Chapter fifty one: Coming clean

"who's coming?" Jay asked as he approached his group of friends. He could only pick up few words from afar.

"My friends." y/n replied, swirling and sipping her drink.

"Who are 'you' so excited for?" Miles annoyedly asked henry, who seemed to be the only one excited to hear it.

"I heard Felix and I have a lot in common. I think we'll click very well. So...I'm quite excited to have someone like me around." if anything could stop the excitement in his voice. The guy hasn't stopped moving around since he heard the news.  

It made the place more jolly and at the same time they were relieved to see how someone was 'happy' about a real 'happy' news.

"Wait, then, arent you supposed to be excited about it too? i mean they're your childhood friends. you havent seen them in a long time." It seemed like the other two were only now aware of it. they were also confused.

"Yeah...right. i should be happy about it." 

"But you dont look like it." jay clarified. There was a trace of concern in his eyes. But who could guess the problem y/n has been creating for the past year. "Is there something you wanna tell us?" 

"...Actually, my friends don't really know what happened to me since i moved here. they still think i live with my family and that i have decent job... I thought it was best not to say anything because it would just worry them. " They were somewhat taken aback by her words. 

"What has happened would make them much worse than worried. You should've come clean with them. You cant hide the truth forever."

"I know...and im not planning to hide anything. I'll tell them when its the right time. but until then...i want you guys to act along." As she explained, her guilt was apparent to all. 

The boys sat in silence. they clearly knew it was a wrong thing to do. But It wasnt their matter to mess around with. Miles glanced at the other two to find them thinking the same thing "...Fine. we'll help you until you're ready to tell them."

"Really...?"

"But in one condition. you cant let them find out anything on their own. you know how complicated that can get."

"I know and I promise I'll tell them-" cutting off her remaining words, her phone starts ringing. 

Henry, sitting the closest to her, took a peek on the caller's ID. But he wasnt pleased to see the name, "Why the hell's she calling you?" Declining the call, y/n quickly turned to him, "She's been trying to reach out to me since the graduation day-"

"So, are you planning to forgive her and act like she didnt do anything wrong?"

"Thats not it. I wont give her a chance. we'll just meet up just so that we wont end things on bad term. Beside she has some crazy explaination to give."

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"Im sorry, I had to call you like that." Once arrived, Isla took a seat across y/n. Her tone sounded nervous and tentative.

the expression on y/n's face could make anyone tremble with fear. if any word could explain it, Uninterested and Cold it was. "get to the point. I have to run for my work"

"I heard what happened to you few months ago...and I cant help but feel that I am responsible for it too... But believe me, I never thought that grace can go that far-"

"You done?"

She stared with surprise at how much the person infront of her differed from the person she used to know "...You've really changed." 

A chuckle escaped her lips,"I only learned how to act with someone who dont know where they belong."

Isla rose a sudden desire to explain herself. but she knew that there was no way she could do that without including her own fault in it. "Grace and Ava were the one who reached out to me first. they knew my weakness...they knew I liked one of their friends.Thats why i gave in and we made a deal that day."

"What kind of deal?"

"That if I pretend to be your friend and give them all your inner information, they'll introduce me to the person I like... gosh, now that I think about it. it sounds so stupid..." y/n sat there looking like she was hearing some nonsense, nonetheless, it was good to know that she regretted it.

"So, did it work out? with the person you like?" Isla stared nowhere as she tried to hold back her tears. after a while, she was finally ready to talk about it, "They used me the whole time...After i was done with you, they all started to treat me like im some sort of outcast."

y/n handed her a tissue just as she was sniffing and wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry, I should have listened to you ... but believe me, there were even times when I forgot about my evil motive and thought of you as a true friend ... but my greed had the worst of me."

While the other one silently listened, she was reminded of the days when it all happened. at that time they all resented her for what she had become.

But a part of her was glad that, even if the path was crooked, she found happinese in her own way. 

To think that, later she was only used and poorly treated, y/n regreted why she even left her back then. she should've convinced her to stay... she shouldn't have let her go... "We always treated you as one of our own. but you stabbed us in the back."

"I regret it. I really do! Even when i hung around with the other kids, I always felt left out. I really missed you guys...i missed us..." y/n smiled at the genuine sorrow in her voice, and she leaned forward, patting her.

But a sudden thought stopped her action. deep down she wasnt quite ready to accept her yet. maybe she still needed time to sort out her feelings.

Walking out, she looked one last time at the crying girl, "You havent changed yet. Even if we forgive you and let you join us, there's nothing stopping you from deceiving us again. So, think carefully about what you want."