THE MOVIE FINISHED mere moments before Aurelius came knocking. The boy poked his head in, taking a glance around. "People are starting to arrive."
"Got it," Zeth got on his feet. "We'll be out in just a moment."
"You better," Aurelius huffed. "Mum's in a flurry looking for you three."
"Tell your mum she doesn't need to worry," Livia snickered. "I'll get these two out."
Aurelius gave a mock salute. Zeth yanked the curtains back open, allowing the sunlight to pour back into the room while Livia cleaned up the empty popcorn packages and tossed them into the bin. "Let's go."
They headed downstairs. The first to arrive were some of Victoire's friends that Livia wasn't very familiar with. There was one girl, Holliday Kim, who Livia had met before. A Korean girl with a sweet deposition. The others, Livia had no idea, and no particular inclination to become familiar with them. They were all, as expected, thirteen years old.
So she smiled politely and stood to the side, watching as the rooms started becoming filled with people. Everyone knew Victoire. Everyone loved Victoire. Victoire's birthday party had always been a staple of the end of August in Briarville. Half the people here weren't even Victoire's own friends, but the friends of her parents and her brothers. It was as much a celebration of the girl's birthday as for all the residents of Briarville who gathered here every summer as a tradition, year after year.
The birthday girl was being overwhelmed in the centre, surrounded by friends and family with well wishes bearing gifts and compliments. She was the star of the show tonight in her violet dress, bright beam on her face. Her blonde hair had been done in an elaborate style that made her look like a little princess, which Livia supposed was exactly what she was tonight.
"She's growing up so fast." Pamela had located her amidst the crowd. "I still remember the days when she was a baby."
"I remember when you were a baby," Livia laughed.
"Psh," Pamela looked unimpressed. "You're only two years older than me. I doubt you remember anything at all of me as an infant, Livia. But look at her."
"She's going to become like us soon."
"I hope not," Pamela muttered. "I always wanted to be her when I was a little kid."
"Oh?"
"Three hot older brothers? Like come on. You're great, don't get me wrong. But damn."
Livia pulled a face. "There's so many things wrong with that statement I don't even know where to start."
"Don't, then."
"Seems like a wise decision," Livia agreed.
"You're getting cosier with Amphion."
Livia narrowed her eyes.
"You're really close again. Zeth commented on it earlier."
"When did you two talk?"
"When he came down to get food. Twice."
"What?"
"He said you two looked really comfortable around each other again these days. Like, even closer than you used to be."
Livia was silent.
"Something's happened," Pamela murmured. "What is it?"
"It's a curious situation."
"I think I'm starting to piece it together."
"Of course you have," Livia muttered. "You're a smart girl."
"How long has it been happening?"
"Not long. Around two weeks."
"He likes you back?"
"He said he had a crush on me two years ago. Was over it by last summer. One thing led to another."
"As long as you don't get your heart broken again," Pamela said, "I don't see a problem. You've both known each other for so long, you know all the ways to break and mend each other with ease."
"That's what I'm scared of," Livia told Pamela. "I'm really scared."
"You're scared of everything. You're always so scared of getting hurt, but you know? It's part of growing up."
"What do you know about that?"
She grew more serious. "I'm sixteen now, Liv. I'm not that child anymore. I've gone through a lot of shit. I don't make you or ma and da aware of everything."
"I know. I studied at your school for a while. I know how vicious it can get."
"It's not as bad as you might think. Really. It was worse a few years ago when we were all immature and dumb, but it's far, far better now. It's the truth. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth."
"I'm proud of you."
"I'm proud of you too, Livia. And I'm just saying. If you still like him, if you think it's worth it... just go for it. If there's anyone in this world I think can truly be worthy of you, it's Amphion. You've both fucked up. Doesn't make you both bad people, just makes you two equal, y'know?"
"Equally shitty people?"
"Neither of you are shitty people," Pamela retorted. "You're both brave and courageous. Sure, you're also really stubborn sometimes, but you're insanely loyal, and I'd choose no one else to be my sister in a million lives. I hope you can say the same for me."
Livia reached over and pulled her little sister closer to herself. "I can. I most definitely can. If only because looking at your face makes me so happy immediately."
Pamela pulled away and scowled jokingly. "We look quite similar."
"We don't," Livia said. "You're far prettier than I am. It's the truth, nothing to be ashamed of. Looking at you just makes me happier."
"This conversation is getting weird."
