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“Stop saying that,” I blurted out, feeling my chest tighten from shock. “You’re wrong.”
“I wish I was.”
“No, you are! Look, I don’t know what your deal is, Damian, but this is too far. How dare you. Those are two very important people in my life, and—”
“You’re a good person,” he cut in.
“Stop saying that,” I whispered.
“I can’t because that’s why you can’t see it. I see it because I’m not a good person. I see it because I can spot the darkness in people. I can see the worst while you can only see the best. This is why you can’t see it.”
I huffed. “You’re calling me naïve?”
“No.” He narrowed his eyes as if baffled by my question. “I’m calling you a good person.”
“You’re saying it in a condescending way.”
“I’m not. It’s just the truth.”
“You’re basically saying that I’m too stupid to realize that my closest friend is hooking up with my boyfriend.”
“I never called you stupid, Stella.”
“But you did! You are! I just don’t… I…” My words were getting jumbled up as my mind tried to wrap my head around what Damian was accusing. Why would he do this? We were getting to such a good place. We were building a friendship, at least I thought so. But now, why would he do this? “I’m going back inside.”
He grimaced and parted his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
What, Damian?
Say it.
Say anything. Apologize. Take it all back.
His unspoken words were enough to signal me that the conversation was over.
I turned to walk back inside when he called out.
“Ask Kelsey. Straight out. She’ll tell you. Maybe not with words, but with her eyes. Jeff is a talented liar. He’s heartless, and guilt isn’t something he holds within him. But Kelsey… she’ll tell you the truth, solely with her eyes.” The corner of his mouth twitched, and I saw more emotion in those eyes than I ever had before. “I don’t think you’re stupid, and if you took my words that way, I apologize. I know I’m blunt. I know I don’t know how to say things right, but when I speak to you, it’s with nothing but my fullest level of respect. I don’t want to hurt you. If my words ever do that, then I will apologize because you’re my friend, Stella. You are my friend, and you are far from stupid.”
With that, he turned and left me, feeling lost.
When I got home, Damian was already in his bedroom with his door closed. When I headed to my room, I still felt knots in my stomach from our interaction. I couldn’t stop overthinking everything Damian had mentioned to me about Kelsey, about Jeff.
I held my hand over my face as I lay in my bed, feeling nauseous as I typed and deleted messages to Kelsey and Jeff. I couldn’t build up the courage to send the messages to accuse them of something so cruel. Then again, I knew I couldn’t do it via text messages anyway.
I had to see their eyes.
At least Kelsey’s.
Around midnight, I pulled myself from my bed, tossed on my tennis shoes, and headed out of the front door. Within twenty minutes, I was standing on Kelsey’s front porch, knocking repeatedly.
As she opened the door, she looked surprised to see me standing there. Her lips turned up into the warm smile that I’d known for so long, and I couldn’t for a second believe that she’d betray me in the way that Damian was claiming. But then again, why would he lie about it?
What hurt me the most was knowing at least one person out of three that mattered to me was a liar of some sort.
“Stella, hey. What are you doing here?” she asked as she crossed her arms.
A cool breeze brushed against my skin, creating chills throughout my body. “Are you sleeping with Jeff?” I blurted out.
