The House In The Forest

Chapter XXI

Chapter Twenty One

The morning air was cold, but we walked down the sidewalk with our hands in our pockets anyway. The sky was as cloudy as always, I wouldn't be surprised if it started snowing again. Senior year we got snow in September, and then the September that followed we got snow too. It wasn't too rare to get snow this time of year in this town, but Beatrice was always excited about it, she was senior year too. And then the September that followed, she wasn't there to be excited about it. I tried, I tried so hard, but I couldn't do it.

"It's cold," Marlowe spoke, "We should go and get some hot chocolate."

"Ooh, that sounds good." Amber nodded, "It's a great way to get your mind working in the morning."

I smiled when they looked to me for my opinion. "Sounds good to me too."

Amber smiled in return, then stopped for a moment as if she remembered something. "Oh right, what happened between you and Albert? I thought I interrupted something the other day in the school, are you alright?"

"Oh that." I sighed, glancing at my feet for a second, then looking at the two girls walking beside me. "You won't believe what he did, first he didn't tell me he met Sasha, then he didn't give me the necklace that Sasha gave him to give to me, because he was jealous of Sasha."

Marlowe chuckled. "Look at you, upset over a guy, that makes you way more approachable," she spoke before crossing her arms over her chest. "Can't blame him for not telling you he met Sasha, but he should have given you the necklace, you should give him an earful for that."

"Did he say why?" Amber asked me.

"Something about worrying I'd run back to Sasha instantly, he didn't trust me, and then he acted like it was more that he didn't trust himself, what does that even mean?" I asked before sighing and kicking the sidewalk in front of me softly.

Amber chuckled for some reason. "So he was worried you'd choose Sasha over him?"

"But Sasha's just my best friend, he should know that."

"Just because he knows doesn't mean he can't be worried about it, you did pretend to be Sasha's soulmate for seventy years," Marlowe told me, "It's a bit dumb of him when you clearly showed you're not Beatrice's copycat anymore, but people be dumb sometimes, that's normal."

They had good points. And getting to talk to girls about boy problems made me feel like a normal high schooler again in all honesty. It brought a smile to my face. "So you're saying I should forgive him?"

"Well that depends on your feelings, doesn't it?" Amber asked with a hum, "Do you like Albert? Were you upset because you wanted him to trust you and your feelings?"

I stopped walking, what were my feelings? I did like Albert, and I was totally flirting with him for a while there. He was comfortable, and he treated me like me, for the first time in a long time. He brought me books, and then bought it for himself and rushed to finish it because he knew I wanted to talk about it with someone. He saved me, because he wanted to. I don't know how or why he stepped foot in that house, but if he hadn't, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd still be Beatrice.

"I do, I like him," I spoke slowly, smiling at the words, "He reminded me who I was, and he's really cute."

Amber and Marlowe smiled, though Marlowe rolled her eyes too. "Then, what are you waiting for? You should tell him that," Amber told me, "Life is short Zell, no time like the present."

Marlowe shrugged. "Should give him an earful about that necklace first though."

"Yeah, you're right, you're both right," I told them with a laugh. I had been overthinking this the whole time, it really was that simple wasn't it?