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( ante meridiem by men i trust ) THERE WAS NO COMFORT in this silence. The girls sat in a booth at Cooks, waiting on Ivy who was late. The three of them knew what this meeting was about. Or at least Sloane and Darcy did. Gwen seemed pleasantly unbothered, making conversation like it was business as normal.
"Where'd you stay while you were in New York?" Gwen asked Sloane after some silence.
"Uh, at the school. In a dorm." Sloane nodded a bit. Gwen raised her eyebrows and nodded. "You just moved here from the city, right?"
Gwen took a sip of the soda in front of her. "Mhm." She smiles. "Manhattan. Around West 57th street."
Sloane nodded, she knew Manhattan, but she wasn't gonna sit and act like she knew the street names of the city. She'd spent a year there, but was pretty much cooped in the academy. Given by Gwen's top to bottom designer clothes, she assumed it was on the wealthier side.
Darcy sat next to Sloane, her eyes focused out the window, glued on The Lighthouse that appeared just as unsettling in the daylight. The lamp was off, and she wondered if she'd just imagined the whole thing.
A ring came from the door, and the girls turned to see if it was Ivy. Instead, it was Kieran, the boy who had come into Cooks just the night before.
Sloane and Gwen turned around when they realized it wasn't her, continuing their conversation, but Darcy's eyes stayed glued on him. He walked in, keeping his head slightly low as he made his way to the counter.
He glanced at Darcy for a quick moment, not recognizing her at first, but when he did you could see the subtle change in his expression. Their eyes linger on each other for a moment, and he gave her the slightest of nods, insinuating a 'hello' before he turned to order.
Darcy was almost taken aback. He barely even looked at her last night, and now he nodded at her? She wasn't sure why flattery was her first reaction, either.
He spoke to the waitress as he ordered, and when he was done, he glanced back to Darcy for a split second, but she caught him.
Darcy smiled faintly, trying her best to hide it, as she returned her focus back to the group.
"There she is." Sloane said quietly, nodding towards the door.
Ivy walked through, sunglasses on, big beige bomber jacket over a screen printed cropped tank top, and black mini skirt. There was something so effortless about the way she dressed, and Darcy was always envious of it.
Ivy didn't really say anything, she just squeezed into the booth and kept her sunglasses on. Darcy looked at Sloane, and then back to Ivy, unsure what to say first.
'Thank you all for coming' felt like she was thanking them for coming to a funeral. Unfortunately that's sort of what it felt like.
"Are you guys..." Darcy thought for a second. "Okay?"
