Love, Dove.

Chapter Three: You Don't Have To Pretend To Be Okay, Let It Out

Dove 🕊

"I can't believe that was your first encounter with Melanie." Elora says, all three of us walking to her car. I'll be honest, I didn't expect the first day of senior year to start of so... how do I say it, cliche? I seriously feel like I'm the main character in a movie right now.

"I think she's really pretty. As far as I know, she's a good person." Lorelai says, surprising both me and Elora. It still amazes me how I ended up with such good friends. I remember my first encounter with Lorelai in fifth grade, when she sat next to me when I was all alone and had no friends. From then on, me and her were inseparable. Elora came along a month or two after Lorelai. She immediately clicked with us, even though our personalities were the exact opposite of hers.

Elora and I agree as she unlocks her car door, unlocking the passenger doors right after. I grab a seat in the front and Lorelai sits in the back.

"I cannot believe how good-looking the new guy is." Elora says, clearing up the silence. She's gonna drop Lorelai off first since she lives closer to the school than I do. I don't want to keep doing this whole uber driver thing where she picks us up, I feel like I'm leeching off of her. This is at least until I can somehow get the money to buy a car. I really don't want to ask my mom since she already has a lot of stuff on her plate.

"You just never stop talking about him, do you?" I turn my head towards her, looking at her as she thinks of what to say in response. She's still trying to get over Ren. Me and Lorelai never bring him up since we know the topic is still hard for her. Ren was Elora's boyfriend, and they loved each other like crazy. Even after their honeymoon phase, they'd rarely argue. It was so sweet to see her act completely different around him, being vulnerable and all. But he passed away two years ago due to a car accident. Some drunk person hit his car.

"I'm just trying to distract myself, you know? With what happened with.. Ren, it's been hard. I thought I could get over him after a while, but I can't. I just, can't." Her eyes start to water and she tries to stop them from falling, but they fall anyway. There's things in life that we wish we could get rid of, that we wish we could change, but sometimes we have to learn to accept them, come to terms with them, and develop as a person. It surprises me how well Elora has been coping with the pain. She's really strong.

"You don't have to pretend to be okay, let it out." I tell her as I lean towards her and hug her, allowing her to cry until the tears no longer fall. Me and Lorelai exchange glances while I comfort Elora. Lorelai looks as if she's about to tear up at the state of her friend, but she doesn't.

"Thanks for everything. Both of you." She says after fixing herself up, smiling towards me and Lorelai.

"So, why don't you tell us about this new boy?" Lorelai says shortly after, trying to steer the tension away. Elora ended up talking about the new guy for a good fifteen minutes, I'm not even joking. It was pretty amusing to see her talk that way about someone, especially after everything that has happened to her.

Anyways, maybe this year won't be so bad. At least I've got these two.

Thanks for reading! 🤍

Signing off.