ELIZA
The next three days passed by, and every morning after my brothers left for school, Jasper would wait by my door, each day offering a new tub of ice cream. I would be lying if I said that it wasn't affecting me in the slightest, I believe that I was en route to forgiving him. And if not completely, at least giving him the benefit of my doubt. His acts of kindness and favour were starting to play in my mind - coaxing me to accept his peace offerings. This morning, he had come with honeycomb ice cream, which was my favourite, so it felt undeniably wrong for me to not take it from him. I still slammed the door on him, but only after snatching the tub from his hands.
"Hey! Make sure you keep whisking the egg whites!" Riya yells from the other side of my kitchen. She had arrived yesterday night from her holiday, and spontaneously showed up at my door today, demanding we bake a cake together to celebrate her return.
"I am! What does this look like?" I groan.
She peers over, before scrunching her lips, "Like you're daydreaming."
I scoff in reply. She had known I hadn't been to school for a while, so I think she actually came over to check up on me - but she's too stubborn to admit that.
"Girls, I'm just going to head out to go grocery shopping, I might drop by at your mum's house, Riya, so don't expect me to be back until around seven-ish."
"Ok mum!"
"Hey, Florence? Can you tell my mum when you see her that I won't be back until later, I forgot to tell her what time I'll be back, and my hands are covered in flour right now, so I can't text her." Riya asks just as mum steps out of the room.
"Will do! Bye girls, love you!" She shouts, closing the door behind her.
"Why are you staying so long? It's Friday, don't you have a piano lesson at 5?" I query.
"I cancelled," She turns around and leans on the tabletop, "You and I need to talk."
I glance at her briefly, "We do?"
"Yes, we do."
-
We sit on my sofa, both of our legs raised on the coffee table in front of us as we eat the cake slice in our hands.
"So tell me, what's been going on with you." She asks, mouth filled with icing.
I take a bite, shaking my head, "Nothing."
"I'm not an idiot Izzy, you've been weirdly silent on call, you've not been going to school, and you're definitely not sick - otherwise I wouldn't be here. What's on your mind?"
"I don't know man, I mean, I guess I didn't expect dads birthday to just be so hard you know?"
She places her cake down, "What happened."
And so I tell her, every detail of that day. Starting from the fact that all of my family members had left me for the majority of the day, how Jasper purposely throwing the last present I had from dad, and Ezra slut shaming me. Saying out loud really sounded unbelievable, like I had made up most of it.
"I can't even imagine what you were going through." She whispers, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there, Izzy."
"You couldn't help it Ri," I pause, "And there is something I've been keeping from you- no wait two things actually."
"What is it?"
"I kissed Jasper." I blurt, unsure how else I was going to be able to say it to her.
Sh stills in her seat, her eyes bulging.
"Well, actually, he kissed me... Forcefully." I play with my fingers.
"He forced you? What the fuck?" She takes the blanket of her legs, pouncing up on to her feet, "Oh, I am gonna kill this mother f-"
"Wait!" I shout, before she could progress, "He apologised, not just for that but everything else he did to me."
"When did he do that?" She asks skeptically.
"When we went ice skating, you were at the toilets and we ended up finishing the round together."
I watch her sit back down, "Why didn't you tell me any of this Izzy?"
"I-I don't know, I wasn't sure how I felt. His apologies were sincere, and I did tell him I'd give him a chance..."
"But?" She wills me to continue.
"But then he- he threw my necklace into the lake on dad's birthday." I look down.
"Wait. It wasn't the one your dad gave to you, was it?" Her voice grew quiet.
I nod. She throws her arms around me, engulfing me in a hug, and her voice is quiet as she speaks, "Oh, Izzy. I'm so sorry that happened to you."
"It's ok now, I've come to terms with it, but that whole situation started something in me," She moves back, ensuing eye contact, "Everything became so hard, waking up, eating, talking to people. I didn't want to even think, I don't know what happened Ri, but when I realised that I wasn't going to get the necklace back, I also realised that-that all of this was actually real. I feel like I've been living in autopilot this whole time. And Jasper was the one who dunked head in cold water to remind me that I can't be passive about this anymore."
"And how do you feel about that?"
"I'll be honest, it sucks, theres this like empty feeling, and I think that's what I've been trying to avoid honestly. And Jasper's been coming every morning with ice cream to apologise and make up for it."
"Jasper's been coming over every morning to apologise?" She asks incredulously.
"Yeah, I told him at the rink that he has to give me a lifetime supply of ice cream to make up for his mistakes, and I guess that's what he's doing. But that was before all of this."
"You don't have to forgive him you know." She takes my hand, "That's your choice to make, and you have to really think if whatever you do is actually what you really want, whether it's holding that grudge or... forgiving him."
"I know, except, his apologies are real, Riya, I can tell. Otherwise why would he make such an effort, after everything that's happened. Why would he want to make up with me?"
"You're right, I agree it seems like he has been making an effort, but you got to remember why he has to, what led to all of this."
"You know what I'm like when it comes to apologies Ri, I feel like I have to. But then I think about that necklace and I want to punch him in the face for it."
"Then do that." She states, adjusting her position on the sofa, "Punch him, do what makes you think will be enough to agree that his apologies are worth it. You don't have to go against your conscience and hold grudges."
I smile at her, I really take her for granted. She offers all the best advice, she knows exactly what I need to be told and not what I want to hear, disappointing as that may be, she was a zero bullshit kind of person. And I love her for that.
-
Riya had left later that evening, leaving me alone once again in the walls of my room. The clock had just struck ten, and I decided to get back to painting in my sketchbook. The rain was patterning against my window and the cries of the wind were drawing closer to my house. I never did like storms.
My head snaps up on instinct as the distant call of my name rang through my ears.
I wait a few moments, before dismissing it.
Everyone was in their rooms, and the call for my name would have been clearer and louder, had they actually needed me.
"Eliza!"
I place my brush down, slowly inching towards my window. The small clatter of rocks that were being aimed at the glass panel, took me by surprise. I stumble back a few steps.
Someone was definitely outside and calling for me.
Curiosity took control of my arms and before my mind could oppose, I opened the window. Rain splattered on my face and into my room, but it didn't bother me as much as the figure below my window. They were hooded, one arm clutching their side as if they were in some sort of pain.
"Eliza!" Their whisper shout was barely audible over the howling wind.
I crane my neck forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of their profile as they face up. The familiar sighting of coffee stained hair confirmed the guesses that were lurking in my mind.
Jasper.
———
Hey guys,
Things are starting to look up for Eliza! I hope you enjoyed today chapter, and pleeeeaaaassseee don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT any errors!
Thank you,
Elle x