The Exchange

Chapter 29

"Hey Mira." Harry calls from the couch. Nialls guitar is leaning up against the wall next to him and they're all sitting around the coffee table. The T.V is turned off and there is an eery and awkard silence in the room. The atmosphere is strange and tense and I don't know if I want to be here at the moment.

"Hi." I call turning away and taking off my shoes and my jacket. I drop my school bag in front of my bedroom door and walk right into the living room casually like I usually do.

"Mira, I guess you should meet Eleanor." Louis says as I enter the living room standing up. She does the same because he's on her lap and Louis takes a step in my direction. "Eleanor this is Mira, Mira this is Eleanor."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." I say politley, standing up straight, "Louis has told me so much about you."

"I've heard much about you as well." She says sweetly, "I finally convinced him to let me meet you."

We shake hands politley. 'Shoulders back, chin up, stomach in' I remind myself as we look into each others eyes. Hers are a dark brown and pierce into my own with that kind of sweetness that gets annoying. Almost fake but she seems like a sweet girl and I don't want to make assumptions. Her long brown hair falls past her shoulders and is curled with heat and given bounce with product. Her soft cheeks stretch into what seems like an uncomfortable smile and her dark red lips give the allusion of whiter teeth against her already fair skin. Something I do often myself but unfortunately I'm not as fair. I've always wanted that gorgeously soft, light skin ever since a storyteller described Snow White to my kindergarten class.

Louis stands next to her and they're almost the same height. I feel bad for Louis if she ever wears heels. That's going to be an awkward dance. Moving away from that, my eyes notice his hand doesn't leave the small of her back. What does that say? He smiles politley also but looks oddly pleased with the way we civilly introduce ourselves. Everything just seems so weird and off right now.

"Any homework?" Harry asks which is usually something that Louis does. I shake my head remembering I finished it in class.

"So what are you going to do now?" He asks. To me it seems like he's just trying to fill the silence which is something I would be doing too.

"I was thinking of making a banana bread with the old bananas." I say, thinking of the two or three bananas that are going bad in the fruit bowl on the counter.

"Sounds good." Harry nods.

"Sounds very good." Niall says and we all chuckle or giggle except for Eleanor who is just standing straight and tall with her bright and wide smile.

"Okay." I nod turning to go into the kitchen and trying to remember where I hid my secret and fairly old recipe.

I pull out the flour which I know for a fact is my first ingredient and find a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of it. Hah! That was pretty creative of me because I'm pretty sure Hayden has already found the one I have sitting in the knife drawer at home.

I throw two cups of flour into the big green mixing bowl and close the container. opening a drawer I pull out the baking powder and baking soda and I turn to the cutlery drawer to get a teaspoon. Adding in the remainder of my dry ingredients I whisk them together and put away the containers. Next should be the eggs.

I grab three eggs from the fridge and a separate bowl from the upper cupboard. I mash up the browning bananas, crack in the eggs, mix it together and add it to my dry ingredients. All I need now is butter and sugar.

I turn to get the butter from the fridge and find Eleanor observing me from the opposite wall.

"Need some help?" She asks, striding over to the island.

"Umm, no thanks. I think I'm pretty good in here." I say, pulling the butter out from the fridge and kicking myself for not taking it out in the beginning to soften. I leave it on the island next to the bowl and on top of the small piece of paper that holds my recipe in my most delicate writing.

"Louis tells me you're a good cook." Eleanor says, closing the far doors.

"Not really, it's just something I do." I say. She's coming towards the ones facing the front door. I shut them for her thinking back to Louis and Harry's conversation and the mistake they made of keeping one door open. I feel like I know what's coming but I don't feel prepared for it.

Eleanor stares me down from her position at the island. I stand tall and look at her as fiercely as I can manage from my spot in front of the door.

"Okay, I'm going to skip this whole nice thing," She says fiercely turning her smile into a fierce smirk, "Because I really don't want to have to act nice to you when Louis is not around."

My teeth clench at her words and chatter back and forth to a made-up syllable count. One, two, three, four. One, two three, four. Is-not -a-round. Is-not-a-round.

"Good that means I don't have to deal with someone fake." I say, immediately regretting the words I chose. He eyes widen, stunned and hurt, but she returns to her fierce expression in less than a second of time.

"Do you sleep with my boyfriend?" She asks, brutally harsh.

"Look," I say stepping closer to her and lowering my voice to just above a whisper, "I don't do anything that is wrong or would take away from your relationship with him."

"Do you sleep with my boyfriend?" She repeats, stepping closer also. We must only be a floor tile away from each other and her voice is much harsher than before. It hurts. I'm not sure what I should say so I take a deep breath and continue with the truth.

"Yes, I do. We sleep, but it is nothing that-"

I barley see it coming. Her hand raises and I know it's there but my mind doesn't comprehend. It's not until I feel the stinging pain against my cheek that I realize what just happened. It's not until then that I realize how serious this is.

My hand reaches up to my burning cheek, slapped with hate. I feel a strong anger towards her but not enough to call it hate.

"Okay," I think having one more thing to say, "I'm sorry. I never would of engaged in such a thing if I knew it would hurt you or your relationship and I can assure you I will never do the same thing again if that's what you are looking for." I announce, looking her in the eyes. She towers over me looking pleased. I try to stand up straight but what's the point? She's done what she's come to do.

The boys throw open the doors and run into the kitchen, processing the scene. Louis runs in through the far door closest to his chair in the living room and the other boys come in through the other door behind me. The one closest to the love seat and the couch where they must have been sitting.

"Mira! What happened?" Harry jumps. I feel his arms wrap around me from behind. He pulls me further away from the spot and I forcefully fold into him. Still looking at Eleanor I can't take my eyes off her. She stands tall and triumphant, proud and pleased. While I am slouched and folded, looking up at her.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Harry yells, still pulling me further and further away. Words and sentences get louder and louder until they're full on yells. All of them fade away from me though because I can't say I didn't know it was coming.