bathroom stalls » mileven

treize

el looked down at the ground, kicking a leaf. "so, you excited for the snowball?" max asked, twirling a tiny strand of her hair. they were sitting at a table at school. it was lunch.

"i'm not sure if i'm going."

"it's next saturday. we should get ready together!" max exclaimed.

"i'd love to," el forced out in response, hating how happy max looked.

"do you have a dress?"

"i'll probably find something somewhere."

"we can go together, if you want."

"i'd love to."

"you okay, eve?"

"eve?"

"i'm trying to find a nickname for you, something other than el."

"i like el," el murmured.

"i don't know. what works with elizabeth?" el or "elizabeth" shrugged. "beth?" max started then shook her head. "not a beth. lisa? mm, no. well, i'll get back to you on that."

"thank you," el smiled.

"no, thank you el, for being my friend, my first true friend, and here is where i'm gonna spill my life story. i was abused when i was younger, but it wasn't stereotypical drunk abuse; my parents were sober. they weren't on drugs. they just hurt me. i didn't even know why. i brought home good marks, and i was never trouble, but they still did it. maybe it was for their enjoyment, but i hope they get run down by a bus or something."

"that's terrible."

"so, i moved around foster homes, finally ending up in hawkins. by then, i was deemed perfect, popular, and pretty- the three p's of society. i saw troy, and i guess i wanted to expose him for who he really was, so i decided why not just ask to be his girlfriend. get close to him. and it worked scarily well."

"he hit you, didn't he?" el disgustedly stated.

"yeah. but you saved me, and i'm grateful. and, i used to tell my old friends this, but i tell them i love them. not because i'm attracted to them, but because i love them. i'm so grateful for them, and not even words cannot express it. so elizabeth, el, lisa, beth, whatever name i'm going to call you: love you and thank you for being in my life."