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Illusion of Control
By: Kamika Farinas
Chapter 7
“... I'm just tired. Physically and mentally tired. I almost had half a mind not to update today but I felt that you (a journal that isn't even alive and yes, even I see just how crazy this is) would like to know the distress I've gone through the past two days. The last time I wrote, I made mention of the party? Remember that? Yeah... well, that didn't go very well. Neither did the morning after for that matter. I just... I'm definitely not in the mood to go into detail other than to say that if I ever, EVER hear Arista talk about my father like that again, I will not stay silent like I did Friday night. Also, Luke is still a jackass. What did I think he was going to be? A HUMAN for once? Sympathetic to the fact that his fucking girlfriend brought up such a cutting comment such as that? Of course not. He lives to please after all and who doesn't want to see him being a fucking bastard? So yeah. Not fun. Not good at all. (Although I guess, even I can say that at least Anna and Thane were not as half bad as I thought they'd be... Actually, I kinda thought they'd be exactly like Luke. Glad I was mistaken.)”
“Dulcinea! Time for breakfast!” Nea could hear her mother curt voice calling out for her from their kitchen. Shutting the journal and stuffing the somewhat damaged book underneath her mattress, she shuffled into her slippers and made her way down their two story house to where her mother currently was. She stepped onto the bottom floor and found her mother sitting at their small kitchenette table, reading the newspaper while taking a bite of toast. If Alicia had heard her daughter's footsteps, she made no indication and Nea was left to shuffle into the uncomfortable air that lingered from their fight. Without words, Nea took her place across from her mother, who was dressed for work, staring at the food in front of her.
Peering from above her newspaper, Alicia looked at her daughter with concern. When Nea's eyes met hers, the concern quickly erased from her eyes and instead, Alicia returned to her paper. Holding back a sigh, Nea put some eggs onto her plate and started to eat her breakfast.
Alicia finally spoke, putting her newspaper down on the table, “Plans for today?”
Mid-bite, Nea swallowed the pieces of egg she had taken, “Yeah. I have a tutoring session.”
With a raised eyebrow, Alicia said simply, “I see.”
Nea nearly winced at the obvious tone of disbelief in her mother's voice. She knew her mother was still angry about their fight, but she hadn't expected that anger to carry for three days. Putting down the toast she had picked up, she said, “Look, mom. I'm really sorry about Thur-”
The flash of anger in Alicia's eyes stopped Nea in her tracks. “Don't apologize for something you meant to say,” Alicia said, her voice strained. “You obviously believed what you said. So why change your mind now?”
“But that's just it! I didn't mean it...” Nea's voice trailed off, but didn't want to leave her words ending there. “It was just in the heat of the moment. And I know it must've hurt. Mentioning dad after all these years.”
Alicia shook her head, “Forget it, Dulcinea.” Her mother rose from her chair, grabbing the closed newspaper. “What's done is done.” She moved towards the garage door, heading off to work, and grabbed her jacket as she passed the closet.
Nea's heart tightened at her mother's words and she couldn't understand why she felt like crying again. She felt as though these days were filled with nothing but crying, and since when was she ever that weak? Then again, it didn't help that she had had very little sleep recently. “Mom,” she said, her voice almost to the point of begging. She saw her mother turn to her, a small, weak smile on her face, and it made all the difference. Alicia turned back and Nea watched as she left through the garage door and could hear her starting the car, heading towards the hospital. Letting out a ragged breath, Nea pushed the plate of food away from her, not hungry anymore, and instead headed back to her room to prepare for the tutoring session that was going to happen that afternoon.
As soon as the two saw Luke enter, their conversation came to a sudden halt and it took Luke several moments to realize that the room was currently in silence. Turning to the two beside him, he noticed their stares and swallowed a piece of egg before asking, “What's up with you two? You're not usually this quiet.”
Anna just huffed at him, sticking her nose in the air in anger. That reaction threw Luke a little. It was Thane's solemn, “You know what's wrong” that connected the dots.
With a roll of his eyes, Luke pushed the plate forward slightly, leaning against the table with his elbow and leaning his own head against his hand. “Don't tell me you guys are still angry about yesterday. I thought we were over this.”
Anna scoffed, “We never stopped being angry about it! God, Luke, sometimes you can be such a-such a...” her voice trailed as her hands started to move wherever, searching for the word she wanted.
