Unreciprocated Feelings Between Me And You

chapter | e i g h t e e n

eighteen | groups and soups

"HELLO, SELENA," DARCY greets with a smile on her face as she enters the apartment. My father abruptly follows after her and so do the rest of my friends who are standing behind them.

The room suddenly feels so small. It's as if these four walls are closing in on me and there's nothing I can do about it.

I can hear how fast my heart is beating and I feel like it may burst out of my ribcage any moment. I'm afraid to move too because I feel like I'd break. I just want to cower away in fear, stay in a corner, and pretend that this isn't happening.

Ruby closes the door and locks it with a loud click.

I wet my lips before walking toward my father and embracing him. I could feel how stiff he is and that only makes me even more nervous. I know he's mad, I just don't know to what extent. I look at Darcy and she smiles my way. I return the gesture as a sign of respect although it's forced.

"Daddy, Darcy," I manage to breathe out. I look at him but he's looking past me, his eyes on my friends. "W-Why didn't you tell me you were coming? We weren't able to prepare anything for you."

Finally, my father's eyes shifted to me. His stare is so intense that I can't help but look away from him.

"Hello, Sir," the girl beside me says in a cheerful voice. I look at her and she has this big smile on her face. "I'm Elena, but you can just call me El. One of Sia's best friends. Nice to meet you."

Darcy suddenly chuckles, making all of us turn to her. What's so funny?

Darcy smiles widely when she notices that all the attention is on her. "I'm sorry for that. It's just that—Selena, you really have a lot of best friends. I met Cleo, Gwen, and Blaire earlier and they're such brilliant young girls. And now, another lady is introducing themselves as your best friend. Your father never said you were very friendly."

Does he even ever talk about me?

Again, what's so funny?

I want to roll my eyes and tell her to shut her mouth but I keep my cool and force another smile on my face. She's still older than you. Remember that, Sia.

"It's all right, Darcy."

"Do you have any more best friends or is it just these young ladies?" she keeps her voice in a joking tone.

I'm about to reply to her question when Dexter beats me to it. For the briefest of moments, I wonder if my heart really stopped. "Yeah, she has another one."

My father turns to him and asks, "Who?"

"It's me, Sir," he offers a hand with a smile on his face. I could tell that it isn't genuine. His smile is nervous and maybe even forced. I don't blame him for that since he knows how my father thinks now. "My name is Maddox Clifford and I'm another best friend of Selena's."

I'm glad that he didn't call me by the nickname he's given me. If he did, that would only anger my father even more. I know he already thinks that something is up. I don't want anything to fuel his assumptions.

I don't know what to feel when he shakes hands with Maddox and even smiles at him. "I'm George. You got a good grip, kid."

I think Maddox was aiming to let out a chuckle but it sounded more like some incoherent noise an animal would make.

No, he's not fooling me with this light pretense he has going on. He's mad.

"And you?" Daddy transfers his gaze to Arrows. "Are you another best friend of my daughter?"