Smooth Sailing ✓ [Republishing]

13 | brownies and butter

People do incredible things for love, particularly for unrequited love.

-Daniel Radcliffe-

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- L I L A -

Isaac stood there with his jaw unhinged, a mixture of emotions plastered on his face. "M-Matthew was kissing another girl?" he stuttered, stepping to the side to invite me in before I shook my head, stepping back so he could come outside. "Why are you coming to me with this, Lila?"

I zipped my jacket up to the top, feeling my cheeks redden with the cold that surrounded the night air. "Matthew had his earphones in," I started, sighing. "My guess is she kissed him, which means I need to know if that girl was Vanessa."

"V-Vanessa?" he stumbled on his words, and if it was possible, his jaw was practically on the floor. "Vanessa doesn't live with her parents, she lives with her uncle. Why would she be here?"

I shrugged my shoulders, shoving my hands securely in my pocket. "I don't know, but the girl had dark brown hair and such strong, electric blue eyes."

Isaac's eyebrows raised, and he positioned his finger on top of his top lip. "Did she have a, like, a small red scar here?"

Once I nodded, he released a harsh breath through his nose. "That's the one and only Vanessa Mason," he rolled his eyes and brought out his phone. "Why would he be kissing her? It doesn't make sense. I'm going to call her."

Suddenly, I had a very confused expression on my face, shock leaking into it. "You still have his ex's number? Are you serious, Isaac?"

He looked at me sheepishly and held the phone to his ear, deciding to put it on speaker phone when she answered. "Have you missed me that much?" she spoke, her mere voice annoying me. "I'm surprised you didn't call me sooner. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Yeah, Vanessa. Why were you kissing Matthew?"

"What? You're here?" she responded, laughing. "I actually forgot how good of a kisser Matthew is. He didn't even attempt to push me off."

Isaac glanced at me with a pained expression and quickly ended the call. "Lila," he mumbled. "You should hear Matthew's side first. Vanessa has a very warped impression of reality."

I yielded a small smile and shrugged my shoulders. "It's not like we're dating. I-I mean, it's not a big deal."

To that, his response was an obnoxious scoff, a look of incredulity adorning his face. "Not a big deal?" he recapitulated. "Of course it's a big deal. You like him and I'm not going to let Vanessa of all people set you apart."

I laughed humourlessly, inhaling hugely. "Shouldn't you be happy, Isaac? If Matthew actually is still in love with her, he's not going to be my boyfriend."

He grinned lopsidely, diverting his gaze from my face. "Lila, I'm celebrating on the inside, but your happiness means a lot more to me than my own."

The smile effortlessly made its way onto my face as I pulled my hands from my pocket, stepping towards Isaac before he took me in his arms, placing his chin on my head. "There's no way Matthew could still be in love with - with that witch. It's probably a big misunderstanding that you just need to clear up with him."

Before I could protest, he placed a soft kiss on my forehead, stepping back and smiling slightly. "You need to talk to Matthew, and I need to talk to Vanessa."

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Isaac nudged me towards Matthew, slapping a blank look on his face at the sight of Vanessa.