“Prick?” Thane offered, then continued with his suggestions, his voice getting colder with each one, “Bastard? Stupid fuck? Inconsiderate jackass?” His hazel eyes were clouded with anger, “There's more if you don't like those choices.”
“I don't much like those choices,” Luke joked, almost wanting to anger his friends even more.
Anna slammed her hands on the counter and her blue eyes pierced through Luke's, “This isn't funny, Luke! You let an innocent girl get absolutely humiliated, didn't do anything about it, and then had her clean our entire first floor as though it were her fault the entire scene took place!”
Luke rolled his eyes, his heart pounding at the accusations and he sought to keep his nonchalant nature out, “Hey, I didn't make her clean the floor. She said it herself that she felt guilty about causing such a scene and felt it was her right to make it up to us. That wasn't my decision.”
It was then that Thane jumped off the stool, and the siblings' attentions were on him. “It doesn't matter whether or not you made her,” he said, his back to them. Turning around, he snapped at Luke, “It's that you didn't stop her that pisses us off. You obviously invited her, despite what Arista thinks, so what was that all about? You didn't defend her, stand up for her, or even yell at Arista for what she said.”
The sound of Thane's words echoed throughout Luke's head and even Luke knew that what he had done was wrong. He hadn't known what to do when it happened, and had had to live with that decision through the next day. It had been awkward seeing Nea the following morning, wondering whether or not he should apologize on Arista's behalf, because no matter how mean he was to Nea, even he wasn't so cruel as to bring up the death of a family member (a fact he hadn't even known and wondered how Arista had). Instead, the conversation had gone in an entirely different direction.
“Must've been fun last night,” Nea snapped, as she sat by the kitchen counter, her brown eyes filled with hate and aimed in his direction. She had been up since 10, a good 5 hours after the party had ended, and had sat there in silence by herself for at least an hour.
Luke entered slowly, a little hesitant to talk to Nea, especially after the debacle that was last night. “I don't understand,” he said, his voice soft, a tone that he rarely let come out.
Covering the mug on the counter with her hands, she turned her gaze to the coffee she had poured in it, not wanting to look at him at that moment, “What'd you do? Tell your girlfriend the best way to hurt me?” She imitated his voice as she spoke, “Talk about her dead father. That'll get her.”
Grabbing a cup of coffee for himself, he wondered just how negative Nea's thoughts about him were. “Is that how low you'd think I'd go?”
Nea scoffed, “I've seen you be crueler to others for a lot less.”
Mentally wondering when she had ever seen him bullying anyone, he took a seat next to her and brushed against her shoulder, noting that she had flinched slightly at the small bit of contact. “As much as I'd love to credit for my girlfriend's words, I did not, in fact, tell her anything about your father. Honestly, I had no idea he had even died. And it's not like I cared,” Luke said, his words dripping with cold, an emotion that he hadn't intended to display.
At both the tone in his voice and the cruelty of his words, Nea winced. Was today 'Let's pick at Nea's wounds and see how much they bleed'? She stood up from the stool, bringing the mug with her. “You would never understand,” she said coolly, masking her hurt.
He stared at her for a minute before turning to his own coffee and taking a sip of it, “Your father's dead. Move on. There's nothing you can change about it. No use being sensitive at every mention of his death.” He heard the sound of Nea's cup being put on the counter, and swiveled around on his stool to see where she had gone.
She hadn't gone far as she struck him with an open palm as soon as he had faced her. “You have NO idea what it's like to lose someone close to you,” she hissed. “So don't go around giving advice as though you're an expert on the matter. My father was a great man, and it's horrible living without him in my life. If it makes me sensitive hearing about his death, especially from someone using it to hurt me, then so be it! I could care less about that.” She stood panting before him, her brown eyes twinkling with something like victory.
Luke put his hand to his stinging cheek, and gaped at Nea, a little surprised that she had gotten him off guard. “Is that so?” he asked, his tone dangerous, “Well, who am I to deprive you a character trait that makes you weak.” Putting his hand down, he just said simply, “Have fun cleaning today, by the way.” Turning back to the counter, his green eyes gazed upon his coffee cup. “Since you seem strong enough to deal with what happened last night, I'm sure you're up to the task.”
