The History of Us

14 - A Seed of Doubt

Past

A Seed of Doubt

That particular Saturday the girls had decided to head over to Waterson's Bakery for an afternoon groupwork. Instead of sitting inside the café where Aunt Carol knew they would laugh boisterously and perhaps even make a mess, she offered to them the whole rooftop for the afternoon instead.

It was a scenic space – the level was high enough that they had a vantage point of all the bakery's surrounding, but not enough that they were still surrounded by other taller buildings – one which the girls have always adored. It was by no means spacious or well designed, but it had been under the careful care of Carol Waterson, which means that despite its lack of planning, it was a place that was always considered comfortable and couldn't be anymore better than it already was.

They took a seat around the rectangular wooden table, with mismatched chairs that surrounded it, which Aunt Carol carefully curated from thrift stores and garage sales all around, keeping in mind its outdoor qualities and the budget.

"So, physics presentation... what are we going to present?" Abby began, taking her books out of her backpack. "Let's bear in mind that we need to get this done ASAP because one, its due next week and we've been procrastinating like crazy; two, Elsie and I have a shift downstairs in several hours!"

"Three, Lucy has a date with Theo in several hours as well!" Poppy chimed in, nudging Lucy in the elbow.

"Four, no one is going to listen to our presentation so might as well get it done with as quick as we can!" Elsie finally finished. "So let's get going! According to my note, we've got the topic... Light as an Electromagnetic Wave!"

None of her friends responded. Seeing this as a sign that they couldn't quite hear her, she repeated the sentence.

"N-No, we heard you," Poppy nodded, "It's just that... we don't understand! What the hell is a light as an electric wave?"

"Electromagnetic," Elsie corrected, "And truth be told, I've no idea! I was aiming for the other topic, the Magnetic Fields and Sources, but Alex and Liz kind of snatched it off the table before we all had the chance to,"

"That prick!" Poppy bellowed, to the other's surprise.

"Isn't he your cousin? And like, your 'same grandmother, same grandfather' kind of cousin?" Lucy asked.

Poppy raised her eyebrows. "Oh he's my cousin alright...but it doesn't make him less of a little bugger! I blame it on his mother's side, if I'm being honest. I mean sure, his father and mine are quite different as well, but his mother's a snob, I'm not even going to sugar coat it! His mother's family found out they were descendants of some 17th century nobility from who-knows-where and the next thing you know, they're looking down upon us!

"But anyway, I guess I'm going to have to get along with the guy because... well, we have something in common now!" Poppy sighed, "Our best friends are dating each other."

At the mention of this, Elsie choked on her water. Only then did she realize that apart from Abby, she had never mentioned her situation with Liam to her friends, which must've taken them by surprise when they saw her dancing with him during the dance.

"Oh... that," Elsie responded.

"Don't get us wrong Elsie! We're really happy for you! It's just that... we are quite surprised when it all happened so quickly. I didn't even know you guys were close. Has it been going on for a long time? That is, if you don't mind my asking..." Lucy said.

"Not at all, of course I don't mind! You guys are my best friends!" Elsie exclaimed. She looked over to Abby – who already knew the whole story but told no one else – and felt bad to have kept it from her other friends. It was unlike her to keep secrets from them.