Safe (Rewritten)

The Victim

 "I never thought I could be so blind  

Oh, but now I say 

If I could go back  

Do it all again 

You know that I wouldn't sign my life away" 

- Memphis May Fire, "The Victim"

Ally Adams stands across the room, her shiny black hair falling in ringlets down her shoulders. Her green eyes are a shade or two brighter than her twin's, and they're trained right on me. Until now, I haven't really seen Ally very much. We don't have any classes together this semester, and we don't have the same lunch. In the brief moments where I have seen her, Eric's always been there to-against my will- pull my focus to him.

She looks over at Madison and her brows move together before she realizes who it is. A smile forms on her lips when she does. "Madison Tyler! Oh my goodness, I thought I'd never see you again!"

Yep. Still as exuberant as ever.

"Ally," Madison says hesitantly. "Adams, right? Eric's twin?"

Ally's eyes flick to mine at the mention of her brother. I don't want to think about what that meant. She grins brightly, pushing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "I like to think of him as my twin, not the other way around. But, yeah," she purses her lips. "Your hair. . . Is pretty pink."

Madison chuckles, rising to her feet. "It's different. I had to, anyways. I lived with a girl named Madison in the house I stayed at, and we looked freakily alike. So I, being the better person, decided to go pink."

Ally nods. She looks kind of uncomfortable standing in the doorway. "Uh, as nice as it is seeing you, I kind of wanted to talk to Paige." The word "alone" is implied, even if she doesn't say it. Madison gives her another small smile before stepping out of the room.

For a moment, Ally just stares at me. Her eyes are incredibly large, framed with thick lashes and a light layer of eyeliner. Ally has always been gorgeous, just like Eric has always been attractive. When we were little, Ally was usually the pretty princess we had to save from the dragon. Dragon translating to her twin.

Letting out a loud breath, Ally sits down on the arm of the bedside chair. I'm really not looking forward to her visit if it's just going to consist of her staring at me. After another minute of awkward silence, she finally sighs. "When did you get like this?"

"So Eric hasn't said anything?" I blurt, clamping down on my tongue afterwards. She raises her arched brows, but I'm not about to tell her anything more.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ally frowns, twisting the ring on her index finger. "But Eric isn't the kind of guy to tell other people's secrets. I thought you'd know that, Paige."

Yes, I do. Eric is a nice guy, and that's just a fact. He's amazing. When we were fourteen, Eric had a small concert and donated all of the money to cancer research.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here," Ally crosses her legs, balancing precariously. "But, seriously, Paige. We were best friends before we left. Kind of. I just- I just don't get why after everything, you don't want to talk to me. You talk to my brother. You talk to Ella Rosing. But not me. What happened?"

My secret weighs on my chest like a million pounds. It would be easy to just tell her the truth. But then what? She'll tell Eric. Eric knowing that I'm weak and defenseless would be the ultimate low blow to my heart.

So I just swallow and decide to come up with a good lie. "I haven't had friends for two years. When you guys left, Tash and I stopped talking. She turned into a bigger bitch and, well, I just didn't try."