He could hear her huff behind him, without saying a word in protest, and soon, her stomping footsteps trailed out of the kitchen. Leaning against his hands, Luke almost cursed at himself for getting such a stupid idea of comforting Nea. He did curse himself for something though: for wanting so desperately to have kissed Nea when she stood in front of him, fiery and passionate about what she believed in. It had been an obviously stupid, fleeting moment, but he vowed to never let himself fall for such an idea.
“She could handle it,” Luke said simply, returning to his breakfast.
Anna groaned loudly, before saying, “I rarely ever regret being related to you, big brother. But today, I honestly despise it.” She, too, jumped off the stool and walked out of the room. Luke knew without looking that Thane was likely shaking his head at him, and could hear his footsteps leaving the room as well.
As soon as he knew they were nowhere nearby, he dropped his plate as well as all pretense that he was alright. Sighing to himself, Luke wondered how much of a mess he had made. He hated his closest friends being so angry at him, but what could he do?
“Thought she'd like to cool off,” Anna said to everyone's surprise.
Arista was still wailing in the center of their circle, her body soaked from all the melted eyes and the floor both damp and filled with half melted ice cubes. Nobody made a move for her at first, but a minute later, Arista's friends came out of the crowd to cover her with the jackets they had brought. Anna stared at Nea ran up the stairs, and dropped the cooler as she did so.
Taking a breath, Anna stared down the group of girls. “I think it's best you leave,” she said coldly. “Wouldn't want to get cold, now would you?”
At no point had anyone stepped up to help them. Instead, Arista was dragged by her friends towards the door as they covered the dripping girl with their jackets. During the movement, Arista's eyes caught Luke's who quickly looked away, breaking the contact. Thane, who had been standing right next to Luke, wondered what the entire thing was all about, but didn't say a word.
Anna sighed again, wondering what had caused her to get so riled up in Nea's defense. But, somewhere in her, she knew that the entire situation was wrong. It didn't get much better for her the next morning.
“Nea, you REALLY don't have to do that!” Anna exclaimed, trying to yank the broom from Nea's hands. She had just woken up and found Nea cleaning as she reached the first floor.
Struggling for control, Nea pulled the broom out of Anna's hands and continued sweeping up the floor. “It's no problem,” Nea argued, “I feel terrible as it is. I'd like to do something to help out.” She turned so that her back faced Anna, her long black hair in a ponytail swinging behind her as she moved from side to side.
Anna stared numbly, until she heard someone walking in their direction. She made her way to whoever it was and found Luke coming out of the kitchen. Grabbing his arm and dragging him towards Nea, she pointed at the girl, “Tell her that she's being silly, Luke! She shouldn't have to clean after what Arista said about her.”
Rolling his eyes, he pulled his arm out of her grasp, “If that's what she wants to do, Annabel, don't argue.”
Nea could feel his green eyes staring at her back and she furiously worked harder to ignore the tingling feeling that was spreading throughout her. She hated that he had such an effect on her, and wanted nothing other than to get rid of it. She continued sweeping, having already gotten rid of any liquid on the floor so had very little trouble.
Anna stood in her spot, alternating between watching Nea clean and watching Luke leave the room. 'It wasn't supposed to be this way,' Anna thought to herself as she made her way towards the kitchen, ready to grab supplies to help Nea out. 'We were supposed to have fun cleaning as a group, as much fun as we could with Luke and Nea around each other. So why is she doing it all herself?!'
As Thane watched Anna lose herself in thought, he felt his own mind reel with unanswered questions and scenes from the day before. He couldn't help but think there was something deeper between this newest contact between Nea and Luke. There was something strange about their interactions and... just everything between them that there had to be some story. He hated it that Luke was keeping something so secret away from him, and he wanted to know the truth.
“What's going on, Luke?” Thane asked as he stood under the open doorway. His friend was currently fixing his own bed, putting some of the dirty laundry away, apparently trying to distract himself as much as he could.
Luke turned to look at Thane, then looked away just as suddenly. “You need to stop asking me that,” he snapped, “There's no big controversy here, Thane. Just regular people being normal. What the fuck's the matter with that?” All the day's irritations had caught up to him (even though it was still not noon yet) and he couldn't stop himself from blowing up.
