Southern Belle

Ch. 25 You Cared

"Oh, my! Elise is such a dirty whore!"

"The Monroes are cocky bastards!"

And countless of other comments sounded just like that. In a few more minutes, my feet were soon propelling me up the staircase of the building, and I was nearing my room. Thankfully, nobody was out partying in our dorm tonight, so I was able to travel through the hallway with ease. When my body was in front of the door, I could faintly hear her sobs.

With a quick push, the door smacked open, and I tiptoed into the room. The sight in front of me made my heart break. My little friend, curled up on the couch, had a box of tissues right next to her; thousands of used tissues were scattered across the room. All I could see was her brown hair since her face was smushed in between her knees.

"Elise," I coaxed softly, taking a step forward. When those words escaped my lips, Elise's head popped up, tear-stained and pale white.

"Go away!" she stated angrily, her eyes darkening as she spoke. She attempted to have a frightening expression on her face, but with her constant sobs, she looked more pathetic than scary.

"Everything will be okay," I whispered and took two steps again. My hands were placed in front of my defensively; I was acting like she was a caged animal.

Her head shook violently back and forth, causing her hair to wrap around her. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she rolled her eyes, and as her chest began wheezing rapidly, she put her shaking hand up to her heart. "Can you just leave me alone?"

A small sigh left my mouth while I bent down beside her. Her appearance, now that I was up close to her, shocked me even more. Her cheek bones looked more prominent, and her lips were chapped and bright red; the contrast between her pale skin and black hair transformed her into a vampire.

 Her sobs increased, and I reached out to touch her shoulder. Before my finger was even an inch away, she smacked my hand from her. "Stop trying to act like you're an angel," she choked out, "because my best friend told me that you were part of that...that gallery."

My eyes widened when her words registered into my mind. How'd that go around? Did Meg blab to her friends? I ran a hand through my tangled mane while I tried to form a response to her statement. 

"Why would you do that? I'm so messed up as it is, and you just needed to put the final nail in the coffin. Well, you won because I'm broken." She placed her head onto her knees, her hands trembling more noticeably now.

"Elise--"

"And," a loud cry interrupted me, "now everybody knows my secrets. Everybody knows that I fucked my dad's best friend because he found out that I was doing drugs once I came home from rehab. He walked in on me snorting. I had to persuade him into not telling my dad--my dad was super close into sending me to reform academy. It was stupid, but I had to do what I had to do."

I gestured for her to continue.

"And then he kept blackmailing me about the drugs and our hookup. So, I kept sleeping with him, and now," she gulped, "I'm a slut too."

Her confession shot a pang of guilt through my body. With each sentence, she caused me to feel more and more ashamed. Who was I to let Meg air her dirty laundry to the world? It was none of my business, but the gratification from revenge tempted me into the plan.

"I didn't know that," I whispered quietly, scratching the back of my neck.

She lifted her head up; sweat and tears dripped down her face, mixed with mascara and eyeshadow. "No, you didn't."

"Listen, I'm--"

"You're sorry. That's what you're going to say, and guess what? I don't believe it one bit. You're probably saying that just so I won't tell Nick because you want to get into his pants." Her voice, harsh and cold, cut through my skin. I winced back, almost like she was slapping me.

"Elise--"

"I'm moving out tomorrow. I can't stand to be around you. You're scum." Her voice faltered, and tears began cascading down quickly. Clutching the pillow in front of her for comfort and protection, she began inhaling and exhaling noisily once again. "And I don't want to ever see you near my family again."

Shaking my head, I gripped the end of the couch for support as I got up. I shot her one last apologetic glance before sulking out of the room. I needed to tell Nick before rumors and accusations reached him.

However, deep down, I knew how badly I messed up. Our friendship would be forever ruined.

As I neared the door, I thought I faintly heard her mumble, "And I thought you were one person other than Nick that actually cared about me."

**

Knocking on the door, I inhaled sharply as I attempted to calm my nerves. This couldn't go well. I had went to the cafe to find Nick, but the waiter told me that he had left about an hour ago, so I immediately thought he went back to his dorm to study. Because I was so scared of his reaction, it had taken me about thirty minutes for my hand to pound against that wooden door.

As soon as I hit it, the door became slightly ajar. This must've mean that he was home, right? There was no way he would leave his dorm unlocked since his roommate was out for the week in the hospital, which his million-dollar would be left unprotected if he wasn't in his dorm. Silently cursing myself for getting into this situation, I stomped swiftly into the room before my mind could change its decision.

I wished I hadn't.

The speech I had perfectly drafted in my head disappeared as I caught sight of the event in front of me. Nick, with his button-down shirt half off, was sucking the lips off of Missy Bufont on the couch. They were so engrossed in their makeout session that I guess they didn't hear the creak of the door.

This couldn't be happening. Hadn't he told me that I should give him a chance because he had feelings for me? Was I imagining this? My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I contemplated the events prior to this moment.

This had to be a nightmare.

Maybe I was high.

"You said," I choked out, "that you wanted a chance."

Although I said those words in a quiet tone, it must've been loud enough for the brown-haired boy to hear. Immediately, his eyes snapped open, and his hands pushed Missy off. Wide-eyed, he looked me over as his chest pulsed with every breathe.

"Belle," he pleaded, his eyes squinting, "I promise that this didn't mean anything. I was just--"

I bit my lip, trying to form a barrier to hold back the tears. Why was I crying? I didn't have any feelings for him other than friendly ones. 

Missy, with her right hand, flattened her hair down onto her shoulders. Once she leered me over, she shot me a victorious smirk before strutting out of the living room into the bedroom area, leaving the liar and I all alone.

"You're messed up," I stated as streams of water pooled at my eye-lids. I desperately began blinking them away, but a pathetic expression began molding onto my face.

His hand extended out to me. "I care about you! I promise!" His voice cracked, sending sparks up and down my spine.

I snorted. "Yeah right."

"Belle--"

"Whatever we had is over," I declared bluntly, gesturing to myself and him. As he began blabbering to me about how sorry he was, I tuned him out and pivoted around. 

I needed to get out of here before I broke completely.

As my left foot exited the room, sobs began tumbling out of me. Leaning against the wall for support, I clutched my stomach and closed my eyes; droplets of water slithered down my cheeks and fell onto the peach carpet below me.

This couldn't be happening.

**

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:*( This was such a hard chapter to write. that's why it took me so long to upload.

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