The truth she held inside

13

    Roni and I meet up with Arthur and Ava so we can hang out.

"You two are going to look great at the dance!" Arthur says to us.

"Those dresses are so beautiful. I'm actually jealous." Ava pokes out her bottom lip.

"Whatever Ava. You're gonna look stunning in you dress, I can already tell." I express how beautiful my best friend is.

"When are we going to see your dress?" Arthur asks.

Ava always waited until the day of the event to show her outfit. That's why I never ask to see her dresses anymore.

"When we're at the dance. I always like to surprise people."

Arthur sticks his tongue out at her.

At the mall, it's not as crowded as I thought it would be but I'm not complaining. My parents gave Roni and I some  cash to get accessories and makeup for the dance. I'm not really the makeup wearing type but for the dance I can make an exception.

We walk in to the store that is closest to us.

"Oh no, look who it is." Ava runs her hand through her hair.

I look in the direction Ava is looking in and I see the reason for her sudden moment of aggravation. Lucy and Remi are in the store, now on their way over to us.

"We've been spotted." Arthur mumbles.

Veronica gives me that 'I knew we should have went to the food court first.' look.

"Hello Ava, Nyla." Remi starts off, completely ignoring Arthur and my cousin.

Neither of us says a word, we already know that this conversation isn't going to end well.

"So Nyla, I guess you and Steven are a thing now, right? It's funny because when we were friends you got so defensive when Remi and I talked about boys. Now that I think about it, it must be because you were into Steven." Lucy's voice is firm.

"What are you talking about?" I break my silence. "He had nothing to do with that, I got annoyed because boys were the topic of every conversation we had. There is more to life you know."

They seemed annoyed but I could care less. Now that I'm not friends with them, I have realized that they are two if the most shallow people I've ever met. All they care about is their appearances, boys and relationships. That's not who I am, Ava is nothing like that either. We spent so many years of our lives blinded just because we grew up with them.

"I'm actually surprised you're with Steven, I always thought you'd be alone for the rest of your life, all of us did actually." Remi blurts out.

I was actually taken aback by her comment. It was so unnecessary and hateful, I could tell she only said it to hurt me.

"By all of us, you mean you and your sidekick?" Roni cuts in and gives them one of her pissed off faces.

"He's too good for you, whatever is going on with you guys isn't going to last. I hope you know that so enjoy this little moment of attention. It won't be here forever." Remi continues.

I hadn't said anything after she started with the hate comments. Ava was furious to the point where I had to grab her hand. Arthur and Roni were ready to exchange a few choice words with them. Even Lucy looked shocked by the words that came out of Remi's mouth.

I think to myself for a while before looking her in the eyes.

"You're pathetic and I'm starting to see that you'll always be this way." With that said, I walk away.

I know that wasn't as good of a comeback as I wanted it to be but what I said was true. Trying to bring me down and ruin my day won't help her sleep at night.

"You know she's jealous." Arthur grabs my arm.

"It's whatever, she can live her life being bitter. It's her call."

I lead the way to the next store and everyone else just follows. I can tell they wanted to speak their minds but for some reason they didn't.

The rest of the time spent at the mall was somewhat better than the beginning. After a couple of hours, I'm back home and in my room.

It was a success looking for what we needed, even Arthur got some things.

In this moment, I wanted nothing more than sleep. I've been out all day and it's getting late.

Two hours later I am awaken by the vibrations of my phone. It's been vibrating on and off since I fell asleep but I've been too lazy to walk across the room and get it.

When I finally do, I see that Steven has been blowing up my phone. He's called about eight times and texted about twelve times.

All of his text lets me know that he wants me to call him and part of him thinks I'm avoiding him but there is no reason for me to ignore him.

I pace back and forth as the phone rings, trying to wake myself up.

"Hello." He sounds worried.

"Hey, I was sleeping, not avoiding you. Sorry for not responding, I had a long day and I just needed some shuteye." I laugh awkwardly. I have no breathe left because of how fast I was talking.

"Good to know. Really, I'm glad you said that. I was worried for a second."

"Everything is good between us, and I want to thank you for that. Even in the craziness, your presence never fails to calm me." I cringe at what I just said but I speak the truth.

"No need to thank me." The line goes silent for a second. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Ava told me what happened at the mall with Remi and Lucy."

"I don't know why she would tell you that but it's fine. Remi is who she is and I'm glad she isn't in my life anymore."

"I asked her what was up and it's not fine. First off, no one is surprised about me and you. Pretty much everyone knew how much I liked you from the beginning. And whatever is going on with us, I hope it does last, for a really long time actually."

I giggle like a little kid but I don't care how I sound. Steven and I stay on the  phone way later than I expected, I've had to dodge my dad a couple of times because he doesn't approve of me talking to boys on the phone but rules are meant to be broken, right?

Not really but for Steven, it's worth it.