The Promiscuous Pact

Chapter XIV

Elizabeth stayed silent, but her posture gave her away. However, I wanted a verbal confirmation to my hunch.

"Are you into my brother?" I questioned again with impatience.

Silence hung in the air for a few minutes before Elizabeth had the courage to reply. When she did, she hung her head low. "Yes," she said, "but let me explain."

I gave a dry and humorless laugh. "What? Explain how you broke one of the most important rules of our friendship?"

"Rules?" Elizabeth shook her head. "Friendships aren't about rules or who can have the most sex." I opened my mouth to argue, but Elizabeth held up a hand to stop me. "I know that wasn't what this pact was originally about, but let's face it: that's what it has become. You and Mel go out every weekend to the bars, and it gets sickening."

Her words have left me stunned. I found no flaw with our pact, and it wasn't about who could get laid the most. "I'm sorry you feel that way," I said in a hollow voice.

Liz frowned and gave me an apologetic look. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, but I needed to get this off my chest."

"I thought you were on my side," I argued.

"There are no sides, Liv! That's what I'm trying to say," Elizabeth spoke with frustration.

"Does Melody know?" Part of me already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from the source before I jumped to any conclusions. The grave look on Elizabeth's face confirmed. "You both go behind my back and expect me to be okay with this?"

"We avoided telling you for this very reason!" Elizabeth groaned.

I chuckled without emotion. "If you both were my true friends, then you would have been up front about this instead of sneaking around behind my back."

"And what about that kiss with Alec?" Elizabeth pointed out. "You never told us about it."

"I didn't kiss Alec?" I said in confusion.

"Our sleepover when we had that run in with the three Assholes," Elizabeth informed me.

"All those years ago? Why would you remember something so petty as that? I shut that down! I had no reason to tell you or Melody about it, because it was nothing!" I yelled, gesturing towards the cabin where the others were. They were just coming out of the cottage with lost looks plastered on their face.

"I doubt it was nothing," Elizabeth said in a soft voice.

"Bullshit. I cannot believe this," I huffed, getting up on my feet. In this moment, I wished I had driven instead of carpooled with Alec. On my way towards the cottage, we made brief eye contact. Tears were streaming down my face, and I prayed he wouldn't follow, because if he did, I would insist on going home. Maybe it was for the best, since my anger had escalated to a new level. How could my supposed friends hold a grudge, and then hide things behind my back?

Slamming the sliding door shut, I made a beeline for my temporary bedroom. I paced the length of the room and ran a hand through my hair, trying to calm myself down. There was a knock at my door. Alec didn't hear my silent plea, because he was my knight in shining armor in the flesh again.

"What happened?" he probed.

I raised an eye brow at him. "Why do you always have to come help the lost soul?"

"I don't think you are a lost soul. What happened between you and Liz?" He shut the door behind him and sat at the edge of the bed, waiting with patience for me to explain.

I recounted the confrontation between me and Elizabeth, my voice rising a couple notches as I continued my explanation. Alec stayed silent the entire time, indicating he was listening by the nod of his head. Once I ran myself out of breath, he took the floor. "That's unfortunate. Do you want to leave?"