Daisy in a Meadow

44 - Split Second

BACK TO DAISY'S POINT OF VIEW

*****

Karma had a funny way of working.

It was almost comical, wasn't it? I mean, I'd lied about how my father had really died to Elias. And now I'd found out that he'd been lying about his father being, well, dead. It hurt to know that he'd been lying to me for the entirety of our relationship. I mean, gosh, I felt like such an idiot. The amount of times we'd bonded over our dead fathers, comforted each other—none of it was even real. I'd never been so open, so vulnerable with someone, the way that I was with him. He knew how much I'd been through with my father, so why? Why would he lie to me about something like that? Especially when he'd had so many chances to come clean. Perhaps he didn't trust me?

At first, I was angry. Furious, even. However, the more I thought about the situation, the more... understanding I began to feel. After hearing the way Elias and his dad spoke to each other, it was pretty clear they had a bad relationship. Of course, I didn't know all the details, but I knew what it was like to have difficulty opening up. To have secrets so huge, that you struggle to even tell the people you love most. How hypocritical would it be, for me to judge him about lying, when that was exactly what I'd done in the first place? And so, despite the fact that he'd hurt my feelings by keeping such a big secret from me, a part of me was still willing to hear him out, the same way he had done for me.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when my classmates suddenly erupted into noisy chatter. Confused, I began to look around the previously silent Biology class. I was met with the eyes of Andre, who was awkwardly staring at me. I slightly quirked an eyebrow, as if to say, yes? He promptly cleared his throat.

"Mr. Edwards said to compare last night's homework answers with our neighbor," Andre explained at the confused look on my face.

"Oh," I nodded, before glancing down at my blank notebook page.

"You didn't do it?" Andre said, but it was less of a question and more of a statement.

"No, sorry," I admitted. "I forgot we even had homework. I've been a little busy lately."

"You don't have to apologize."

After he said that, we fell into a bit of an awkward silence, surrounded by the noise of the classroom.

"Five more minutes," our teacher hollered.

I was certain it was going to be an agonizing five minutes. After all, the last time Andre and I had spoken, he'd pretty much called me a murderer. We'd ended our friendship on a pretty low note, and I was certain he wanted nothing to do with me.

"So... are you excited for prom?"

I was stunned to find that Andre was attempting to strike a conversation.

"Um," I slowly blinked for a second, "to be honest, with everything that's been going on, I kind of forgot about prom. When is it?"

"It's in two weeks," he answered.

"That's so soon," I gasped in surprise. Had time really flown by that fast? "I'm not even sure if I'll go."

"What? But you and Elias—"

My face fell, and Andre sharply cut himself off.

"I'm sorry," he looked regretful. "I forgot..."

"It's okay."

There was an awkward silence again. Then—

"So, it's really true?" Andre questioned, looking a bit disheartened. "You guys are over?"