Grace.

Chapter 36.

Gloria missed dinner. After eating, mom and dad headed upstairs for bed and I stayed behind to do the dishes. That's when Gloria walked in, well not exactly walked in but, stumbled in. She stood by the door for a few seconds, struggling to get her key out. "Shit," she said to herself.
I quickly went over to help her. "Just push it in and then pull it out. See? It annoys me sometimes as well," I instructed, giving a soft chuckle.
"Thanks," Gloria said. She grabbed the keys out of my hand and staggered to the couch.
I trailed behind her, "Ria? Are you...drunk?" I noticed.
Gloria gave a scornful laugh. "You would know about being drunk, wouldn't you?" She bit. "That isn't very nice," I muttered.
She sat up from the couch and aggressively pushed me back into it.
"Ria!" I cried out.
"I asked you about Edgar and what did you do? You fucking lied!" She hissed.
My heart stopped. I couldn't believe my ears. Whenever Gloria got mad, she'd get really pissed. And at that very moment, she was extremely pissed. H-how did she find out?! Did he tell her?!
"I-what-I," I stuttered.
"You think you're so smart, huh? You have no fucking clue."
"Okay, so because you two went to school together you now think you know him? Come on, Ria. You're smarter than that," I scoffed.
"Are you kidding me right now?" She laughed. "He's poisoned your fucking brain."
"Stop it, Gloria! This is my first boyfriend and you're acting like a total bitch right now! Aren't you happy for me?"
"My angel, if it were any other guy besides Edgar, I would have been over the moon, happy for you. Listen to me, he's not go-"
"Stop it. Stop - it. This isn't some stupid crush. What we have is real, okay? It's been real from a long time ago."
"Long time ago?"
"Yes! Edgar and I developed feelings for each other long time ago, Ria. Our relationship is serious."
"How long ago?"
"If you must know, three years ago."
The door bell rang. One ring after another. A loud knock followed: "Gloria?!" We shot a look at each other. "Edgar?" We both sprung up from the couch and ran to the door. Gloria reached it first, pushing me aside, I fell to the ground. When Gloria swung the door open, she was met by a very agitated Edgar.
"You've got to believe me, I never wanted things to end up the way they did, Gloria! I was scared! I-I-I was shocked! You were a virgin! I didn't want to take that away from you. You were my best friend! I didn't know what to do. Please believe me."
"Not only are you trash! You're a- you're a monster! She was thirteen!"
Gloria lunged forward so fast, striking Edgar on his cheek. The slap was so hard, he stumbled back a few steps. He looked up at her, eyes wide.
"You-you guys slept together?" I asked appearing from behind the door. "Ria...you lost your virginity to him? The-the asshole, the guy who broke your heart, it's Edgar?"
Gloria didn't say anything. Instead, she just stood there, whimpering, glowering at Edgar. "I asked you, Edgar. I asked what happened between you and Gloria and you told me it was nothing," I continued.
Edgar quickly moved to grab my hand but I pulled away. "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" I quickly said.
He backed away, slowly falling to his knees.
"What's going on here?"
We wheeled around. "Dr. Hills," Edgar said. Me and Ria said nothing. Dad looked at us: Ria was crying, I was really upset.
"Edgar. Son, don't you think it's too late for a visit?" Dad said.
"You're right, Sir. I'm sorry. I'll leave."
Gloria winced at hearing papá call Edgar "Son".
"Girls, let's go inside."
That night was horrible. My heart was shattered. Broken. One minute I'm in love, the next I find out that Edgar, my boyfriend, was the first guy to break my sister's heart. Then mine. The world went quiet. Dead quiet. I wasn't sure what to feel. Who to be pissed off at. Should I be pissed? What would happen now? Although I felt numb, I had a million questions in my head. The only two people I could get answers from where the very same people I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to.
Was I being inconsiderate?
I mean, Edgar was part of the reason Ria felt horrible for years. He added to her pain. I couldn't believe I was so blind! The only guys I've seen Gloria close with were: Edgar, then Daniel. Why didn't I think that Edgar could've been the one to break her virginity?! And why'd he take something so precious from her only to leave her like that?
I felt sick. He could've easily done the same thing to me. But he promised me. He promised we'd be together forever! He couldn't have been using me! Not to mention how he knew how much I meant to Naomi. He wouldn't have hurt me on purpose! No!
