Fortune Favors the Brave

🩸 Chapter Eleven: Cedarwood and Lime 🩸

⚠️ TW: swearing, blades (i think?), ⚠️

It has been a week since I met everyone - Raelyn, Angel, Sam, June, and Mercy - and I'd finally decided to open up to them about West around two days ago. Mercy knew West apparently but I honestly doubt it. Mercy isn't the type of person West would be friends with, no offense to her. "So," Rae purrs, slinging a backpack over her shoulder, "ready to find your true love?" She looks me dead in the eyes when she says 'true love'. I roll my eyes, standing up.

"He's not my true love."
Liar.
"He was - is - just a friend."
Liar.

"Mhm," Mercy coos. My head whirls in her direction. "What are you 'mhm'-ing about exactly?" She faces me from the table she's at, packing her backpack, "The way you talk about him, girl, he ain't no friend. He's a lover." My cheeks heat slightly but I ignore it. "Well you're wrong. He's just a friend. My best friend. Nothing more," I side eye Rae, "nothing less." Mercy snickers, "Whatever you say, honey." Her Bahamian accent has become more prominent to me over the past week. I've been meaning to ask her about it but I haven't found the right time. Maybe now is.

"So, Mercy. You mentioned that you are Jewish," She nods, not breaking contact with her backpack, "But you also mentioned that you are Bahamian. How does that work?" She pauses to look at me, "What do you mean?"

"Well I figured if you were Bahamian you would practice another religion-"
"Muddasick! Americans are so stupid," They pronounce stupid like stew-pid. "Muddasick?" I question, looking at Rae. "It's Bahamian slang, Bahamianese if you will." I nod, sort of understanding. "Do you not realize we could practice other religions even if that is not our country's main religion?" I stutter, "No - I mean yes, well. I understood that you could practice any religion you care to, I just thought there was one that all Bahamians practiced."

She goes back to packing, muttering things under her breath.
I guess that's the end of that.

~~~

We wander down L hall, stopping at the beginning of each hall entrance. "Where are we going by the way?" I ask, peering down the cafeteria and through the windows to the courtyard. Rae hums, glancing back at me, "To your classroom." My heart skips a beat and my feet stumble. "What's the matter, doll? Can't face your old alliances," Rae purrs. I steady myself, my pupils dilate, my eyelids widening. They stop to look at me. Angel turns to me, "Are you alright?" My vision separates into two. My feet slip, my chest rising and falling as I sink to the floor. "Woah woah woah," June rushes over to me, grabbing my arm firmly, "You okay?" My eyes meet him and he tries to mask the worry so clearly written on his face. "I-i'm," I gulp, trying not to stutter, "fine." I huff out a small, meek breath. My legs shake as I ease myself to the rotten floor. Mercy flows over to me, "You are not alright, girl." I meet her icy blue eyes, unreadable, and steady my breathing. "She's fine, she's just being dramatic," Rae snickers.

The words clang through me, the familiarity causing me to choke on air.
"What did you just say?" The world goes dead silent around me. That voice - it's so familiar.

Connor.

He strides over to us - Fern on his right and Elena on his left. "What do you guys - Why are you - How did you-" Rae shoots a look at me telling me to pipe down. I swear I could hear June and Sam cuss and place bets on who'd win the fight between them.
I bet Raelyn.

My head throbs as I pass out.

~~~

I lay in my bed, my legs to my chest, as I cry. Salty tears flow down my face, burning my eyes, as I read our texts. My ex best friend was talking shit about me online and lied to me about it. We had been friends since kindergarten.

Thousands of thoughts rolled through my brain - crashing full-force into one another, but one kept popping up over and over again.

Will West still like me when he finds out?

I text him immediately, trying to reach him before Kory can. "Crying in my room core lmao." I send the little green text bubble, listening to the rain outside as I wait for his reply. He replies, "Oh- Are you good?" I hesitate on what to say back. I could lie and say I'm fine, giving him a synopsis of what Kory did or I could be dead honest and give him my raw feelings. I decided to do a mix of both. "Yeah, I'm alright. I just found out Kory was talking shit about me on TikTok. Kinda fucked up but yknow, I'm handling it."

I am not handling it.

A grey speech bubble appears on my dim phone screen, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm here for you if you want or need anything. Do you wanna talk about it?" I don't think twice before I text back, "Yes."

We spend the next two or three hours texting each other, getting side tracked every five minutes. We ended up calling each other later that night, laughing over some dumb Youtube videos and inside jokes, sharing memories from when we just started being friends and making fun of our ugly hair.

He chuckles softly, "Okay, well I gotta go, sorry. My dad's yelling at me to go to bed." I roll onto my stomach, "Whyyyy," I whine, pouting my lip. "Fine, I'll text you tomorrow. Byeee." I hang up and sigh.

I roll onto my back and stare at my ceiling. I'd forgotten how sad I'd been. When I was really close with Kory, I'd completely blocked West out. We'd been so close. Then Kory came along. "I'm sorry," I whisper to no one. My eyes gloss over, "I'm so so sorry." My voice cracks with each word. I turn my light off and crawl over the corner of my bed, cradling myself like a child. Soft, fiery tears stream down my face. My head throbs like a sore bruise. I wince, rubbing my temples in an attempt to soothe the ever growing migraine. 

I rest my head against my tan wall, listening to the sounds of the rain hitting the cement ground outside. I sit up and, using all my strength, I push open my window - the cold air rushing in.

The world around me fades to black.

~~~

(A/N: Sorry this chapter isn't the longest, I had like no motivation. Please tell me what you would want to see in future chapters, it truly helps!)

QOTD: if you could travel one place, where would it be?