Scarred

Chapter 22.

Theo

I huff in exasperation at my unbearably boring act of lying on the bed, and then realise that the movement I have heard in the house in the past two hours means I can commit to the plan I have cooked up. It must be Eliza, I think to myself, and not Rosanne. Because surely Rosanne would come and talk to me to see if I have let her dirty little secret slip to her daughter.

I am motivated to head to Eliza's room, but not before staring straight into space and internally kicking myself before doing so. I can only hope that I don't say the wrong thing, or something that will make me sound and look like an even bigger dick than I already do.

I knock on the closed door to the response of sheer silence, which slightly excites me into thinking that there is a possible chance she is not in, and I can go in quickly and do what I aim to.

I open the door softly, to be greeted by absolute darkness, but I am shocked to switch on the light and discover the figure of Eliza sitting still on her sofa. She doesn't turn to look at me.

"Um, hey. Sorry, I thought you weren't here. But, um... I know you hate me, but I really need to use the computer. Please." She still doesn't look at me, and outrageous concern flows throughout my body, mixed with the fear that Cooper told her my blackmail approach toward him. I would definitely get kicked out after that, I think to myself. "Eliza?"

"I thought it would work this time," she says quietly.

"You thought what would work?"

"Me. And him. I thought we were going to try harder." She wipes her eyes, which instils the knowledge in me that she is crying. My heart sinks, as I think to myself how similar this is to my dream.

"Aren't you?" I ask, moving closer to her.

"I was. I thought he was too but-- Why the hell am I even telling you this? You don't care about me."

"That's not true."

"Don't lie to me. You told me yourself."

I purposely avoid her last words, at the hopes of rectifying myself later on. "So what did Cooper do?"

"I'd rather not tell you, so you can gloat about it."

"Eliza, do you really think I'm that bad of a person?" The silence in the room confirms the answer I don't want to hear. "Okay, don't answer that. I'm not though, just so you know."

"So why did you use me just to stay in this house?"

"I didn't."

"Yes, you did. That's what you told me, Theo. Today. Do you suffer from memory loss as well as asshole syndrome?"

"Eliza, I didn't--I--Look, we can talk about that after, but I just want to know that you're alright first."

"I'm fine. So we can talk about it now."

"What did Cooper do?"

"Nothing."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No."