...And It's Blue

20

Ava had followed me back home and comforted me. She did not ask many questions. She simply hugged me until I was ready to spill everything to her. I ranted about how I felt, and she patiently listened. She would add some comments in between which only made me laugh. I felt so much better after talking to her. She even made me a mug of hot chocolate with extra mini marshmallows, which I couldn't thank her enough for.

The two of us decided to stay at home and watch something on TV while we waited for the others. It didn't take them long to join us. Around half an hour after Ava and I had left the beach, the others asked if it was okay to join us. They asked me if I was alright, and I simply nodded.

"Let's just watch movies tonight," Aiden suggested, and everyone agreed. I couldn't help but feel everyone was doing it for my sake.

"Guys, we can go out and do something fun. It's Christmas Eve, come on," I urged them.

"I don't know, Lacey. I'm really tired after playing at the beach," Xavier replied.

"Same. I don't think I have energy for more fun."

"Let's go out tomorrow."

"Yeah, we can stay in today."

"Let's watch Christmas movies!"

And that was how we ended up watching rom-coms and Home Alone movies.

Halfway through the third movie of the night, I excused myself to use the washroom. I was feeling tired and just wished I could sleep. I exited the bathroom and spotted the familiar messy brown hair standing outside the room.

"Hey, Ash, what's up?" I craned my neck up to look at him.

"Are you really fine? Aiden told me about what happened with Maddie," he mumbled, concern lacing his voice.

"Yes, I am fine. I cannot keep letting her get to me, and I've been through all of this before, so it's really fine," I flashed him a small smile. I didn't want to talk about Maddie right now, and I didn't want him to worry about it. I had already put him through a lot during high school when we decided to become friends. I couldn't expect someone to help me out in college as well.

"You know, if at all you want to talk about anything, just know that I'll be there, okay?" I didn't particularly like the look in his eyes. He had that soft look that made me feel fragile like glass. Like a small hit would break me.

"Thanks, Ash," I smiled at him genuinely. "Hey, could you tell the others that I'm going to just sleep?" He nodded without asking any questions, which I was grateful for. I did not want another string of 'are you okay' from anyone else.

I plopped down on the king-size bed in the center of the room and opened Instagram on my phone. I lazily scrolled down, liking every post that showed up. A soft knock at the door distracted me from scrolling further as I asked the person to come in.

"Hey, you tired?" Aiden, who was now sitting on the edge of my bed, asked. I nodded as we fell into a comfortable silence.

"Can I ask you something?" he began. I nodded, giving him a sign to continue. "If you don't mind, can you tell me about Maddie?" he asked.

I froze for a moment, wondering why he wanted to know anything about her. I wanted to say no, but for some weird reason, I felt the urge to tell him about her.

"You don't have to tell me if you're uncomfortable with it. It's just that she has been trying to get in between all of us, and it's kind of annoying," he chuckled. His hands were tracing irregular patterns on the sheets as he avoided looking at me.

I had never told him about the bullying and was hoping I could go on forever without telling him. I was naive enough to think I would never see Maddie after high school, but I should have known better. I should have been prepared for it, but now everything was coming undone. The secrets I wished he never found out because I was scared he would think less of me were no longer just mine to keep.

I thought he needed to know why some girl suddenly started showing interest in our friend group and why she decided on making it her job to make the boy sitting in front of me uncomfortable at all times.

So I told him.

I told him everything—about Ava leaving, Maddie turning the whole school against me, my parents—everything.

"I really thought high school would be the last place I'd see her, but when I saw her in college, I knew it was just wishful thinking. She hasn't changed at all, and honestly, I don't know how to feel about it," I chuckled under my breath. "Well, to be fair, it isn't just her that hasn't changed. When I saw her today, I was a little scared. I knew she couldn't possibly harm me, but I was still scared, and I knew nothing had changed in the past few months. I was still the same Lacey that fell for her traps."

Aiden listened to every word I said carefully, his eyes never once leaving mine. He pulled me in for a hug and held me in his embrace for God knows how long.

"Lacey, you are the strongest girl I've ever known. You never gave up, and you stood up to her no matter how bad it got. That's what makes you strong. It doesn't matter if you're still the Lacey from months ago because the Lacey I wanted to be friends with is fierce, and you make people want to get to know you. You are an amazing person, Lacey, and I mean it."

"Thank you," I looked up at him, a little teary-eyed, and smiled. He ruffled my hair as he stood up.

"I'll let you go to sleep. Good night, Lacey."

"Good night, Aiden."