Thane's eyes turned hard and took a second to gather his thoughts. Stepping into the room, he shut the door behind him and strode to Luke with defiance, forcing his friend to look at him and grabbing the top of his shirt, angrily. “I'm talking about what the hell's going on between you and Montgomery! That poor girl's downstairs cleaning up a storm, feeling guilty about the scene yesterday. And then Anna tells me that you don't even make a step to stop her. What the hell's the matter with you?!” He threw Luke down onto his bed, standing over him with fury in his eyes. “I know you can be so cold to people every now and then, but you've never gone this far.”
Stunned that his friend basically manhandled him and by the way Thane was so adamant about defending Nea, Luke just sat on his bed, not able to either talk or move. The two stared at each other for a moment, before Luke was finally able to pull his bearings together and stood up. “Montgomery's a big girl,” Luke started, “She can handle herself and doesn't need anyone to be her savior. So if that's what you're playing at, Thane, then you can stop now.” He shoved his friend, “And next time you touch me like that, I won't let it go so easily.”
Angry that the conversation had not gone the way he intended, Thane just stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Leaning against the door in sheer exhaustion, Thane groaned loudly. 'Why were things getting so messed up, suddenly?' he thought to himself.
Behind the door, Luke still stood in the same position he had before, his heart pounding from the adrenaline rush. His mind ran through all the conversations of the day and wondered exactly where he had gone wrong. Not wanting to think about it, he went back to cleaning his room, hoping that the work would distract him from the yelling of his own conscious.
Thane sighed loudly, breaking the trance that he and Anna had caused. The rest of that day had gone on as though nothing had occurred between the friends, Nea having left after she had finished cleaning. Anna had apologized profusely, although Nea laughed it off as though nothing strange had happened. As though it was a normal part of her life to just clean people's houses after someone insults you in said house. Luke hadn't been there to see her off and Thane supposed it was all for the better. Thane hadn't said a word to Nea when she stood there, a taxi waiting to bring her home, and had finally mustered up a “See you on Monday” which had stunned Nea for a minute before nodding.
“Why is it this way?” he heard Anna's soft voice asking, startling him out of his thoughts. Looking up, she was staring at him, her blue eyes filling with something like hurt.
Thane spoke, his voice feeling strained as though he hadn't used it in days, “What way?”
“Why does he hate Nea so much? Did she do something to him? What caused this all to get so out of control?” She asked, verbalizing questions that Thane desperately wanted to hear the answer to as well.
“I don't know,” Thane said, feeling unsure of himself. He didn't like not knowing; hell, he hated the fact that Luke hadn't told him anything. Hadn't they been best friends since childhood?
Anna pulled her legs to her, huddling in the corner of the couch, looking suddenly meek, “What's the matter with him, all of a sudden? He's not... usually this cruel. He's had his off days before, but now? It's like this 24/7.”
Again, Thane said, “I don't know...” He could feel his heart pounding at the thought and got up from his seat to go over to Anna. Pulling her into his arms, he whispered to her that Luke was just going through something, although not believing the words himself. He combed through her shoulder-length hair with his free hand, and could feel her shaking in his arms, as though holding back tears. “Hey,” he said, pulling her away from him to look into her eyes, “As long as we stick by him, we can at least try to get him through whatever's happening. Right?”
She nodded weakly, before collapsing into his embrace. “Right,” she repeated, desperately wanting to believe the male's words. It was then that they could hear Luke walking down the stairs, both wondering when he had even left the kitchen.
“If you two are done talking about me,” he said, dressed to leave, “Just wanted to let you two know that I'm leaving. So don't freak out when you're looking for me to shout at again.” He walked through the front door, and shut it behind him, not waiting for a response from the two on the couch.
Thane and Anna looked at each other in confusion as both wondered to themselves where exactly Luke was headed. Walking to the window, they watched as Luke got into his favorite red convertible and left the driveway.
It took a while before the woman realized who Nea was, although the smile never dropped during that time, “Oh! You must be Nea.” She ushered Nea into the house, then finally introduced herself, “I'm Delilah's mother, Gail. It's nice to meet you; you've been really helpful to my daughter.” She shut the door behind her, and led Nea into what looked to be the dining room. “Um...” Gail started, looking around the room, “Why don't you take a seat there and I'm going to find out where Delilah is.”
