𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱

The phone rung for a few seconds before Tianah finally picked up.

"Hey, Holly. What's up?"

Holly took a moment to think about what to say.

"Well, uh.. Taylor texted me just now."

Not unlike before when she had told Toby, Holly was met with silence. Tianah tried not to jump to conclusions, as Holly didn't sound too distressed over the phone. However, she still spoke through gritted teeth.

"And what did she have to say?"

"That's actually why I called you.. She wants to meet up and just talk. I'm going, but I don't exactly fancy the idea of going alone. I was wondering if maybe you'd come with me. For physical and moral support."

Even though Holly knew Tianah wouldn't decline such an offer, she still felt very apprehensive about the answer regardless.

"Yeah, of course. I'm pretty sure with me there, Taylor wouldn't even think about laying a hand on you." Tianah giggled as she said this, recalling the events of her most recent encounter with the pink haired girl.

Holly smiled brightly at Tianah's positive reaction to the invitation, and she was quick to give Tianah a response. "I'll come pick you up when I get the details, okay?"

Tianah agreed before exchanging mutual farewells and ending their phone call.

Almost immediately after the phone call ended, Holly texted Taylor back.

H: Yeah, I'm down. Where are we meeting?

T: Uh, how about that park down at Aletona?

H: Alright, and what time?

T: How about like 30 minutes from now?

Holly sent a quick thumbs up emoji before texting Tianah to fill her in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Around 20 minutes or so later, Holly arrived at Tianah's house. She honked twice to signal her presence, and Tianah came running out a minute or so later. The two girls exchanged pleasantries once Tianah had gotten into the car.

Soon enough, Holly and Tianah had arrived at Aletona. Holly got out and Tianah trailed behind her as they walked up to Taylor. Taylor noticed Tianah, but she sort of knew why Holly had brought someone, so she didn't question it. Tianah noticed Taylor's look and was quick to make a comment.

"I'm just here for moral and possible physical support, I will not be participating in this conversation. She spoke, sitting down on the wooden park table next to Holly. Taylor gave a look as if to say 'fair enough' before looking back to Holly.

"You're probably wondering why I asked you to talk."

Her statement was met with an obvious nod.

"Well, in all honesty.. I'm here to apologise to you. Within these past few weeks I've done some thinking and how I treated you was horrible. Vile, even."

Tianah shot a looked at Taylor as if to say 'what else is new?" but she never spoke once.

Taylor began to drone on about how sorry she was.

"I just really hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, and maybe even be friends again. You know, start anew?"

Both Tianah's and Holly's faces dropped when she said this. Tianah bit her tongue and allowed Holly to speak.

"One thing. Why did you do all this to me? I mean like I've tried so hard to think of some reasonable explanation as to why you acted the way you did, but I just can't think of any."

"That's because there isn't one. There is no reasonable explanation for what I did to you. And i'm really sorry because I don't have the answer you want either. The truth is I don't know why I did what I did. I guess at some point I just felt this knot of resentment deep within me, and I allowed myself to act on it. It is dumb and inexcusable, but it's the truth."

Holly took a good minute to just think about what Taylor had just said. She didn't know how to react, and she didn't know what reaction would be deemed a good reaction, either.

"Okay, and with all due respect, what makes you think it's even possible for us to rebuild our friendship? You made me miserable, Taylor. You slut shamed me publicly, you spoke down on people that meant the most to me, and you tried to attack me on multiple occasions. At one point you even succeeded. Every time I would go to school I'd be so anxious that you would say or do something that it distracted me from my studies, and it made me enjoy time with my friends a whole lot less. I could honestly go on, but from the look on your face right now, I think you get my point."

Holly was met with silence. Taylor didn't say anything, and her facial expressions were hard to read. Holly saw this as an opportunity to continue.

"Look, I forgive you. For everything. However moving forward I think its best that we don't continue this friendship. The damage done is just way too much to be able to fix."

Holly tried her hardest to hide it, but she was fighting tears at this point. Even after everything that had happened, she still loved Taylor, and she wanted so bad for things to go back to the way they were, but deep in her heart she knew that it just wasn't going to happen in this lifetime.

"You were a big part of my life, and in a way you always will be, it just won't be in the way either of us want. I'm sorry."

Taylor's neutral expression quickly faded away. Her energy seemed more melancholy now than before. She hated that this was how her and Holly ended up, but she wasn't going to try and negate it.

"I respect that, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry I made you feel the way I did." She confessed, using her hand to wipe away tears. The two girls hugged for the last time before Holly walked off. Tianah shot Taylor one last glance before she walked off, however this time it was less of an intimidating look and more of a pitiful one. Within seconds, Tianah had disappeared too, leaving Taylor alone at the park.