I got to my room after rushing upstairs and headed straight for the shower. Having cold water running down my whole body seemed like good enough therapy to me. I just sat there, my clothes still on, soaking myself with cold water. My heart was broken. I was so hurt that I couldn't even cry. I couldn't react. I didn't know how to.
After a few minutes of torture, I got up from my shower floor, took the wet clothes off and took a normal shower. Mom and I were going to buy my dress the next day, I had to look up which kind I would like. I felt warm after that bath and it's a good thing I took it or else I would've gotten a terrible cold.
Dresses online were gorgeous! Vintage pink had really pretty vintage dresses, perfect for a Bond girl! There was one black one which had the perfect design! Open back, long slit, tight around the hips. It looked like one of those designer made dresses. After that, I took my phone and dialed Josh. I had to laugh it off with someone!
"Hey, darling!" He answered.
"You will not believe what just happened!" I laughed.
I proceeded to tell him everything while he listened to the whole story attentively. Detail by detail.
"Oh, no. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm cool."
"There's no way you could be cool with that, Grace."
"Joshua, trust me! It's not that big of a deal! It's just a failed relationship! Everyone has those, right?" I tried to convince myself.
"Yeah, but this was your first relationship ever! Obviously it meant something to you. You cannot tell me you were not in love with the guy."
"Does it matter if I was or wasn't?"
"Grace, you're upset. That, and extremely hurt. Don't ignore how you're feeling, because it'll take longer to get over it."
"I am fine, Josh. Really, I am!"
Before he could say anything, my door opened and Gloria walked in. She didn't even bother knocking. I hung up without even saying goodbye. What did she want?! She closed the door and just...sat on the floor.
"Ria, I-"
"You didn't know, and that's not your fault. But why didn't you tell me? When all of this started."
"I...no one knew."
"I accepted the fact that he didn't want me. It took time and it hurt, but I accepted it. But I'm failing to understand what he was thinking. Did he just not care about my feelings from the start? He took my virginity, ignored me as though I didn't exist, and now here he is...busy with my sister. Did he think you'd never find out? Was he going to have you hide him forever? Because obviously we would've known! Did he not think what would happen when I found out, when you knew the truth about our history?! Edgar is such an asshole. Always has been, always will be."
As right as Gloria was, she wasn't exactly making me feel any better. She was definitely painting him the bad guy. Not my Eddy, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't lead me on, or would he? It hurt to hear those words and I just didn't want to think about it. But Ria asked a question I didn't know how to answer.
"So, what are you going to do now?" She asked me.
"Ria, I do not want to talk about this. I do not," I muttered.
"But you do know that this is so wrong, right? It's unfair. Are you going to expect me to be cool with your relationship with him?"
"N-no. I'm sorry, Gloria. I didn't know," I apologized.
"Because you kept this whole damn thing a secret! Why did you do that?"
"I-I was scared."
"You know very well that if you have to lie about something or hide it out of fear or guilt then that thing is wrong! One kiss from Edgar and you throw everything we've been taught out of the window?! You made me believe that I can trust you!" She scolded.
I just kept quiet. I mean, what was I going to say? I had already apologized, and she was right. I fell for the devil, and I allowed him to whisper sweet nothings into my ear. The more she spoke was the more I realized that Edgar was so wrong for pursuing me knowing that he broke my sister's heart. Then I remembered how he did the same thing to Lucy. He broke her heart as well. Was that honestly the kind of guy I saw myself having a future with? Because if that was so, then I needed to re-evaluate my life.
Was I forgetting everything? Was I really on the verge of settling? I wouldn't say that my standards were high, but what I wanted was very clear and specific. How did I let all of that just slip away? The heart is indeed a treacherous thing. Sometimes following it is not a good idea.
Gloria got up from the carpet after a long moment of silence between us. Tears were falling down her face. It was a silent cry. She was hurt and I knew that it would only get worse from there. Gloria is sensitive. It takes time for her to get over things. I didn't like seeing her hurt, but there she was. She had been hurt all over again, because of me! Me! She walked out of my room and slammed the door behind her.
I didn't find the situation funny anymore. Contacting Daniel crossed my mind, but then I quickly thought how he might not know about her and Edgar. I didn't want to add fuel to the fire.
My life was over. So, so over! And finally, after acting as though everything was okay, I started crying. Quietly. I didn't see it coming. I could've never guessed it! And the worst part was, it hit right at home.