hexes for exes

chapter seven [2], cards on the table

LIVIA DIDN'T MEET Amphion or Zeth's eyes for the rest of the night. She didn't think she could, without falling into tears. And she didn't like crying in front of strangers.

That was what they were relegated to now. Strangers. It was heart wrenching, the way so many years could go down the drain just because of a few mistakes. It wasn't even really anyone's fault. It had happened so naturally that they hadn't even realised it before it was too late, and now she was staring at the rotting debris of a temple she'd once sought refuge in, filled with remorse, mourning what she had once known.

No one mentioned a word of what had happened as they continued on with the night. Not until everyone had left, after both Livia and Pamela had taken showers and their parents and nai nai had gone to sleep.

Pamela was the one who came over, as expected. And Livia was waiting for her, because she always knew what her younger sister was thinking of. As Pamela nimbly pushed open the door and stepped in, Livia watched, sitting on her bed.

She patted the spot in front of her.

Pamela crept over and sat down.

"So," she asked, apparently having remembered now that all the walls in Livia's room were soundproof. "What happened?"

"Do you want the long version or the short one?"

"We have the whole night."

"The long version, then." Livia sucked in a breath. "It happened last summer. Do you remember much of that?"

Wryly, Pamela said, "Of course I do, it was only literally last year. My memory's not that crap. So. Last summer. You guys got along then, what happened?"

Livia hesitated. "It was in the last week of August."

Pamela stayed quiet.

It was a bit blurry in Livia's mind now, the way things had gone down. The summer had started ordinarily enough. They'd arrived in early July just like this year and every other year, and they'd hyped their way throughout the two summer months without a care for the world. They went to parties, had fun at the beach and in town, and everything seemed to be going just the way it ought to.

Somewhere along the way, though, something had changed.

Livia didn't remember when exactly it had happened. They'd met a bunch of kids staying in Briarville as a holiday, not unlike the way Quentin and Victor had come down with Eunice and Jason. The kids were their age. There were three of them. Two boys and one girl. Keith, Gavin and Veronica. The latter two were siblings. The three of them were from North Yorkshire, and they'd all hit right off.

Except Livia hadn't clashed particularly well with Veronica. Livia thought the girl was fake—she spoke with a high pitched voice Livia was convinced was fake, and constantly glued herself to the boys. She developed a particular interest in Amphion, which Livia at first had found as funny until that had changed too.

But she got along well with Gavin and Keith. Despite being siblings, Gavin was a far more laidback, chill dude. Livia had gotten quite close with him, though they hadn't contacted each other since last summer. Probably because of Veronica. Livia didn't blame him—blood was thicker than water, after all. She'd have done much the same thing if Pamela had told her to stop talking to someone, even if she was on good terms with that specific person.

So, Livia mostly kept her complaints to herself. She and Veronica would say some things about each other, but it was always indirect, and no one could really do anything about it. Sarah would occasionally join in, too. Sarah hadn't been the biggest fan of Veronica at the start, but after realising that Livia and Veronica despised each other she'd become a lot closer to Veronica.