WICKED { #Wattys2016 }

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Two visitors and alot of synonyms for sex

Sunday morning Cordelia got not one, but two unexpected visitors.

The first was Kendra.

"I haven't been nosy or bothered you all week Cordelia because you've got alot of shit going on right now, but I think I've been patient enough and I think we should talk about what happened at the hospital." Kendra said without skipping a beat, as she barged into Cordelia's room.

Cordelia looked up from her script, and spun her desk chair around so she was facing her best friend.

"You're right. We should." Cordelia said finally after sighing.

Kendra's body sagged in relief over finally speaking her mind. She plopped down on the bed, and Cordelia moved to join her.

There was a pause, where the friends tried to come up with the words that needed to be said.

Cordelia was the first to speak, "Honestly Kendra, I don't know how to explain what you saw." She admitted, her eyes trained ahead on the dresser, and more specifically on a framed picture of Kendra, Cordelia, and Ethan at age eleven.

She glanced at Kendra and saw that she had noticed the picture too. "I don't know what I saw Cord. But I do know it was scary. When I first opened that door, I was scared of my best friend." She confessed, meeting Cordelia's gaze.

Cordelia chewed on her bottom lip. What was she supposed to say to that? What could she say?

"I have my theories as to what happened, but I don't think I want to know. Everyone is okay and that's what matters. I just need to know that you'll be careful okay Cordelia? Because I saw a-a darkness in you." Kendra continued.

Cordelia wanted to reassure her. Tell her that nothing had happened. That she didn't need to worry. But she had never been a liar, so she just embraced her best friend. Because that was the best she could do right now.

She wanted to spill her guts out to her. Because up until a few weeks ago there hadn't been any secrets between the friends. But so much had changed. Their friendship had changed. Maybe it was because they were growing up, or maybe it was because more had happened to Cordelia in the last month then had happened to her in the past seventeen years.

She imagined how good it would feel to be completely open and honest with Kendra again. To have someone to confide in about all this craziness. But how could she even begin to explain? Would Kendra even believe her? Was she even allowed to tell Kendra?

None of that changed the fact that Kendra was smart and perceptive. She had been to those circles with Cordelia, brought Cordelia the spellbook, and she probably had a sneaking suspicion that Cordelia was responsible for her mother's miraculous recovery. Over time, Kendra might put the pieces together herself.

But there was something she could confide in Kendra.

"Promise not to freak out," Cordelia started to say, "but last night, I kissed Cal. Or he kissed me."

What followed was a sequence of squealing, hugging, and declarations that she had known all along.

When Kendra regained her composure the first coherent thing she said was, "When? Where? And how?" The three essential questions any best friend would ask.