Seaglass Promises in the Midnight Sky

Difference in Perspective

Lorraine headed upstairs a few minutes after Belly left. She wanted to explain how it all happened and make sure Belly understood before she gave her any kind of space to process. She was sure there was plenty of things Belly wanted to tell her as well.

Belly was on the bed holding her stuffed polar bear when she entered the room.

"Hey." Lorraine closed the door behind her, suddently unsure of where to start.

"Why did you do it?" Belly asked.

"I like him."

Belly scoffed like she found the answer funny, like she didn't believe it, "Yeah, well so do I. And I liked him before you did. I love him."

"I know. And I'm sorry, I never wanted to hurt you."

"Then why did you take him? You knew he was mine."

Lorraine sighed. She didn't think it would help the situation much but she felt like it needed to be said, "Belly, he's a person, he was never yours."

"That's not what I mean! You're twisting my words!" Belly huffed, clearly frustrated, she was twisting one of Junior Mint's paws. Her affection for the stuffed animal was enough of a omen for how badly this conversation would go.

"You spent the whole summer telling everyone you saw that you were over him. You moved onto Cam and then Jeremiah." Lorraine pointed out, falling back on the discussion she had with Taylor on the same topic.

"That's different! Those are seperate things."

"No they're not." She tried to keep calm, knowing it wouldn't do any good to start getting frustated, it would only serve to escalate things.

"They are! My feelings for them are totally different. God, I never should have brought you here!"

Lorraine didn't know how to respond to that, then it turned out she didn't have to, Belly had more to say, "You ruin everything!"

She just wanted to leave at this point, but Belly wasn't finished, "You stole Taylor and now you're stealing Conrad."

"I knew Taylor before you did, Belly," Lorraine corrected, confused as to how this has become about their friendship with Taylor.

"And I knew Conrad." Belly argued.

She shouldn't have said it but it had been on her mind all summer, everytime Belly condesendingly said something about Conrad, everytime Conrad proved the opposite. And if she didn't belong here, if she never should have come, then maybe none of it matters. Belly will hate her either way.

"I'm not sure you do know him."

"Oh so you spend a few months with him and suddently you know him better than everyone else." Lorraine had never seen that look on Belly's face. She had never seen her so angry.

"I'm not saying that, I just don't know if you look at Conrad and actually see him or if you just see what you want to see."

Belly's face twisted with fury, she stood up and advanced on Lorraine, "You know what I see when I look at you? A lying, backstabbing-"

"Belly." Taylor's voice interrupted, drawing the pair's attention to the door, where the other girl stood.

"Why don't you explain what you think Lorraine did." Taylor suggested neutrally.

"She went after Conrad. Even though she knows I love him."

Taylor shook her head, "Lorraine didn't go after Conrad, he pursued her."

"It sucks that you both ended up liking the same guy, but Conrad turned you down. And you haven't even looked in his direction for weeks." She added.

"None of that matters!" Belly protested.

Lorraine ran a hand down her face, emotionally drained, "I don't know what you want."

"I want you to stop dating him."

"You want me to break up with him?" Lorraine repeated to clairfy that Belly was actually asking that of her. Belly nodded once.

"Why? So that we're all miserable?" Lorraine pushed, exasperated. Belly offered no answer, so Lorraine set about clairfying something for the other girl, "Belly, he's not going to be with you. I'm not the only thing standing in between your happily ever after with him."

"He only turned me down after you showed up!"

"He's been turning you down for years!" Lorraine argued, loosing her tight grip on her emotions at such a notion.

"You wouldn't even know, you weren't here!" Belly yelled. Lorraine looked over at Taylor, who looked at a loss of what to do or say.

Lorraine shook her head, "I'm done. I'm not sitting here fighting with you about this, going in circles. I won't break up with him for you and fuck you for asking me to. I get that it sucks. I feel like shit for doing it to you. But you don't get to control everything. I'm done."

She left before anyone could say another word.