Sadie (18+)

Chapter 27

The next morning, Julia and I were sprawled amongst her bed, the glittery sun rays streaming through the window and casting a warm glow on the two of us. I watched the dust particles dance around in the bedroom, lost in thought.

We had both decided to skip school today. After all, the last thing she wanted was to see the guy that had just broken her heart.

Both of us had been quiet for some time, and while I often found myself escaping into my head, this behavior was abnormal for Julia, which certainly raised a red flag.

When I looked over at the mournful girl, I realized her eyes were puffy and swollen from all of the crying the night before. I had supported her to the best of my abilities thus far, but I was still recovering, or rather overjoyed from what had happened between Vincent and I on the kitchen counter.

"I know it sounds stupid, but I really thought he was the one, Sadie," Julia muttered dolefully, her eyes trained on the ceiling, hands resting on her chest. "I hate him."

I leaned over and propped my head up with my elbow. "It was your first love, Jules. It's going to take a while before you get over him."

She sniffled. "Yeah, I guess. It's just a let down, you know?"

"Why don't we take your mind off of it for a while?" I offered, sitting up. "We can grab an iced coffee, go dorm shopping, maybe buy some makeup and get our nails done. My treat."

Julia crossed her arms. "I don't know, I—"

"Get in the shower," I interrupted. "We're going. No objections."

Julia rolled her big brown eyes, but I saw the tiniest hint of a smile latch on to her mouth.

We hadn't spent a day like this in quite some time. With Justin out of the picture, I realized how their relationship had unintentionally put a small wedge between us. Sure, I slept over her house all the time, but we hadn't bonded like this in a while.

The dorm shopping seemed to work in cheering Julia up. While she sipped her iced coffee and gushed over the prospects of having matching pink comforters, I again found myself preoccupied and oblivious to the world around me.

I had become so selfish that, while Julia was mourning a relationship and desperately needed her best friend, I was too busy daydreaming about her father fucking me senseless.

"Earth to Sadie," Julia interjected, knocking her knuckles on my forehead. "Which comforter? Floral or plain?"

"I like them both," I said, shrugging. "I trust your taste."

"Hm," she replied, considering her options. After a minute, she pulled two matching comforter packages, the floral ones, from the shelf and into our shopping cart.

In the next few aisles, we selected a variety of fluffy pillows and throw blankets, opted for a shaggy white rug for the middle of the dorm room, and even a pink Keurig.

Julia seemed to be managing just fine until we reached the makeup aisle. Her shoulders slouched and a defeated look swept across her face. "Why should I even bother looking pretty anymore?"

I grabbed her shoulders and shook them. "Julia, stop it. Get out of this funk. You don't need his validation anymore. Look pretty because you want to, not for anyone else."

"That's easy for you to say," she contended. "You don't even have to try."

"Yeah, right."

She smacked my arm. "How are you going to tell me to be confident when you're not?"

I stared dumbly at her, unable to come up with a sufficient response, as her and I both knew I was not a confident person.

We stared at each other in the makeup aisle while an obnoxious pop song played on the speakers. Julia sipped her iced coffee, then let out a snort; the liquid spurted from her nostrils and mouth, and all over my jacket.