Someone Else

Chapter 19

"What?" I blink slowly, my feet glued to the floor. The elevators door that were opened, begging for me to run inside are now closing. I'm racking my mind for my next escape route but I know Daisy would ultimately chase me down and tackle me with her significantly longer legs.

"What is going on between you and Adam?" She repeats her question. She's calm, mostly showing concern from my sudden outburst at the table.

"Nothing, I don't know what're you're-" I begin but she interrupts me.

"Maddy, don't lie to me. Not now." She pleas. I sigh and click the button for the elevator again.

"Fine... but not here." I say with huff and she nods as she follows me into the elevator.

Once we are inside the sacred space of my room, I sit on the edge of my bed, fiddling with my fingers in my lap. Daisy takes a seat on the couch, her way of giving me space while I find a way to explain everything. I try my best to tell her from the beginning how everything began and everything that's happened since. I avoid eye contact the entire time, not wanting to know her reaction or if she's judging me.

"So," she begins, taking a moment to process everything, "Is Adam, Matt...?"

"Yes. Adam is Matt." I nod, feeling guilty about the little fib I had given her. It's silent for a moment.

"So you and Adam. You're a thing?"

"Were." I correct her. My frown deepens knowing our relationship changed to past tense because of me. He hates me.

"And he and Joanne are separating?"

"I suppose." I shrug, "That's what he's told me from the beginning." A sigh leaves my body. My mind takes me back to the beginning when Adam kisses me for the first time in the snack room down the hall. What'd I do to go back to that moment. To smack my naive self and tell her not to screw things up.

"I'll talk to him." Daisy speaks up, yanking me from my self pity thoughts.

"No, don't. There's nothing to say, I'm the one who made a mistake." My gaze meets hers for the first time since telling her.

"Yes, and you've accepted that and did your best to fix it. And if he can't say anything nice, then he shouldn't say anything at all." Her head is held high, confident in herself. Oh, how I wish I'd gotten the same amazing genetics as Daisy. The ways she carries herself so confidently, never doubting herself or if she does, she doesn't show it to the world.

"I thought you would be mad at me... think negatively of me." I mumble sadly, shocked at how she has taken this new information on her cousin.

"No." She says firmly, dismissing my words with a wave of her hand, "Adam is the one who dragged you into this. You didn't even know he was married at first."

I smile a little, relief flooding over me as I just admitted to one of the biggest weights on my shoulders. Daisy stands, stepping toward and opening her arms. I accept, burying my face into her shoulder as I hug her back, tightly. She smells of strawberries. She rubs a hand up and down my back in a soothing manner.

"I'll always be here for you, Mads. I love you." She assures me and tears well in my eyes. My body is overwhelmed with different emotions, fighting each other for a space in the spotlight. Relief that my cousin; my best friend and one of the only family I have, now knows, and accepts me for it, but sadness because I miss him and all he's shown toward me now is hatred.

Daisy allows me to cry on her shoulder in silence, the only sound filling the room are my pathetic sniffles. My body quaking in arms as she holds me tight until I've calmed down. She assures me everything will be alright and to keep moving forward. I thank her for listening and being there for me.