Hades Legacy (Hades Series #3)

Chapter Ten

"What kind of world have you conjured up in your head?" I laugh. "That is nothing like what happens."

"Really? That's disappointing." She pouts, brushing a wisp of hair out of her face that escaped from her messy ponytail. "I should've known Eric lied to me."

"You actually believed him?" I ask incredulously. Her shoulders draw together as she shrugs. "It's Eric Jas. Lying to people is like his first language."

"You're saying that like you know him so well." She banters with a cheeky grin. "Should I, as your official best friend, be worried that I'm being upstaged?"

I stumble to a stop, staring at her with wide eyes. "What did you just say?"

"What? That you're my best friend?" She asks, and I nod. "Well duh Ellie. I may have only known you for just under a month, but you're like the sister I never had. Plus, you're the only person I don't want to punch in the throat on a daily basis. Of course you're my best friend. Why is that such a shock?"

"I've never really had a best friend."

"That's not true." She scoffs, her eyes widening when I nod. "Seriously? What about Dorian?"

"Yes, he's my closest friend." I stick my tongue out slightly as I trek up a particularly steep part of the path, before continuing on. "But he's more like my brother than my best friend."

"What's the difference?"

"There are some things I would not tell him in a million years."

"Like how you like Eric?" She teases, dragging out the second to last word. I give her a dry look and shove her. She stumbles away with a cackle, throwing her arms out to steady herself. "Oh come on El, don't be like that. I know what's going on between you two; how blind do you think I am?"

"You're not blind." I affirm, and she arches an eyebrow at me challengingly. "There's just nothing to see."

"Lying to your best friend? Gee, you really don't know how this thing works, do you?" She skips away with a giggle when I try to shove her again. "What happened to telling me the things you wouldn't tell Dorian in a million years?"

"I never said I would tell you."

"Sure you did. You just don't want to admit it." She replies pompously. "Come on El, it's just me! There's nobody else around to hear you profess your love for Cupid, so just out with it already!"

"I don't love him Jasmine! I don't!" I protest when she gives me a dry look. "I've barely known him for a month; why on earth would I love him? He frustrates the hell out of me."

"You doth prostesteth too much, my friend." She replies, and I glare at her. "What? It's true! All I'm hearing is a bunch of half-assed recycled excuses, but no real reason that'll convince me you don't like him."

"I'm going to push you down this hill if you say that I like him one more time."

"And now we have violence instead of reasons. Seriously Ellie." She turns on her heel and stares me down, her hands on her hips. "What gives?"

I blink up at her in confusion. "I-I don't know what that means."

She sighs exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "What's going on with you and Eric? And don't say nothing, because I know there's something going on."

"There is something going on." I reply, and her eyes light up at the prospect of gossip. "He's helping me cross things off my bucket list before I go home."

She groans, punching my shoulder. "Don't get my hopes up like that!"

"Well what am I supposed to say, Jasmine?" I say with a small laugh. "There's nothing going on!"