hexes for exes

chapter nine, broken little girls

LILA DIDN'T MENTION a word of what had happened two nights before. Livia hadn't expected her to. Lila didn't like to ask for anything. She waited until you got uncomfortable, waited until you gave it all up yourself.

In a way, Livia realised, she was the exact opposite of Pamela. Pamela relied on keeping on the good side of everyone. She smiled and tittered until people gave her what she wanted. Lila did nothing but remain quiet and stare at you disapprovingly, waiting until you eventually cracked.

Livia wondered where she'd learnt it. But even though she knew exactly how Lila worked, it didn't stop her from succumbing under the intended effect.

"You want to know what happened?" Livia asked an hour into their shopping spree. They'd visited the Chanel store, which was Livia's personal favourite, and left with a new lip gloss she really didn't need. But she'd gotten it anyway.

Lila replied with a simple hum, as was customary with her. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" she replied. Answering questions with questions. That was another thing she liked to do. It was like she thought that if she never answered a question directly, no one would ever have a way of attacking her. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

"If I don't tell you," Livia snorted, "you'll figure it out anyways."

"If you want to tell me now, while Brie isn't here and it won't spread anywhere else, be my guest. But me, really, I don't care."

"Oh please," Livia laughed. "You're dying to know. You just won't let yourself show it, that's all."

A mocking smile curved over Lila's lip. "Oh, Livia darling, you know me so well."

But then Livia changed the topic abruptly. "I talked to Sarah yesterday. It was actually quite pleasant. She attempted to point out all the things wrong with me. Apparently I'm very arrogant."

"You can be," Lila murmured, "but I don't think you're any more arrogant than... well, her, or even Amphion."

"She said that Amphion was arrogant on the surface but humble on the inside, and that I was the opposite."

"Since when did you start caring about what Sarah Hepburn said?"

Lila had no qualms with Sarah. The two girls were not close, but they got along fairly well anyways. Lila was saying this because she understood very well the situation between Livia and Sarah, all the delicate intricacies, because she was also a girl their age who felt the same feelings they did. No one else got it. Especially not the twins. Zeth had, at numerous occasions, attempted to set Sarah and Livia up in close proximity, as if he believed that would solve the hidden rivalry. It wouldn't.

"I don't," Livia replied, though that was a lie. She didn't care much, but if she really didn't care at all she wouldn't have mentioned it to Lila in the first place, and the other girl knew that very well.

"What else did she say?"

"Veronica."

Lila paused for a moment, though they kept walking forward. After some long seconds she asked, "Will I be correct in assuming that your conflict with the twins has to do with Veronica as well? If you must know, I never quite liked her either. But she never directly had any clashes with me, so I saw no point in voicing that particular dislike. She was fake."

"She was very fake," Livia snorted. "And as always, my dearest Lila, you're correct. It was because of Veronica."

Lila's voice was quieter now. "I'm going to start making guesses here. From the things I noticed last year and now. Correct me if I'm wrong. You had a crush on Amphion, didn't you? I say had, because I think you're smarter than Brie with this kind of thing and won't continue liking someone who hurt you."