Heart of Stone

~chapter 9~

7 PM. Monday. School had long ended. The sun was falling through the horizon, creating the same beautiful mix of pink and yellow in the sky from last time. I've my way to the park, wearing my pink flannel and yellow A-line dress.

This is it.

My legs shake hopelessly as I walk through the same pavement that Everest and I used to walk on together. I unwittingly picture his large feet walking in tandem with mine, like they always did. As I begin to have second thoughts, I hear Edmond's words of encouragement echo in my head.

He believes in me. That's all I need.

From a distance, I see Everest sitting down with his girlfriend. Looking at her again, I have to admit that she's awfully pretty. She has flaxen hair that shines so bright, you can probably see your reflection in them. Her eyes are Persian blue which contrasts strikingly well with her charcoal mascara.

As much as I hate him, Ev has good taste.

The girl is the first one to notice me. From her expression, I can't tell if she recognizes me or not. She taps Everest on the shoulder and points in my direction. He turns to meet my eye. Under previous circumstances, I'd be falling apart at the seams. But right now, all I can do is think about how long he's had this coming to him.

'Mavis.' he says as I approach him.

'Everest. Everest's girlfriend. How's it going?' I say calmly. They both look perplexed as to how I knew that she was his girlfriend and why I wasn't reacting more harshly. Oh, if they only knew the depths of it.

"Who told you I was dating her?" he asks bitterly.

"That's not what I'm here to talk about Everest. I'm here to talk about us." I say.

"Us? There's no 'us', Mavis. I'm dating someone els--"

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard the story, Everest. And I don't care." I assert. He gets up from his chair to stand face-to-face with me. He's at the same distance as before, only this time he looks much smaller. I've never realized that he was only 2 inches taller than me.

"Go on." He demands.

"Gladly. Once she leaves." I say, pointing to the girl on the bench. She looks at me in confusion and then back at Everest.

"She's staying. She's my girlfri--"

"Leave. Now." I tell the girl. Despite looking like she was born with half the brain cells she needs to survive, she apparently has the intelligence to take a hint. Without saying a word, she smiles sweetly at Everest and walks off.

"'Kay. So what did you want to say?" he asks impatiently.

"You've been on my mind for a while now. I remember the first time we met. It was at a party. A friend of mine introduced me to you, and we never stopped talking since. You know more about me than my parents, you know. I've never had that kind of relationship before."

"If this is you're way of asking me to get back together with you, you can forget it."

"Not at all. Actually, the opposite. I never realized how much I clung on to you for my own self-benefit. You were the source of all my confidence. You were the reason I ever tried anything. But I'm starting to see that all you ever did was take advantage of that. "

"Whoa, there. We never did anything you didn't want to do. Don't make me the villain here."

"If that's the kind of narrative you want to create, then sure. We'll say you didn't do anything wrong. You didn't manipulate me. You didn't emotionally abuse me. You didn't cheat on me with another girl. And we'll just pretend like the evidence didn't just walk away from us 30 seconds ago. But that's all it'll ever be. 'Pretend'. We both know what happened here today Everest. And I hope you never go back on it."

"You're insane. I'm my own person, you know. I'm allowed to leave whenever I want." he says adamantly. His retort forces a sharp laugh out of me.

"I love that you think that, because I was thinking the exact same thing. Goodbye, Everest." I turn to walk away. I've wasted enough of my time on him already. It's time that I start living for myself again.

While I'm a good distance away, he desperately has a crack at having the last laugh.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that! You know you're just being sensitive!" he shouts.

Perhaps. But I'd rather be sensitive than a complete sociopath.

I'll give him the last word, though. We'll say it's my parting gift.