Nea watched, without having gotten one word in, as Gail raced out of the room to find Delilah. If Nea wasn't stuck in awkward mode, she might've giggled at the fact that Lilly stood for Delilah. Then again, she couldn't speak. What was with the random nicknames lately that didn't seem connected to the real name, but did... in strange ways? This got Nea to thinking about Luke whose name stood for Marcellus. And then the name thoughts changed to something unpleasant, thoughts of the day before. Not wanting to dwell on anything so depressing, she pushed the thoughts out of her head right before Lilly came into view.
“Hey!” The young girl exclaimed, all smiles. She hugged notebooks and some textbooks to her before dropping them haphazardly onto the table. Panting slightly, as though she had ran there, Lilly plopped onto one of the dining room chairs. The two sat in silence for a while, Lilly catching her breath and Nea watching in amusement. Finally, Lilly said, her green eyes twinkling, “So! Let's get started right? The sooner it's done, the faster we can do something more interesting.”
Nea nearly laughed in amusement, but withheld it and instead merely smiled. Pulling her bag onto the table, she gave a nod, just as Lilly's mom ran into the room.
“You're settled well?” Gail asked Nea, the lady's hands fiddling with earrings she was trying to put into the right hole. Nea gave a nod for the affirmative, and Gail beamed at Nea. “Well, I'll be leaving with my husband. We have this luncheon to get to. Will you be fine staying here?”
Suddenly feeling awkward again, Nea nodded stiffly.
Lilly, noticing Nea's movements, said cheerfully and bringing Gail's attention to her. “We're definitely going to have fun. Have a great time with dad, mom!” she exclaimed, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek.
“Okay, good. Delilah, you know where the money is. Make sure you give it to Nea today, okay?” Nodding, Gail accomplished what she wanted with the earrings and started to walk out, “Behave! And Nea, if you could just wait until Lilly's sister arrives before you leave, I'd appreciate it.”
Nodding before she realized Gail couldn't see her, Nea rushed to say, “I will!” right before the door closed.
Giggling, Lilly looked at Nea in amusement, “She's like that all the time. But she's great.”
Nea grinned at Lilly, “She looks it.”
Lilly got up from her seat and rushed up the stairs before Nea could get another word in. “I'll go get the money now so we don't forget!” Nea could hear her yelling from upstairs. Soon, Lilly was down the stairs in a flash, nearly running into their maid. “Oh! Selma. You don't have to worry for much of today. I'll be getting everything for Nea; you should go rest.”
The maid smiled at Lilly pleased, “Thank you, miss Delilah.”
Lilly frowned, cross, “You know I don't like you calling me miss. It's LILLY. And, this is only until sister comes home. You know how she can be.”
Bowing slightly, the maid mutely walked up the stairs Lilly had come down.
Lilly sighed before handing the envelop to Nea, “Here you go!”
“So... Your sister's mean?” Nea asked curiously, wondering if that's what Lilly had been saying.
Scoffing, Lilly said, “That's a bit of an understatement. She can be a full out witch with the cauldron and weird items.” Plopping herself back into her seat, she grinned, “But enough about my sister, let's get started?”
Nea gave another nod, stuffing her envelop into one of the pockets of her bag before grabbing one of Lilly's books and flipping it onto the right page. They started their work.
The sound of the door opening a while later almost went past them without them realizing. Instantly, Nea connected that the person entering must be Lilly's sister. However, it was the sound of a familiar voice that caused Nea to freeze in her spot instantly. “Braaat!” the person called out in a sing-song voice; the sound of the door shutting behind her followed. Nea was stunned in her spot, so much that Lilly had noticed.
“Nea?” Lilly asked.
But Nea couldn't hear her voice. All that echoed in her ears was the sound of Arista's approaching footsteps. She couldn't describe just how foolish she felt at the moment. She should've known better than to automatically assume that two Stillmans couldn't be related just because they didn't look that much alike (except for the eyes, after all, how many people in the world had green eyes?). Nea blinked several times before shaking her head. Why did her head always go off on tangents in times when she needed it to concentrate? Sighing, she braced herself for the blowout that was bound to come. Positioning her chair to the side so as not to have Arista recognize her immediately, Nea felt her hands clench into fists.
Beside her, Lilly frowned, before gaining Arista's attention by yelling, “Arista! We're in here?”
