Kiss of War

Chapter - 21

ELIANA

Vindication.That was the running theme of the day. The rumor mill had spread while I remained MIA on social media. The video where Serena went apeshit and got arrested had gotten over five hundred thousand views. And was being exploited for eye-catching articles by every news outlet in Astropolis.
People were tweeting, sharing, and talking about it everywhere. Carter called me every single day until I blocked his number. All the students in Dane were discussing it too. Whispers accompanied me everywhere I went, but this time hateful side-eyes and sarcastic snickers didn't follow.
Serena Laurent was a social piranha, and it was all my doing.
Red rimmed eyes stared back at me as I splashed my face with some cold water in the bathroom. Either the mirror was playing tricks on me, or my complexion had truly gone to shit.
I looked sick, no better than I did at the beginning of the school year. I was treading on thin ice. One more misstep, and water would swallow me whole. Every time I eradicated a problem, two more reared their ugly heads in its midst. It was like I was battling a Hydra, and the fact that I didn't possess Herculean power was becoming painfully obvious.
A bathroom stall creaked on the far left side of the bathroom. I didn't pay it any mind. I continued lathering my hands with soap, trying to drain my hectic thoughts.
"I never thought you had in you, you know." Serena's voice startled me. I snapped my gaze to the mirror, catching her reflection behind me. Poison swirled behind her honey-colored eyes, and my hackles raised. "You were the perfect doormat for so long. I guess I never took into consideration that when you're surrounded by monsters, you start to become one yourself."
She sauntered to the sink next to me, fixing her hair and straightening her red leather jacket and black skirt. Even fallen from grace, she looked more put together than I ever would. "You must be ecstatic, I presume. The snake finally got what she deserved, huh?"
"It's not my fault your head grew too big for your body, Serena." I turned the faucet off, tilting my chin up. "We both know you're not the victim here. I don't have any time for your games."
"It's never your fault, is it? But of course, Eliana can never do anything wrong. Her hair is always shiny, her smile always perfect, her body more toned than Teyana fucking Taylor's. I bet you shit gold too, don't you?" She chuckled. "I used to lose sleep wondering what it took to shine brighter than a Roux. Even at the bottom of the totem pole, you gleamed brighter than the peak."
I tilted my shoulders back. Her jealousy pooled around me as she sank her teeth in my character. Serena's description didn't represent me in the slightest, but she was so lost in her envy, her vision was clouded.
"Why are you telling me this? Am I to blame for your shortcomings too?"
"Oh no, not at all." She shook her head, lips twisting into a painful smile. "I am telling you this for me. Because no matter how untouchable you seemed, I finally realized that you're not all that much better than I am. My insecurities are mine, but you aren't without your own. Ain't that right little miss perfect? Wasn't I the one that drove you past your breaking point?"
I blinked, biting my tongue. "So what if you were? You want an award for being a shitty human being?"
"I want you to stare at the mirror and take a good look at who you've become, Eliana. We're both shitty, honey. The only difference is that I've been this way longer." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Welcome to the club."
My stomach lurched at her words. I thought I'd feel good, powerful. I'd finally showed her up, but all day I was having flashbacks to when I went through the same thing. No matter how much I tried, I didn't enjoy hurting others like they hurt me.
"You and I could never be part of the same club. I don't deny being a beast, but we're not the same kind of animal, Serena. What you're experiencing is a counteract of your viciousness."
"Is it? Carter is threatening to send me off to some god-awful boarding school for the rest of the year, so congratulations. You managed to get rid of me while your real enemies are still sitting pretty in their imaginary thrones."
I winced. The Pyrrhic victory hung heavy on my shoulders. "Their thrones are made of glass."
"They might be." Retrieving a lip gloss tube from her backpack, she proceeded to put some color on her ashy lips. "But then again, no one ever mastered breaking them."
"Was that why you never tried? Or did you fear losing as much as they did if you came out successful?"
It was her turn to wince, and I got my answer.
A humorless smirk took over my lips as I stepped away, fixing my backpack on my shoulder. "I never claimed to be a virginal queen, Serena. I get petty, jealous, and spiteful as much as the next girl, but at least I have a backbone, and I sincerely hope you find yours. If not for yourself, then do it for Amelia."
The lip gloss she was holding slipped from her fingers and rattled on the sink. Her eyes got misty, like they always did at the mention of her mother. Good. An influx of emotions built inside my chest, and as much as I hated the bitch, I hated what she had become more. She'd grown so accustomed in her mean girl persona, she'd lost herself. She'd lost the ability to feel and see anything beyond the narrow walls of her mind.
No matter how much I didn't want her to fail, it wasn't my job to help her find her way anymore, so I made a beeline for the door. I'd shown her the courtesy of pointing out her wounds, stitching them back together was on her.
"Eliana?" Her soft-spoken question stopped me mid-stride.
I tilted my head to watch her, but she wasn't looking at me. Her head was bent as she continued examining herself in the mirror, and I noticed, for the first time that same as me, she was sporting very similar red rims around her eyes.
"Yeah?"
Serena's shoulders shook as she took a deep breath. "You forgave Leo."
A statement, not a question, nonetheless I deigned it with a response. "I did."
"Why?"
Such a simple question. Then why did it make my mouth run dry and my toes curl as my heart
picked up its speed into NASCAR mode?
"He apologized." The response flew out of my mouth like butter. I rubbed my hand along the back
of my neck, over the cold sweat that had accumulated there.
"Is that really all it takes?" Serena raised a single brow at me through the mirror.
"Why? Do you want to try your luck?"
"No," she snorted as she turned to look at me. Her shoulders were slumped, posture passive, and
I could tell she was enjoying this just as much as I was. "I was just amazed by how well you continue to lie to yourself after all these years." She got closer, her small statue inches below me. "We're not thirteen anymore, Eli."
"Could have fooled me," I replied, swallowing hard. She was leading to a dead end, I'd found my way to one too many times, and I didn't like it. Dead ends made everyone skittish, and I was no different.
We'd both changed a lot during the past two years, but our ability to read each other remained static. That was usually the case when you shared a childhood with someone. She could see past my bullshit with little effort.
"You didn't forgive Leo because he apologized. You did so because you love him." She pointed her finger at me. "You didn't care that I saw him first. You just had to have him. And Leo being Leo, he took one look at the ice queen and couldn't help but want to melt her frigid heart."
She didn't touch me, but she might as well have pushed me. I stumbled back from the weight of her words, the sky-high walls I'd build crashed, and all it took was a few sentences.
Leo did not want to melt my ice-cold heart. He wanted to conquer it, leave its mark on it and move on to other viable territories. Once the novelty wore off, his attention would wean.
I didn't love him.
I couldn't be stupid enough to love him.
"Do you know what they say? We tend to attach ourselves to the people that remind us of our
parents." Her hand came to my hair, tugging at a gold strand as she forced my flighty gaze to hers. "So who's really the coward here, Eliana? Me for not taking a stand? Or you for trading in one demon for another?"
My chest shuddered as I swatted her hand away. "Shut the fuck up Serena. You have no idea what you're talking about."
"I mean, I get it. Wind feels better than fire." A sugary sweet smile spread on her face before she snapped her mouth closed. "But get off your high horse, honey. Earth is where humans are supposed to be."