LIFE OF THE PARTY |ELITE|

1.17

"What happened in town a few days before Marina's death?"
"I have no idea, I wasn't here."
"I think you know, Cordélia, you know what happened and I know you know."
"I don't, Guzmán came to my house that night, he told me he got into a fight, but I don't know anything else."
"Why didn't he tell you what happened?"
"To protect me. I had a bad day; he came over and comforted me. All I know, is that whatever happened, wasn't a random thing, it was the result of many things."

         There weren't many things that helped Cordélia make peace with her own mind, not even her meds some days, swimming and reading were one of those things, but today, today it didn't seem to work, so she relied on her last solution: weed. She hadn't smoke in a while, the last time must have been after a night with Nano, she sighed as she felt the familiar burn in her throat, the familiar feeling was comforting. The girl knew that smoking wasn't good for her, but at the moment, she did not care, not as she finally felt the voices in her head die down. Her eyes snapped opened when the big doors that led to the pool opened, revealing Bridget and someone else behind her.

"Miss Cordélia? There is a boy here for you, should I let him in?"
"Sure. Thank you, Bridget."

         The old woman bowed her head and let the boy enter the room, the French girl sat up on her deckchair, smiling as she saw Guzmán walk up to her, only to drop her smile when she noticed the blood on his cheek. She jumped up from her chair, hurrying to meet him halfway as her thumb reached for his cheekbone. He looked at her sheepishly when he saw how worried Cordélia looked, she hugged him tight, and then went back to examining his cuts.

"What happened?"

"Do you think that Marina's pregnancy was what caused the fight in town?"
"I told you; I don't know anything about the fight."

         The boy was sitting in Cordélia's bathroom as she cleaned his cheek and his hand to get rid of the blood, he winced as the alcohol met his open skin causing his best friend to quietly say sorry before she went back to cleaning his wound. They had not talked about what happened yet, even if the girl had asked, she hadn't insisted when, instead of answering her question, he just hugged her again, breathing heavily on her shoulder. Cordélia decided that she should just wait for him to be ready to talk, and while she awaited, she took care of him, like he would do when her father would beat her

"I got into a fight."
"I figured."
"With Samuel's brother."
"Did you punch first?"
"Yeah."
"Not good."
"Marina is pregnant."
"I know. Nano told me."
"He told you?"
"Yes. We hook up a few times, and when he learnt that Marina was pregnant, he came over to tell me and break things up with me. I didn't tell you because it wasn't my secret to tell, you had to learn it from her directly."
"I... That's fair I suppose. They stole the watch, and when that fucker began asking for money, she didn't stop him. She says our dad deserved to be in jail, and that she'll start a new happy family away from us. You know what? She can go to hell, if she wants to leave, I'll open the goddamn door. I'm tired to have to clean up after her mess, I can't do this anymore."

         Cordélia didn't answer, she doubted that anything she could say would make her friend feel better, instead she just brought him in another big hug as he started to sob. She knew he didn't mean what he had just say, they were angry, him, Marina, none of them meant what they were saying.

"Do you think Guzmán could have killed Marina because she was pregnant?"
"I know Guzmán didn't kill her, he would have never hurt her. He was angry, yes, but never would he even had slapped his sister. He loved her more than anything."

           The girl waited for him to calm down before she led him to her bed where he nestled himself in her arms, they stayed silent, just focusing on each other's breath. Guzmán could smell the weed on Lia's body, but he said nothing, no matter how much he despised drugs, he knew the effect they had on his French friend, and it eased his mind to know that she was at peace even for a few hours.

"Lia?"
"Yes."
"Do you think we're rotten by the money?"
"No. Money isn't the problem, Guz, our parents are. We are what they wanted us to become, we're lucky to be born in wealthy families but that doesn't mean we're happy. They spoil us rotten to make up for all the crap they put us in, we were never the problem, they are."
"You're probably right."
"Of course, I am. Did you forgot who you were talking to?"

         Cordélia smiled as she felt him chuckle against her body, it wasn't much but she preferred to hear him laugh than to see him cry. She realized it might have been the first time she saw Guzmán cry, and it broke her heart. She remembered what she had told him months ago when the new students started, she told him that nothing would change, that they would never change the dynamic they had, God how wrong she had been. The girl waited for Guzmán to fell asleep before she let herself into Morpheus' arms, and before she fell asleep Cordélia wished for her friend to be happy.

"None of them deserved the pain, they all deserved peace."