Arista walked into the dining room, a small bag slung over her shoulder, “Eh? We?” she asked nonchalantly, leaning against the archway. A look of confusion passed through her face as she wondered why the person with the long black hair seemed so familiar just from the back.
Nea gulped before turning to face Arista just as Lilly started in introduce her tutor, “This is Ne-”
The young girl had barely gotten a whole sentence out before Arista had screamed, “I can't escape you!!” Her index finger pointed at Nea as though accusing her of stalking her.
Restraining from rolling her eyes, Nea said in a calm voice (or what she hoped sounded calm), “I'm Nea Montgomery, your younger sister's tutor. I'm not here to torture you...” Her voice trailed off as she thought to herself, 'On purpose anyway. If it happens though, that's just a bonus.' She regained her thoughts and went on, “And I'm not here because I knew you lived here. Actually, I didn't think the two of you were related at all.”
Arista's nose turned up as she said, “Just because we don't look alike? Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover?' I thought someone like YOU would have more common sense than that.” Her voice was in a low sneer as she spoke, flipping her black hair back at the end of her words.
Lilly flinched at the sound of it, and then tried to stop them from arguing, “Wait, you two! I... I don't-”
Nea interrupted Lilly unintentionally, having not heard the girl even speak due to the low tone she had been using. Trying not to appear guilty of what Arista had accussed her of doing, she said instead, “I'm not going to touch the fact that you not only know that phrase, but that you used it right-”
Arista argued back immediately, “I'm smarter than you think, Montgomery.” Her voice was filled with malice.
Continuing, as though Arista had never spoken, Nea said flatly, “And it was never about your looks, just so you know. You're nothing alike, personality-wise. So it's not that far-fetched to think that you're not related.”
“How would you know? You don't know us. You don't know me or my sister,” Arista snapped, fury in her eyes, as she moved towards Nea. “Don't say things so prematurely!”
Slamming her palm on the table, Nea rose from her seat, standing in front of Arista face-to-face. She stayed silent though, feeling she had crossed a line somewhere and that Arista had brought up a good point; she didn't know Arista or Lilly that well. Who was she to judge?
Lilly stood as soon as Nea did and pushed the two feuding girls away from each other. “Waitaminutewaitaminutewaitaminute!” she said in a rushed voice, combining all the words together in her haste. The two girls stared at her, faces emotionless. “Just... Stop there,” Lilly said, breathing harshly. “I can already guess that you two know each other from somewhere. Just, why don't you like each other?”
Of the two, Arista was the first to move, crossing her arms, she said, “This is the girl who's trying to STEAL my boyfriend.”
At this, Nea's shook her head vigorously at Lilly, “No!” She sighed after this, “That's just something only your sister believes.” She then turned to Arista, “And I MEAN that too. God! You're so paranoid. If you believe so much that I'm trying to steal him, does that mean you don't believe in him?” Nea asked, trying to point out that maybe Arista shouldn't be so suspicious.
It took less than a second before Arista's whole demeanor changed. She uncrossed her arms, leaning against the archway with her whole back. “You don't understand,” Arista murmured and Nea was instantly reminded of her own words to Luke. “He's not exactly the most... committed guy.” Her eyes flashed with fury as she looked at Nea straight in the eyes, “It was a LOT of trouble for him to finally date me! And I won't let some pauper off the street ruin it for me!”
Sighing and wondering how the conversation had gone without any improvement or visible end at that, Nea nodded, “Yes, yes. Except I'm NOT some pauper off the street, just to let you know.” She looked at Arista with a look of defiance, but then an instant flash of Arista saying those hateful words from two nights ago popped up in her mind. Shaking away the memory, Nea instead focused on what was going on in present.
“Whatever,” Arista said, not exactly caring. She looked past Nea to Lilly, who was standing a little to the side now. “Brat. I'll be in the living room, watching you guys.” She specifically looked at Nea when she had said the word 'watching' as though trying to make sure that Nea understood that she wouldn't let her do anything in HER house. Rolling her eyes, Nea didn't say a word.
The two in the dining room didn't say a thing as they watched Arista walk into the adjoining living room and plop herself onto the couch and turn on the television. It was a longer time before they finally settled into their seats, wondering just how to break the silence between them.
