Sometimes, when you are hoping to invoke a certain reaction from someone, it feels too good to be true when they give you exactly what you'd wanted. So good to be true that it loses its rarity value and you start hoping they'd given you the opposite reaction instead, just to increase the hype over the situation. That's exactly what it felt like when I told Riley about Ted.
"He's not worth it,"she said. That's all I'd wanted to hear, but I was surprised to find out that a part of me had been hoping she would encourage me to get back together with him and forget what happened.
"Don't waste your time. You gave him a chance despite how opposed you are to the idea of letting someone into your walls. He broke not only your trust, but Holly's and Will's too. Let him go."
"Speaking of Will..."I started, and she silenced me. "No. I refuse to talk about him until I get over the fact that he kissed Thea."
I think my surprised, because Riley proceeded to explain it to me. "First of all, it was wrong to cheat on Holly. Second of all, he hurt Thea more than she lets on. I'm not going to tolerate someone who hurt my best friend."
My heart swelled with envy for their group. Their love for each other was so evident in the things they said and the way they acted around each other. They were so fiercely protective, as well as loyal. Ted, Will and I hadn't lasted more than a week, no surprise there.
"Do you think I should tell Elody about Ted?" I asked, hoping for a positive response. I wanted to be open with Elody, just like how I was with Holly, Daisy and Alora. I needed to tell all of them, eventually. Elody was just first on the list.
"You don't need me to answer that for you. Go get her, Av,"Riley said, giving me a little pat on the shoulder as reassurance. I sure did need it.
I opened the back door to the garden, expecting to find Elody on her phone, reading some book or the other. Instead, I was appalled to find Elody sitting beside a dark-haired boy with fair skin , who looked absolutely nothing like his dark-skinned curly-haired sister. Riley was adopted, so again, no surprise there.
They seemed to be having a rather intense conversation, and before I closed the door behind me in order to give them some privacy, Elody's head swiveled in my direction.
"Hey, Ava, wait!" she called, just as I was about to leave.
I stood still as she climbed down from the fence where she was formerly seated. "I can come back later, if you-"I started, but Elody was quick to interject. "No, no, it's alright. I was just leaving anyway."
It was only then that I realized she'd been crying. Her eye were red-rimmed and glassy, her face tired and puffy. I took her hand in mine and squeezed, hoping she got my message. It'll be okay.
She squeezed back, and although I couldn't tell for sure, it seemed like she was saying I know it will.
Once we'd made our way back inside, I decided it was time to ask her what was wrong. I'd been waiting too long to uncover her mysteries. I was going to come clean, and I hoped she would too, once and for all.
I handed over the coupon I'd been saving for just the right moment. "Use this when you need me to tell you the full truth,"it read.
She took a deep breath, then swabbed away at a fresh set of tears that had formed in her eyes. Riley was nowhere in sight.
"A year ago, I was in love with Riley's brother, Austin."
Expected.
"I'd known him practically all my life, and as we grew older, I realized I saw him as more than just my best friend's brother."
The master of all cliches.
"The big surprise was, he liked me back."
Bad boy falling for the good girl. Oh, how very surprising.
"We dated for about six months, when I realized he'd been cheating on me."
Sweetheart, it's Austin we're talking about. How can I be surprised?
"Let me guess. Was it with the head cheerleader? Bianca Hawthorne, is it?" I guessed. Elody made a face, clearly uncomfortable talking about this.
"Actually, um... It was one of my best friends." She struggled to hold back tears. "It was Ashley."
Okay, I did not see that one coming.
I mean, yes, Ashley was once one of the most popular girls in school, being on the cheer team and also being Matt Anderson, captain of the basketball team's ex. But I'd never placed her as one of those girls. This was partially because she was a part of Elody's group, and they were far from being a wannabe mean girls squad.
On top of that, Ashley was a sweet person to talk to. Sure, she had a pretty face, but she also had so much depth and character to her. I guess people were never quite what you'd expected them to be.
I didn't know what to say to Elody. It must have been awfully hurtful to have the one you loved cheat on you with your best friend.
I felt a sharp pang in my chest when I thought about that.
Clearly, this situation hurt Elody so much, even after a year. Wasn't this exactly what Will had done to Holly?
"It's alright, you don't have to say anything,"Elody said softly. I felt Anger making her way through my body for the second time in two days. "Did you give him a piece of your mind back there?" I asked, and she smiled. "Yes, and a swollen face for good measure."
That's my girl.
"Why are you still friends with Ashley?" I asked, unsure how to frame it in a less accusing tone.
She hesitated. "Well, I... I don't know, honestly,"she sighed.
Oh, but I do.
"I just don't know how to be mad at her. I loved her before, and she knows it was a mistake. It won't happen again. Austin probably had a good reason too."
Without intending to, Elody burst into tears. I pulled her into my arms, cradling her face in my hands. "No, don't you dare say that. This isn't your fault, it's his."
"But there had to be a reason why I repulsed him so much into him cheating on me!" She cried, furiously brushing away her tears. The last thing she wanted was for Austin to walk in on us talking about him. "Look, Elody, I love you, but you have got to think straight. He. Is. An. Idiot. Not you!"
"Okay, I'm sorry,"she sighed. And just like that, she shut down. She boarded up her windows and locked up her heart. I frowned. "Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong."
"No, but I.... I don't want to be dramatic. This is past news. I'm sorry I bothered you,"she muttered, and walked away from the room and out the front door.
Oh, Elody. You may be an excellent actress, but you're nowhere near dramatic.
I confess: I'm terrible at handling sad people. When someone cries, I am bound to be that one friend that messes up everything by saying everything wrong and making them feel worse than how they initially felt. Maybe I'm just unapproachable that way. It's not like I didn't understand Elody. The sight of her upset just happened to upset me too. I didn't like seeing her that way. I wanted her to snap out of her misery the way I always did, but perhaps she was different. She wanted to wallow in her misery for a while and get over it slowly. I preferred discarding emotions.
"It's a touchy subject. It's not your fault,"Riley said softly from behind me.
I knew it wasn't, but it hurt to see Elody so upset. The worst part was that she blamed herself for the things that happened to her and around her, much like Holly. In some ways, Holly's personalities reflected on her alters. The eeriest connection was the one between Elody and Ashley. The real reason why Elody couldn't bring herself to hate Ashley was because Ash was Daisy's best friend. So somewhere in her heart, Elody loved Ashley.
"Did he really love her?" I asked Riley, unsure why I was even asking. Did it matter? What he did was wrong and that was that. Did I need to know the details? For some reason, I had the urge to know. For Elody's sake.
Riley sighed. "He loved her so much that he had to kiss another girl to get over the fact that he couldn't be with all of her."
. . . .
A/N Only 30 days into Project Mirror, Mirror but so much has happened already. Any guesses on what's to come?