[old] hexes for exes, briarville girls (1)

三十一。姊妹談

（girl talk）

FUNNILY ENOUGH, Sarah remained mostly silent until they arrived at the bathroom. Livia had chosen a further one, just in case Sarah went explosive. She wanted this to be a fight about them, with no one mediating, no one watching. There was no one they needed to perform for now, except each other.

How long can you stand this? The silence seemed to say. Whoever fidgeted more now had already lost. The winners of every argument are usually predetermined before the acrimonious insults even started to fly- who talked first, whose terms the argument began on, even the environment. You can have a fabulous plan, but the moment the first bullet is fired, it instantly goes to waste. It's the first bullet that matters, when your plan still works, when you can still act like you know what your opponent will do.

Sarah talked first.

"Stop."

"Stop?" Livia asked, raising her eyebrow, her arms crossed as she shifted her balance to her right leg, leaning back.

"You're just going to break their hearts again."

"Look. I'm sorry for misunderstanding James. I'm sorry for blaming him and tying Jack into it. That was wrong of me. But you and me? There's no misunderstanding here. I still don't know why you hate me so much-"

"-don't you?" Sarah's voice was soft, though Livia could still sense the hostility in her tone.

Livia swallowed, flexing her jaw. Yes, she knew. Years of jealousy and hate, comparisons from the outside world, people pitting two girls against each other because it's fun.

When she opened her mouth once more, her voice was steady. "I don't."

"Then you're an idiot, I'm sorry to say," Sarah's voice was bitter. "A very big idiot."

"I've always been an idiot, and so have you. Neither of us are as smart as we think we are."

"Don't mistake confidence for arrogance, I know it's hard for you, but it really isn't."

"And that is exactly why my statement stands corect," Livia replied, a small smile appearing on her face. "You're smarter than this, Sarah." Her voice was much softer than the usual demanding tone, almost pitiful and painful.

A scoff left Sarah's mouth as the girl rolled her eyes, leaning against the bathroom door. "Please," she responded. "Don't be so condescending, Wong, I'm not inferior to you in any way, and you know I'm not backing down."

"I never said you were, but you're acting like a small child. Doesn't help your case."

"Can you stop acting all nice? It's fucking annoying and honestly insults my IQ. Drop the niceties. We both know what you're capable of."