It was almost a cliché moment when both started to speak at the same time, but Nea motioned for Lilly to go first. The young girl said, in a soft voice, “You're not... Really trying to steal her boyfriend, right?”
With a defiant nod, Nea exclaimed, “No! I have no interest in Luke Penn. Not one iota!”
A smile appeared on Lilly's face, before it faltered. “Luke Penn? James' tutor?” she asked.
Nea nodded, “Yeah, that fool. You've seen him. You've seen how I ACT towards him. I'm sure you can tell I don't want him at all.”
Nodding slowly, Lilly agreed, “Right. You barely talk to him.”
Nea then realized that Lilly had never actually seen the two argue so instead just kept the girl's thoughts to that, “That's right. I don't talk to him there.”
The two stayed silent a while before someone knocked against the main door. All heads, including Arista's, reared to its direction, even though the two in the dining room couldn't see who exactly would be coming. After the first knock, nobody moved. After the second, still nobody moved. It was after the third that Arista huffed, “Where's that damn maid?!” Getting up from her seat, she stomped over to the door herself, muttering to herself, “This is what she's getting paid for. Idiot.”
Lilly and Nea sat in silence, straining to hear what Arista was saying to the person at the other side of the door.
“You. What do you want?” Arista's harsh voice asked. Neither could hear the voice of the other person, who Nea assumed must've been someone Arista didn't like. “Stay there. I'll go tell the brat you're here.” Her quick strides had her in the dining room quickly. “Brat. Your boy toy's here to talk to you.”
Immediately, red spread throughout Lilly's face as she said roughly, “He's not my boy toy. And tell him I'm busy. I don't want to talk to him right now.”
Arista's face first went from surprise to cheer, “Good for you! Ditching that good for nothing friend. Nothing good will come from being friends with that idiot.” She spoke the words so loudly that Nea wondered whether or not the person by the door could hear her. Immediately, she went back to the door, to pass on the message Nea assumed, although she thought that Arista was likely to change the message ever so slightly.
“She doesn't like you anymore. Scat!” Arista's voice said gleefully, causing Nea to flinch slightly. The door slammed after that and Arista had gone back to her spot on the couch, the television still playing in the background.
Taking a breath, Nea looked at Lilly whose hands were now fists and the young girl was physically shaking. “Lilly?” she asked, wondering.
“That was James,” Lilly said, her eyes staring at an invisible spot on the table. “I...I'm not talking to him right now.”
Nea blinked, “I see.” After a long pause, she continued, “Is it because of what happened on Thursday?”
Lilly didn't say a word for a long time. Nea considered saying something during that time, but as she opened her mouth to say something, Lilly responded, “Not entirely.” She shook her head, “But that's another story.” Looking up finally with watery eyes, the blond said shakily, “That's not important right now.” Pulling her textbook back to the center of their space, she asked, “I'm still having trouble with this concept. Can you explain it again?”
Staring at the young girl whose head was now affixed on the textbook's page, Nea refrained from sighing. She supposed that this wasn't exactly her business. But a part of her felt a tang of emotion that she didn't recognize. Shaking her head, she stared at the page as well. “You see...” she started.
After who knows how long, Nea finally got up from the chair, feeling stiff from the long period of sitting. As Lilly got up beside her, Nea stretched in her spot, hoping it'd rejuvenate her enough to stay awake for the ride home. Yawning, she smiled at Lilly who was fixing her books to take them upstairs. “I hope that was helpful,” Nea said, a little concerned at the weak smile on the girl's face.
“It was great!” she exclaimed, the fake enthusiasm being obvious even to Nea. “Thanks so much for coming by.” The young girl's normally cheery green eyes were dull and almost blank.
With a frown, Nea grabbed her bag, noting that Arista was snoozing away on the couch with the television still playing in the background. She stopped in her motions before turning to Lilly, “Can I say something?”
Lilly blinked, before nodding in uncertainty.
“I... I have a faint idea why you and James are still fighting,” Nea started and was almost interrupted by Lilly's protesting. “Let me finish,” she said gently, something she rarely brought about, before continuing “I can't claim to know a lot about friendships, but if he still wants to be friends with you as much as you want to be friends with him,” she paused here, as though uncertain where to go with her words. “You shouldn't... ruin a friendship that you want to be in. Especially while he's still around and wants desperately to be your friend.” Her face said what her lips didn't, that she knew about something like this and that it was something she obviously remembered.
