Uncovering Dahlia's Truth

The Date

"Don't you just love shopping!" Hillary said chirpily, her hands loosely on her steering wheel and tapped her foot to the beet of Maroon 5 playing on her car radio.

Angel gave a smile and laughed at her enthusiasm. She scolded herself right afterwards. She used to shop with Dahlia and only Dahlia. Feeling happy only made her sadder. Hillary didn't notice, though. Hillary stared at the backseat through her mirror and smiled over at Angel. "With all those clothes back there, we won't have trouble picking something out for you for tonight."

Angel sighed and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes. "I don't even know if I really want to go on this date."

Hillary frowned and playfully slapped Angel. "Nonsense!" She bellowed. "We didn't buy so many clothes for nothing."

"And now I'm going to have to work extra shifts at my grandad's book shop." Angel said.

They turned into their apartment block and punched in the code. They drove in and stopped outside Hillary's flat right next to Angel's.

"Now," Hillary said, climbing out the car with her shopping bags flung over her arms and shoulders. She set her sunglasses on her light brown haired head and gave Angel a dazzling smile. "I would love to stay and help you prepare for this date with Matt, but I have a plans."

Angel grabbed her bags and her keys from her pocket. "I'll be alright, thanks. And thanks for helping me pick something out."

Hillary waved her off and started unlocking her own flat. "It was no problem, I had fun." She giggled and Angel surprised herself with the slightest giggle from her own mouth.

Angel stepped into her flat and set all the shopping bags on her kitchen counter, huffing. She stared up at her wall, scrubbed until paint came off from rubbing away the message in red. Angel had tucked the picture of Dahlia in a drawer up in her bedroom, under a bunch of magazines. She locked all her doors as firmly as she could and hoped that it would work.

Though the fear that ate at her could not subside.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, making her way to her room to get ready for her date. She jumped when she heard a hadida screech from the grass outside and clutched her chest, heaving for breath and closing her eyes.

The paranoia is painful.

She quickly took a shower and got into a flowery pastel dress coming up to mid thigh and slipped a pair of strappy wedges on. She applied some light make-up on her fair skin and gave a small smile at herself. It's been quite a while since she got so dressed up.

She heard the flat buzzer and grabbed her handbag on the bed before a memory hit her.

"Look at Jen and Madelyn fighting again," Dahlia said, shaking her head as they strode past the school grounds. Angel sighed and kicked at a rock with her school shoes. "They shouldn't be fighting like that," Angel said and they stared at the two girls screaming at each other, "Best friends don't do that." Dahlia was silent, staring at a nearby acorn tree with her lips pursed. "Not everyone is such good a friend as you are."

Angel tugged at a piece of her ash blonde hair and pulled it towards her mouth and bit at it, frowning. She stared at the ground in front of her, trying to remember more, but the memory already felt like it was fading. She shook her head and ran down the stairs to the front door. She made sure to lock everything before running out and waving at Matt waiting behind the gate.

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"How are you liking university so far," Matt asked, taking a huge gulp of champagne.

Him and Angel were at the best restaurant in the city called The Flower Garden. It was right in the middle and was surrounded with the most beautiful plants and flowers and they sat in a massive green house with plants ranking up and down the walls and different kinds of scents wafting from all directions. Thy sat right in the middle of the building with a lacy table cloth and tall glasses of champagne, sparkling pink bubbles swirling around the glass. Matt had a buttoned down white shirt and long pants with black shoes on and his hair was combed to the side. He looked the most handsome Angel has ever seen him. She smiled up at the chandelier and back at him, not even hiding how amazing everything was, like she would've done just a few weeks ago.

"Oh," she said, folding one leg over the other and resting her head on her fist. "It has been so different from high school, but yet again, I couldn't wait to get out of high school after..." She fell silent and her smile dropped along with her eyes to the ground.

Matt cleared his throat. "You know I took a gap year last year," he said.

Angel looked up. "I figured, since you're a year older than me. What did you do?"

He pointed around him and smirked.

Angel's eyes grew wide and a huge grin spread on her face. "You did this?" She asked, shocked.

He nodded his head, a smug look on his face. "Sure did, along with one of my friends."

"That's amazing!" Angel said and smiled.

They're food just arrived with a tall waiter and they thanked him. Angel took a bite from her fillet and felt like she was floating on a cloud on her way to heaven. "I'm in love," she said and Matt laughed.

"Yes," he said after he finished chuckling. "The food makes me feel like that too."

Angel giggled and looked around again, admiring all the twinkling lights they've added to the plants, making the whole scene look even more magical and unreal. She saw a short girl sitting with a date at a table a few tables to their left and she frowned. She knew she saw that girl before in her life, but couldn't quite grasp who she was.

"Everything fine?" Matt asked and Angel whipped her head back towards him.

"Yes, everything's great," she reassured him and he grinned and she grinned back, but a small tinge of something she couldn't quite explain yet, hit her at the back of her head. Almost like guilt.

Brooklyn.