Livia just laughed and walked away.
A little while later she found herself with Brie and Lila. The two had arrived late with their family, since Lila's mum had run into some fashion emergency and was detained for a while. The three of them sat by the poolside, sipping on their drinks as they enjoyed the evening.
The temperature had started to drop again, the peak of summer being over. It was slightly cool, and Livia shivered slightly when a breeze of air blew over her skin. She'd made a mistake sitting out here in only a green tank top, but she was too lazy to fetch a jacket. She didn't think she'd brought one, and she didn't feel like ransacking through anyone's wardrobe.
"You cold?" Brie asked, glancing over. "Come over here, we can share my shawl."
And so Livia nudged over, and Brie wrapped her dark blue silk shawl around the two of them. Livia leaned backwards on her friend. "My god, the summer's technically over."
"Are you leaving in a week?" Lila asked.
"Yeah," Livia replied. "Right up to my uni. School's not starting for a while, though."
"Is Amphion going to go up with you?"
"I have no idea," Livia admitted. "I mean, he doesn't need to. He lives in England anyways, so he's probably heading back home first."
"Oh yeah, that's true," Lila agreed. "You guys are fine now, yeah?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Livia said with a sigh. "Friends again."
"That's nice," Brie said quietly. Was she thinking about Zeth? Was she thinking about what had happened with that relationship?
Lila broke the bubble. "You know you don't need to avoid him like this, right?"
Brie threw her hand in the air. "What am I meant to do? I want to befriend him again but I don't want to give him any false hope."
"Give it a bit more time," Livia murmured. "I think he's getting over it now."
"I hope he is." There was anxiety in Brie's voice as she shook her head. "I'd hate to lose a friend over something like this."
"I get that," Livia said quietly. "How's Eunice, Lila?"
"I have no idea," Lila admitted. "I haven't spoken to her in three days. Neither of us have called it off yet, but it just feels inevitable at this point, you know?"
"You really do have commitment issues," Brie groaned. "My god, Lila. I hope you don't break anyone's heart again."
"She knows what she was getting into," Lila said with a shrug. "Like, she and I both know what we were getting into. She's not going to be heartbroken. Hell, she's older than me. She has more experience, probably. It's probably not even her first summer fling."
"You don't really care about her, do you?"
"She doesn't really care about me either," Lila pointed out. "Like yeah. We're friends. But that's basically it. We're friends who like to make out and fuck. It's not that deep."
Livia winced. "That sounds kind of awful."
"The emotional connection has never been that important to me," Lila replied, perching her chin on her hands. "I don't know. Maybe I'm a cynic."
"I don't think it has anything to do with that," Livia mused. "I think you just don't care about the concept of love at all. Or finding your other half. But you still like the physical aspect of a relationship."
"Which means I can only ever find flings." Lila pouted. "But whatever."
Lila's childhood had a hand in her current view, it most definitely had. But at the same time, it wasn't anything that needed to be solved or fixed. It was just who Lila Anderson was. And it was no problem, as long as the other person knew what they were getting into and didn't end up dragging themselves away with a broken heart.
"And you?" Livia asked, glancing at Brie. "How's your love life going to be?"
"I think I'm taking a break from all that for a while." Brie's voice was awfully quiet. "You know. I... I need time to get over Mark."
Lila released a loud, loud groan.
Brie shook her head quickly. "I'm not going back to him. Like, ever. I've blocked him on all forms of social media. I'm never going to contact him again, trust me on that. I think I've learnt my lesson. But it'll still take some time to heal those wounds."
"We won't always be here to drag you out of toxic relationships like those," Livia warned.
"I know you all think I'm stupid, that I'm some kind of flower in a greenhouse," Brie laughed, "but trust me. I'm not usually that blind. Mark found me at a sensitive time. That's why I fell so hard. I think I always knew, I just told myself I didn't care about the girls and the rumours and the way he treated me, as long as he gave me the attention I wanted at the end of the day."
"Don't do it again," Livia said. "I can't bear to see you hurt." She laid her head on Brie's shoulder, and Brie's arms wrapped tighter around her.
"I won't. Any of my future boyfriends will have to go through Lila."
Lila wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I want that responsibility."
"I trust you, sis."
"I don't like those words even more."
"You can make me the gatekeeper," Livia laughed, "if Lila can't be assed to do it."
"It's not that I can't be assed," Lila pointed out, "it's just that my standards are so high you'll be single until you're forty-five. I might send all your romantic prospects away crying."
