Life, Love & Cupcakes (Rewritten)

Life, Love & Cupcakes 14.

After ten minutes of searching, I found Belle sitting on a large rock by the river. "Hey," I said quietly, walking closer to her.

She turned around to see me, then quickly wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her grey jumper. "I didn't think they'd send you," she mumbled.

I walked closer and sat on a rock near her. "What do you mean?"

"My friends. They sent you, right?" She sighed. "I thought they'd send Juliette, or Loz. I'm never really upset in front of them, though...so what would I know?" She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them.

I shook my head, even though she wasn't looking at me. "They didn't send me. I wanted to come. Juliette was going to, but not because anyone sent her. She just wanted to help you..."

Belle looked at me curiously. "If they didn't send you, then why did you come? Out of that whole group, you probably know the least about me. Why bother?"

"Because...I never like seeing anyone upset. Especially people like you, who always seem to be happy and carefree."

Belle laughed humourlessly. "You only met me this morning."

I thought for a second, then I leaned back and sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, just watching the water, until Belle whispered, "Isn't this where you ask me what's wrong?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

She took a deep breath and whispered, "I just don't like it when people...cheat." I noticed a tear fall down her cheek, leaving a trail of mascara.

"Belle..." I stood up and moved to sit next to her on the rock. I put my arm around her, and she rested her head on my shoulder.

"It's just...such a horrible...thing to do," she said between sobs.

"I know," I said sadly. Once again, thoughts of Dad came rushing into my mind, but I pushed them back out. I didn't want to focus on my problems now; this was about Belle.

"It's even worse when they say they love you, that they don't have a girlfriend...and they do..." she mumbled.

I nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she sniffled.

"Just tell me if you don't want to answer, okay?" I said quietly. Belle nodded. "Well," I continued, "did someone cheat on you?"

"No," she mumbled. "It was my sister."

"What do you mean?" I whispered.

Belle sat up straight and looked into the sky. "She's the kind of girl who's never single. I'm completely serious. She's really pretty, and really friendly, and just...irresistible to guys."

"How old is she?"

"She just turned twenty five."

"Wow," I breathed. "That's a pretty big age gap. Aren't you thirteen?"

"Yeah," Belle sighed. "Although, age gaps don't really seem to matter in my family..."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, confused.

Belle shook her head. "Never mind. Anyway...my sister got a new boyfriend, and they were SO in love. I mean, holding hands, sharing milkshakes, watching romance movies together...they were like a perfect couple."

"That's really nice," I said without thinking.

"It was," Belle sighed. "That didn't last for long, though. He'd always said he was single, that she was the only girl he'd ever need in his life, but he was lying the whole time. Turns out he was actually married! I heard he even had a toddler son or something. How bad is that," she said in frustration.