A Few Hundred Poppies

19. The Heartbreak Party

Art scowled at West's retreating figure like a connoisseur of art would at a hippie who'd graffitied a penis on Mona Lisa's head, and patted my shoulder with her soft hand. "Hey, fuck boys, right? Give it a whirl, girl! Nothing gets you over a guy like dancing."

And so we danced. We danced until my feet hurt in the Everlane heels borrowed from Lee, and then I took off the heels and danced some more. Once it no longer mattered that who was watching and judging, I had nothing to fear.

When we cut the huge two-tier cake, I grinned despite the word spreading like wildfire that Ruby and West had made out during a particularly passionate round of seven minutes in heaven. Ramming a piece of chocolate cake all over Ever's face while pretending to feed him, I made a wave of laughter reverberate across the room, my own sounding the loudest. Ever reached for me with a fistful of cake, but I ducked and he smeared the cake on Lee's collarbone instead. Art, Troy and I cackled as Lee blew up like a volcano, spitting out profanities at Ever.

As Ever and Lee left to wash up, I walked to the porch with a generous serving of cake on a pretty china plate, twirling a fork around in my hand. The Richards had a large porch, and there was a white table in the corner where several people were trying to flip a bottle and make it stand upright. One of them beckoned me over. Smiling, I declined and took my seat, turning to the plate in my hand. I kicked off my heels so that they lay on the neatly mowed lawn.

Observing the cake, I suddenly became very solemn. The guys knew that I loved flowers, and the cake had beautiful roses, peonies and wildflowers sprouting from it in every direction. But the slice I'd been served by Lee happened to have only one flower on top of it - a blood red poppy.

Appearing very flustered and sheepish, West suddenly plopped down beside me. I swallowed the sudden fury surging within me with a mouthful of cake. Moist and heavenly, it must've been the best chocolate cake I'd ever had, and it managed to quell my anger for a while.

"Aditi," West called, trying to establish eye contact. I didn't reply, busying myself with bending over the plate and slicing the cake with my fork. A drop of tear abruptly rolled down from my eyes to the plate, making a tiny noise as it fell. "Aditi," West called again after the pause, more urgently this time.

"How much satisfaction do you get from it?" I asked coolly, staring him dead in the eye. "Leading people on just for fun?" I bounced up from the porch after shoving the cake into my mouth, not waiting for his reply. Barging in, I stormed to the kitchen. About to slam the plate onto the kitchen counter, I remembered that it was made of china, and placed it with care on the black marble.

West stood at the entrance to the kitchen, blocking my way. "Move," I commanded.

West sighed softly. "I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? Nah. I'm sorry for reacting that way, by the way. You kissed a hot girl, mate. Congrats!" I smiled a smile that didn't reach my eyes, shoving him aside.

"I didn't," he said loudly, making me teeter on the edge of turning back. "I don't know what everybody's saying. They made me play, I got into the cupboard, but nothing happened. I swear, Aditi."

"I don't think I want to believe you," I stated flatly, and tore up the stairs to Ever's room, climbing two steps at a time. It was deserted, as expected, and I plopped down on his bed, taking deep breaths. Don't worry, cry all you want when you get home. Just hang on for a little while.

Minutes later, someone knocked on the door. I considered playing dead for a while, but sitting upright, I spoke loudly, "It's your life, do whatever you want."

A plump girl opened the door and peered in. I recognised her fiery purple hair from the Art Club, but couldn't recall her name. Forming a flat distaste towards her immediately, I scolded myself. It wasn't her fault that anything Art Club reminded me of its president making out with my potential boyfriend.

"Hi," she said. I smiled politely in return. "I- uh, wanted to say something to you."

"To me? Sure, come in, I don't think Ever will mind," I said, stretching my arms in a futile attempt to get the lethargy off them. She shuffled in, grabbing Ever's chair and swiveling it around to face me, and took her seat. I desperately tried to recall her name again.

"So, like," she began, rolling up the sleeves of her olive blouse as if she meant business. "I wrote you the sticky notes."

I had to think for a moment. "Oh...you mean the sticky notes?"

"Yep. The sticky notes, with the two-lined compliments," she said, cracking a small smile.

"Wow...Thanks for- for saying all that stuff. It was pretty sweet, but I'm kinda straight," I said awkwardly, making her chuckle. She took a sip from the glass of beer in her hand.

"I hope you don't mind me drinking. I know you're straight. I thought I'd never tell you up front, but I saw something today, and it wasn't right. The way West's treating you, you're too good for that, Aditi. Just- don't let the muggles get you down," she stated, the warmth of her eyes consoling.

"Thank you, Brenda," I sighed tiredly, the Harry Potter reference doing little to cheer me up. "I don't give a fuck about West." Liar.

"My name's actually Greta," she laughed, and I made to apologise. "It's okay, don't say sorry. I just wanted to remind you that you're worth a lot, you know. Real people are extremely rare nowadays...even I'm not real half the time."

"Thanks, Greta. I can't believe that I seriously thought that I had a chance with him, with all the hot girls that are into him," I muttered, staring at my lap.

"Yeah, I won't correct you on that one. People are superficial, and that's that. They rarely try to see the soul under the skin. If they did, nobody would be able to love a two-faced bitch like Ruby more than you," Greta nearly seethed.

"What? Ruby isn't two-faced," I stated with confidence, frowning. "She's one of the nicest people I know in EA."

"Oh, honey, you're too gullible, too loyal. She may pretend to be all sunshine and rainbows, but I've seen her say exact opposite things to two different people in the same hour. Being a permanent resident of the Art Club Room has its perks. I can't say for sure that she and West didn't do anything, though. I never trusted West. Guys who drive expensive cars should never be trusted," she ranted, finished her drink and set the beer on Ever's study desk. I let out a small laugh.

Back home, I found Bapi sitting on the living room couch when I walked in, a solemnity about his aura. I didn't bother him. Entering my room, I kicked off the flats (I'd returned Lee's heels in case Ma saw them and got mad) and melted into the warmth of my sheets, too exhausted to change.

Way back when I was falling for Ever, I believed that I was becoming surer of what love is with every passing day. When he'd broken my heart, I thought that it'd been easy to un-love him because I knew love inside and out.

But this time, the more West broke my heart, I fell in love with him even more, and the more confused I became about what love truly is. There's only one thing I knew for certain — I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'd known that West was going to break my heart, and perhaps that preparation had softened the blow this time. But nothing, absolutely nothing could've prepared me for the events of the next morning.

Bapi had been sitting alone in the living room because Ma was missing.

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