Brie tilted her head. "I would not be surprised, actually. That does sound like a very you thing to do."
All three girls laughed.
Livia was the one who said, "It's all over soon."
"I think that's a good thing," Lila responded. "I think it's time we all left this place behind. There's too many ghosts and bad memories."
"There's good ones too."
"And they'll remain forever in our hearts," Lila acknowledged with a nod. "But at the same time, the nightmares are all-consuming. You can't escape from those until you leave. It's all tied to this place."
"I mean, we will return," Brie pointed out. "Our parents aren't selling the house."
"I'll still come to visit nai nai all the time."
"Yeah." Lila twirled a lock of hair around her fingers. "But we'll never truly be here the same way we always have been again. No more summers. No more groups of friends who secretly despise each other."
"Little harsh," Brie huffed, adjusting her blouse. "We don't all dislike each other."
"But some of them do." That was said with a pointed look at Livia. "I hope you're not planning on arguing with Sarah tonight."
"We've made our peace."
"By that, you mean you've agreed to never talk to each other again, yes?"
"More or less, yes."
"That is depressing to hear. I've always quite liked her. I mean, I can see why you two don't get along, and both of you have fair points, but as someone caught in the between, I've never thought of her as a bad person."
"I don't think she's a bad person," Livia agreed, "she's just not my type of person."
"That, I agree with wholeheartedly. Best for the world you two are kept apart for the rest of your lives."
"This really is the last time, then," Brie said with wonder in her voice.
"One last time," Lila raised her cup in the air. "To our youths."
—
LIVIA BUMPED INTO Sarah once that night, outside the bathroom. The red-head was in a black skirt and graphic t-shirt and looked rather bored as she glanced through her phone, back against the wall of the occupied bathroom.
She didn't notice Livia at first, as she stood behind Sarah in the short queue. But after a moment, the other girl glanced up, looking slightly nonplussed as she registered who was standing besides her.
"Oh," she said. "It's you."
"This is probably the last time we've ever seeing each other in our lives."
"Good riddance to that, I say," Sarah said, lowering her phone.
"I agree." Livia nodded. "Say bye to Brian for me. I'll miss him."
"I'm sure he'll miss you too. He's always been somewhat fond of you."
Livia shrugged. "Neither of us are shitty people, you know. We just have some personal dislike of each other."
"Could have fooled me."
"I'm not here to argue. Just to... say my final goodbyes, you know?"
"Yeah, I can tell." Sarah didn't look angry. She looked far calmer than she ever had before. Livia wondered, for a moment, if none of this had ever happened. If neither of the girls had ever argued, if both of them had genuinely liked each other, or if both had hidden their dislike well enough it had never exploded onto the surface.
What would happen then?
Would everything still be the same way it was? Or would everything be different?
They'd never know, of course. What had happened had happened. Livia Wong and Sarah Hepburn had never gotten along, and it was always going to remain that way. They were natural rivals, each other's archnemesis. They couldn't have a civil conversation. They couldn't be in the same room without throwing some jabs at each other. That was the way it had always been. And that was the way it would always be, if they ever met again.
They wouldn't, though. Livia knew it, somehow.
"Good luck in university," she said. She could afford to be nice today.
"You too," Sarah said. And then, with some hesitance, she said, "Whatever you do with the twins... don't do what you did last year."
"We've made up."
"But don't do it again. My door won't be open for them if they come crying about how you ripped their hearts out and threw it on the pavement."
"I never did that."
"You might as well have. Amphion took it really badly last year, did you know that?"
"I guessed," she said softly.
Sarah looked at her for a long second. "I won't ask. I know far more than you think, and I'm smarter than you think. I pieced together some stuff a long time ago."
"There's no promises yet."
"I don't need to know, and I don't think I want to know," Sarah said earnestly. "What's between you two is none of my business. I'll stay friends with him, of course I will, but I want nothing to do with you."
"I think we've both agreed that that is the best course of action multiple times," Livia said, mildly amused.
Sarah nodded gravely. "I'm just making sure."
In another life, perhaps, they'd always been friends. In another life, they'd never let the rivalry get to them and had been close, been people that trusted each other wholeheartedly. But not this one.
And it was time to shut that chapter.
The bathroom door opened, and Sarah went in.
The two girls exchanged no words as Sarah left.
They'd already said everything that needed to be said.