Bare

ten - company

Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it isn't going away.

'

"Do you have any makeup removal I can use?" Anna asks me as she steps into my room.

I'm lying on my bed, immersed in a self-help book recommended online.

"Yep, I've got some wipes in the third drawer."

She opens the drawer and takes one of the face cleansing wipes. I watch as the makeup fades from her skin, exposing her tired face.

She's been keeping to herself lately, avoiding lunch and leaving me with Roy. Dad has been also locked up in his office. He didn't say much about Anna's divorce or the scandal it caused with the press. Meanwhile, Daniel is incredibly furious, taking out his rage on everything and everyone.

You could imagine the tension in the house.

William and I texted a bit these past few days and it felt like we were back to normal but I still wasn't sure.

At university, people stared longer when they saw me or Roy but I didn't dwell on it. I mostly spent time with Logan and met up with Julian twice to work on my project. Technically, I was done with his help but he volunteered to give feedback on my writing and I didn't mind it.

Anna casually sits on my bed, bringing my attention back to her.

"Can I sit here with you?" She asks and my heart breaks for a second at the vulnerability in her voice.

"You don't have to ask Anna." I tell her. "Do you...Do you want to talk?"

"About how much my life sucks right now?"

"Sure, why not." I smile teasingly.

"I'm just so angry- at the way our life is, at the people who can't mind their own business, at the way my whole family is judging me..." Her voice breaks and she looks up at the ceiling, fiercely biting her lower lip, trying to keep the tears at bay. "How did you deal with it Livia?" She finally asks, looking me straight in the eye.

"Deal with what?" I play dumb.

"The attention, the criticism...All of what you must have went through in the summer."

"You can't compare your situation to mine Anna...I'm pretty much used to disappointing the family and I kind of did something bad anyway; they had every right to criticize me but you... this is your private life and no one has the right to be mad at you for trying to make your life better." I calmly voice out my sincere opinion.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of everything- God I feel so selfish!" She exclaims, guilt clouding her eyes. "Here I am, talking about myself and my problems while I was never there for you and despite that, you're the only one still acting normal with me right now. I'm sorry." She holds my hands tightly in hers and I don't know what to think.

I don't feel any bitterness towards her. I never did.

"You don't have to apologize. I cut you off when I left and made it clear I wanted you and everyone else to stay away from me." I admit. "Besides, I wasn't alone, I had good people to take care of me." I suppress a smile at the memory of Noor and Zen.

"I'm here for you now though. You know that, don't you?"

"I do." I'm not lying.

"Okay, now we can stop talking about depressing shit." She concludes, clapping her hands together. "Let's watch a movie- a classic typical cliché movie."

"I am so in." I say, jumping off the bed to search between my CDs. "10 things I hate about you?"

"I've watched that movie already." She slightly protests.