Lilly stared at Nea, stunned with what Nea had taken the trouble to share. She wanted to ask what happened, but felt it was too much of an intrusion. “Thank you,” she whispered instead, going to hug the girl.
Nea stood rigid at Lilly's arms around her. It was a strange feeling, being hugged and all Nea could do was pat the girl awkwardly on the back. Not soon enough, Lilly released Nea, just as the door rang. They heard Arista fall to the ground before they saw it, and Nea had to fight back the desire to laugh as she saw Arista's figure on the floor. Moaning, Arista got up from her position and glared towards the door. The maid was apparently much too far to hear it again so Arista had had to haul herself off the couch to open it, her face angry as though ready to yell at the person behind the door for interrupting her sleep. Nea started to ready herself to leave, ignoring what would/should happen at the door. It seemed Lilly was going to do the same. At the sound of nothing but the door opening, Nea wondered what'd have Arista so quiet. That was when she heard him as she approached the corner with her bag slung over her shoulder. Right in front of Arista, who was silent beyond belief, stood Luke with his hands in his pockets, looking as normal as always. While Luke had not seen her yet, likely due to his current distraction, Nea could easily see him from past Arista's figure.
“I-I...” Arista started, very startled at the fact that Luke was before her door, especially since the last time she'd seen him was the night of the party. “Were we... supposed to go out today?” she blurted out, scrambling to make herself look as right as she could. “I'm so sorry! I must've forgotten. I'll go get ready! ...Oh! But, my sister!”
Luke shook his head, and Arista fell silent. “I'm not here for that,” he said, his voice low.
Nea felt strange in her position, Lilly standing behind her and watching the scene as well. She felt as though she shouldn't be here for this, like she was intruding on someone's private conversation. At the same time, she couldn't help, but be drawn into the view.
“Oh,” Arista said, leaning against the door. “...What are you here for then?”
Nea didn't know why but she could almost FEEL Arista's heart pounding. She felt Lilly tugging at her shirt and she leaned over to hear what the girl had to say.
“I don't feel comfortable hearing this,” Lilly whispered, and pointed towards the kitchen. “I'm going to stay in there.”
The brunette nodded, before whispering back, “I need to leave somehow, any suggestions?” she asked. Lilly nodded at her, and dragged her tutor towards the kitchen where she led her out the back door.
“There's a clear path through here and it'll lead you to the driveway. You can call a cab from there,” Nea nodded and then gave a small wave. “I'll see you Wednesday, then?”
Lilly nodded back, “Definitely!” As Nea moved towards the back door and yanked it open, Lilly added something, “And Nea? Thank you.”
Nea stood still for a moment before turning and waving bye. Walking out and following the dimly lighted pathway, considering how dark it had gotten, she started to wonder why she HAD told Lilly such a thing. It was more than she had ever shared, and she was extremely grateful that the young blond hadn't asked her how she knew such a thing. Walking midway through the driveway, she finally heard a sob ring through the air, and her skin prickled, at both the sound of the heart-wrenching cries that followed and the sudden cold breeze that picked up suddenly. She could hear Arista faintly screaming “Don't leave me, Luke! Not you. Please!” and almost felt her heart lurch at the desperation in the girl's voice. It was only when flashes of Arista's behavior towards her sprang to mind that she felt herself reluctant to feel pity for the cruel girl. She could almost feel herself becoming glad that Arista had gotten her comeuppance, but shook the feeling out of her mind. Punching the number of the taxi company she had used to get there into her cell phone, she hid by the trees of the front lawn, obscuring herself from anyone's sight, especially Luke.
Moments later, she could hear his footsteps on the gravel of the pathway towards his red car, and could still hear the faint sobbing of Arista by the door. Hiding behind a tree, she could watch Luke stop by his car, leaning against it with his back and eyes closed. He seemed to be muttering something to himself and Nea almost felt sorry for HIM at the moment, but as with Arista, wiped the thought out of her mind. Getting into the driver's seat, she watched as he drove away into the night, glad he hadn't caught her. A few minutes after, Nea's cab came by and she entered it, giving her address without much thought. She watched Lilly and Arista's house disappear from view and wondered just what would happen at school tomorrow. She couldn't help, but feel excited.