The Green Girl ✓

Heart-to-heart PART ONE

Alice POV

“What happened?”

I rolled my eyes. No greetings again; just straight to the point. If Elanor thought I lacked manners, I could only imagine how appalled she’d be if she heard Caden.

“I won… I think.” I answered into the phone.

“So… You’re coming back?” He asked anxiously.

“In a week. I’ll be back next Sunday.”

I heard a relieved sigh from the receiver accompanied by a muttered “Thank God!” that brought a smile to my face, knowing it indicated that Caden really wanted me back.

“What did you mean, you think you won?” The boy queried.

“Well, I won because I got what I wanted but…” Should I tell him? Would Caden be disappointed by what I used to reach my goal?

“But what?”

“I had to blackmail her,” I blurted the truth out before my guilt got the better of me and kept me silent.

There was a pause in which neither of us spoke and then the boy burst out in a laugh so loud, I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

“You… You’ve actually blackmailed Elanor?” He asked through his laughing fit. “And with what exactly?”

“I told her I’ll inform the Peacock why I was here if she didn’t allow me to go back.”

“Really?” A little bit of surprise was mixed with something else in his voice but whatever it was, it was definitely not disappointment. “Man, I wish I was there!”

“You do?”

“Alice, you finally stood up to your mother; of course, I would want to see that! Makes me kind of proud of you actually.”

“But… But I did something wrong!” I protested, ignoring how relieved I was by his reaction. “I blackmailed my own mother.”

“So?”

“What do you mean “so”?”

“Alice,” he started with a sigh, “I know Elanor is your mother, but…” Another loud breath left his lips while the boy seemed to be considering how exactly to express himself. “I have no idea how to say this nicely, so I’ll just say it: I. Don’t. Like. Elanor. I don’t like how she treats you, I don’t like how she makes you feel… I know she’s your mother and that you love her… Although how can you love someone like her is beyond me… Anyway… My point is that she got what was coming to her and that you should not feel guilty about it!”

“But she’s my mother.” My voice came out quiet and shaky.

“Alice… Alice, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you!” Cade’s tone was both worried and caring and I once again smiled, although still feeling upset.

“You didn’t. It’s just that… I do love her. No matter how she treats me and how much I pretend to ignore that… It affects me, because I love her.”

“Alice…”

“I wish you were here with me!” I shot out without thinking.

“Yeah, me too!”

*****

The cab dropped me off in front of the huge Miller mansion. No, I wasn’t exaggerating; Beth and Sky really did live in a mansion. The enormous house for relatives and family friends, the several smaller buildings for their many live-in servants, the vast gardens and stables… The Millers were truly living high on the hog.