Sick of Losing Soulmates

03

Sitting All Alone in the Dark

The dark bed covers embraced Maribel as she lay underneath them, her sad music playlist on repeat. She had been like this for the past two hours and refused to move for the rest of the night. Her phone was buzzing with messages and she knew exactly who it was. Lilliana had been trying to get in touch with her all day, but Maribel just wasn't in the mood to talk to her. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone or do anything. Finally, after getting so fed up of hearing her phone ring and vibrate all day, she answered one of Lilliana's calls.

"Hello?" Maribel answered, voice muffled by the blankets.

"Maribel!" Lilliana exclaimed into the phone. "I've been worried sick! Where have you been? Where are you now?" She was currently standing outside of Maribel's dorm room, seeing if her best friend was going to lie to her over the phone. Lilliana knew that she was a closed-off person when she was in one of her moods, and it was always up to her to make sure Maribel didn't spiral out of control again.

"Hey, Lils," Maribel sat up a little, trying to make it seem as if she wasn't wallowing in her sadness. "Sorry I haven't answered all day. I've been in the library studying for my biology midterm." She lied to Lilliana as if it were the easiest thing ever, and she was honestly so ashamed that it had been so easy.

Except it hadn't been so easy, because Lilliana could see straight through that lie. She knew that Maribel's Biology midterm had already passed. "Okay, so where are you now?" She asked, preparing for another lie.

And another lie is what she got. "I'm just out getting some food. I haven't eaten all day." Maribel lied. The line went quiet for a moment and she wondered if her best friend had figured her out.

"Maribel," Lilliana said calmly.

"Yes?"

"I'm outside your room and I'm about to come in, okay?"

Maribel went silent for a few seconds, almost refusing to answer. But she knew that Lilliana would come into her room regardless of whether she replied or not. "Okay."

Lilliana took out the spare key from her bag and placed in the lock before twisting. As soon as the door opened, all she saw was the silhouette of Maribel's bed and the outline of her body through the covers. She walked in cautiously, as if her best friend was an emotional ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. Lilliana took a seat on the bed and put a hand on Maribel's arm through the blanket.

"Sitting all alone in the dark isn't going to do you any good, you know that, right?" Lilliana said quietly.

Maribel almost immediately got up and pulled her best friend in for a hug. Lilliana didn't know how to react at first, but eventually wrapped her arms around her waist and squeezed. Maribel normally wasn't the type to just hug anyone out of the blue, even if it was Lilliana. But nonetheless, it felt good that she was showing some emotion and Lilliana was happy about that. Maribel felt her eyes began to water and she started to sniffle, and this is when Lilliana began to get scared. She pulled back to look her best friend in the eyes. When she did, Lilliana was shocked, to say the least. Her normally beautiful hazel eyes were glazed over with tears threatening to spill and her lips were quivering. The sight made Lilliana's heart break.

"Maribel," Lilliana said, trying to keep her own voice from wavering. She was always the type to cry when she saw someone else sad. "What's wrong? You can talk to me. You have to talk to me."

"I saw my mother yesterday," Maribel answered quietly, her voice cracking. This was enough explanation for Lilliana and she felt her blood begin to boil. The amount of stories she'd heard of Maribel's parents was enough to make her want to hit something whenever they were mentioned. Ever since Maribel was a little girl, her parents always had set rules for her. Take these classes, be in these clubs, have these friends. This went on all the way to when she was applying for colleges when they decided that she would be a doctor. Maribel was the only child and her parents hadn't been to college themselves, so they really wanted their daughter to succeed. What they hadn't realized was that them helping their daughter was actually hurting her so much.

Being controlling wasn't their only negative factor, however. Maribel's parents were extremely close-minded. When she showed up with her first girlfriend, they didn't speak to Maribel for two weeks. They even refused to let her live with them while she was attending university and made her dorm even though they lived only thirty minutes away. They refused to be associated with her and they only spoke to her when she came home for the holidays.

Lilliana grabbed ahold of Maribel's cheeks with her hand, forcing her to look up. "Listen," Lilliana said, "don't you dare listen to whatever your mother said about you, okay? It doesn't matter. She doesn't matter. If she refuses to accept you for who you are, then she's not your family. You don't need her. All you need is me, okay? I'm your family now." She pulled her best friend in for another hug and held her tightly.

Maribel felt her stomach fill with butterflies as she pressed her cheek into Lilliana's shoulder. "Thank you so much, Lils," she whispered. "You're the best."

They stayed like that until Lilliana pulled away and suggested for them to watch a movie together. So Lilliana got under the covers while Maribel got her laptop and they put on Netflix and found a horrible comedy to watch together, because god knows they both needed to laugh then. While watching the movie, Maribel rested her head against Lilliana's shoulder and Lilliana wrapped an arm around her shoulder almost subconsciously. Maribel tried very hard to calm her frantic heart as she realized she was falling dangerously in love with her best friend.

woo two chapters up in two days. probably not going to post tomorrow bc i'll be very busy. i will try to post on thursday but i'm not sure if i can yet. anyways, comment and vote and stuff bc that makes me really happy! ok bye