing. For once, I didn't have to deal with this alone. My phone rang but I didn't answer it. What was the point of talking to my mom if she wasn't going to listen to me?

"Do you want to keep watching the movie?" Tiffany asked.

I let out a shaky breath. "Yeah. I need to get that off my mind."

"Okay."

She played the movie. I laid my head on Bianca's lap. During the night party scene, I pushed the conversation to the back of my mind. Watching the group of women have fun onscreen cheered me up.

Bianca and I laughed when Tiffany twerked during a lap dance in the movie. When the lap dance ended, she sat down, panting and laughing. The movie ended with the group women having a picnic in the park. My eyes slowly closed during the end credits.