Daisy in a Meadow

39 - Confessions

"I'm sure you were," I sighed before facing Andre. "Have you seen Elias?"

To my surprise, Andre scowled at the question. "Not that it's any of your business, but no, I haven't."

With that, he brushed past my shoulder and stalked away. I gaped at his departing figure, before facing Malcolm incredulously.

"What's his deal?" I demanded, feeling appalled by Andre's rudeness.

"No clue," Malcolm averted his eyes from me, before chugging an entire cup of vodka.

"What'd you do that for?"

"I have a feeling I'm gonna need that to get through tonight," he cringed, before pouring some alcohol into another red solo cup. "You want?" he offered.

"No, thanks," I declined after some thought.

"Good idea. I don't need you jumping into any pools this time," Malcolm teased, before downing the drink for himself.

I whacked his side. "Hey!"

He giggled. Meanwhile, I thoughtfully mused, "I think I should go talk to Andre."

Malcolm suddenly choked on his drink. "A-Are you sure you wanna do that?"

"Yeah, why not?" I gave Malcolm a strange look.

He appeared to be at a loss for words, so without further ado, I began to push through the crowd and follow after Andre's departing figure. I distinctly heard Malcolm call my name, telling me to wait up. Regardless, I continued my pursuit after Andre.

After discovering that Andre had lied to me about paying off my bills, I'd been yearning to confront him. Or, scratch that. Perhaps confront was too strong of a word. I guess I just wanted to know where his head was at—to know why exactly he felt the need to impress me, as Elias had so thoughtfully worded it.

"Andre," I sighed in relief as I finally caught up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Gosh, you walk fast."

Andre turned around, squinting to look at me through the flashing party lights. Alas, his lips upturned into a familiar smile. "No, I don't. You just have short legs."

"Thanks," I sarcastically replied. "Anyways, can we talk for a sec?"

His eyebrows raised, and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Sure."

I shuffled my feet, wondering how exactly I should go about this. Sensing my unease, Andre frowned at me. "Maybe we should go upstairs," he suggested. "It's quieter up there."

"Yeah," I agreed, before beginning to lead the way.

The two of us navigated through the maze of dancing bodies, climbing the stairs until we reached a vacant bedroom. It had the hints of a teenage boy, and I assumed it was the bedroom of the host. I wasn't given much time to dwell on it as Andre closed the door behind us, enveloping us into a cocoon of privacy.

"What is it, Daisy?" Andre asked, his eyes raking over my face in worry.

Unsure of how to start, I hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Remember a few months ago when someone anonymously paid off all my bills? You acted like it was you, but... it wasn't, was it?"

Andre's eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. The weight of his deception must've bore heavily upon him, but now, standing face to face with me, he had no choice but to come clean.

To my surprise, he smiled. It was a bittersweet, sad smile. "It was Elias."

It sounded like less of a question, and more of a statement. Nonetheless, I offered a reluctant nod.