New Light

Three

PRESENT

I sat on my couch, still debating on what I was feeling. I mean, on one hand, I shouldn't have been so surprised that I saw Dacre. That was something I was expecting, but not so soon. On the other hand, not seeing him physically for two whole years with absolutely no contact brought back a whole slew of memories and feelings that I had buried deep into my past. The only time I had seen him was in magazines, usually of him with his arm slung around the shoulder of a different girl every time, with a caption saying something or another about his partying. Suffice it to say, my emotions were a mess.

I picked up my phone, calling the most familiar number, and the one I knew by heart.

"Hello?" Becky's voice trilled across the line, and I relaxed a bit.

"Hey, B. Are you busy today?"

"Not even a little bit, believe it or not. What's up?" 

"Wanna meet up at Runyon Canyon?"

"Runyon? You okay?" Becky asked, concern immediately filling her voice.

"I'll fill you in when you get there, okay? See you soon," I said, quickly ending the phone call before she could bombard me with questions, and heading out to my car.

Forty five minutes later, I was waiting in my car, slightly impatiently, when Becky pulled in herself. I jumped out of the vehicle and started walking, not waiting. I had too much energy to exert, and I needed to get rid of some.

"Woah, hey! Wait up!" Becky yelled, jogging to meet me. "What's going on?"

I said nothing, continuing my fast walk. Becky had apparently decided not to push me too far on this, and I was immensely grateful for her ability to pick up on other people's moods so well. For right now, I just needed her company.

We spent about an hour just walking. I had slowed down some, and Becky had caught up so we were walking side by side. The trail was surprisingly sparse - every time I had hiked it there was always a lot of traffic. It's like the universe was taking pity on me, but oddly enough, I appreciated the gesture. I could talk as freely as I wanted to, without other people listening in. In areas like LA and Hollywood, people were always looking to make a quick buck by selling conversations to gossip rags.

All of a sudden, I was tired, almost to the point of being able to conk out on a bench near me. I sprawled out on it, staring up at the sky, all big and blue and open. Becky came up next to me and sat by my feet, still staying silent, not pushing or rushing me to say anything myself.

"I saw Dacre,"

Becky's focus immediately snapped to me. "Woah," she breathed. "That explains this. When? Where? How?" she reeled off all the important questions in a single breath.

I explained the situation and how it all went down, and by the time I had finished, Becky just sat, looking dumbfounded.

"Well," she said, "That is a hell of a circumstance. How are you holding up?"

"I don't know, really. Part of me wants to punch a wall and cry, and another part of me wants to pretend it never happened. It all happened so fast. I still really haven't had time to process it,"

Becky nodded sympathetically. "Don't get me wrong, Dacre is my friend and my co star, and I want to see him succeed. But it was really pathetic what he did to you, Mer. Low. Sometimes I still can't believe he did it,"

"You and me both," I said, my voice cracking slightly.

Becky wrapped her arms around me. "Oh, babe. I'm so sorry. You are the most beautiful ray of sunshine I have ever met. You don't deserve this pain. Dacre is an idiot. A big, fat, ugly one. Actually, he's super ripped and handsome, but that's not the point," she corrected herself.

"Thanks, B, but let's work on your trash talk," I giggled slightly, wiping away my tears. 

She smiled gently at me. "Come on, sunshine, let's go brunching,"

I nodded, letting her help me up, and we started our trek back down the trail.