world. We grew up together and were born two weeks apart.” I nod at her to continue and watch as she swallows another sip of her drink. “His dad and my mom...” A single tear floats down her face, resignation forming in the desolation of her expression.
I drop the bag of popcorn. My heart in my throat. Is this why she smiled when I said there’s no coming back?
“They had an affair. Our parents. His dad and my mom.” She wipes at her face, her cheeks blotching with sadness. I wish to drench myself in her pain and take it off her shoulders, though handling the burdens of others isn’t something I’m unused to. If anything, my entire life is piles and piles of others’ garbage.
“It destroyed us all. What they didn’t realize is how detrimental it was to him and me. Our friendship suffered. The one person I loved and confided in, the one who kept me up, protected me... he was taken from me with the knowledge of their betrayal.” Tears freely stream down her face now as her eyes mirror storm clouds full of rain, waiting to plunder the world beneath as it bleeds of its burdens. With a shaky nod, she finishes. “I knew, and it broke him.” Her body shakes with sobs that I feel in my throat as if they were my own. I scoot closer, wanting to give her comfort but not knowing how. I’m not a touchy person; it’s just not me. Not since then. It’s like she knows and brings me the rest of the way into her embrace as she lets out all the hardships forced upon her. “He hated me. So much. He still does.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” I attempt even though I don’t know the whole story. But if he can’t forgive her for being a kid with a secret she shouldn’t have had to keep, then he’s not right for her.
“He does,” she admonishes. “After this mess, he abandoned me—our friendship.” She hiccups, and I pull back, seeing how upset she truly is. “We had a plan. Finish school together, go to college together, get married someday.”
My face scrunches with realization. “You loved loved him?”
“Unfortunately.” She nods, giving me a derisive snort. “He uses it against me now. In school, he ruined my life. Until I left for France, at least.”
I nod, surprisingly understanding of how this goes. Guy is a dick, guy likes girl who takes it, and then he changes. That’s what she’s going to live through. Hopefully, she gives him a run for his money. Hopefully, she hits him back with a strong exterior rather than being a punching bag. It’s apparent in how well she’s handling all of this that she’s resilient.
“Maybe he’ll grow out of it,” I emphasize the grow part, hoping he doesn’t turn out to be a complete loser. “Sometimes guys can’t express the pain they experience so they gravitate to being assholes rather than speaking about their struggles.”
“Maybe,” she concedes as she wipes at her face furiously. “But I won’t be around to watch. It’s what I’ve been trying to tell Dad. I don’t want to come back to school here. Not unless I know he won’t be there. He doesn’t deserve me. Not with how he is now. I want to live and be free of the horror my mother has put our families through.”
“I understand.” And I do. My mother’s disappearance ruined our family’s reputation by stealing my father’s kindness and bringing me a horror film monster for a stepmother.
She sniffles a bit before we try to go back to our movie, but our mood has soured it. The cutesy love story of J-Lo and Ralph Fiennes seems unrealistic and so far from reality. Love isn’t this easy or kind. There’s weight to every choice, repercussions for every action, and consequences no one plans for.
By the time I’m supposed to head to dinner, I’m dreading it. I don’t even shower before getting ready.
“You’ve got this,” I whisper into the mirror even though I’m not feeling a single word of it.
“You really do,” Francis’s voice hums from behind me; his words like a Band-Aid, healing me and promising protection. “Don’t stress about your parents. I’m sure they’re going to bend over backward for you. I would.” Is he... flirting with me? From my position in front of the mirror, I watch him as if he stood in front of me. His eyes roam my body unhurriedly, drinking me