"The Danielle I know doesn't pit people against each other."
I stopped pointlessly rearranging the items on top of my tallboy and glanced into the mirror, noticing his dishevelled state in the reflection. "That wasn't my intention."
"Sure it was."
Turning to face him, I burst into tears. "It wasn't. I just … I just wanted him to feel the pain he'd caused me to feel when he abandoned me."
"When he abandoned you?" Chris walked in to my room and took a seat on my bed. "When did he abandon you?"
"He always abandons me. I should've known better. They all do. Everyone does … except for you and Mum."
He patted the bed. "Come here."
I plodded over and flopped onto the mattress, curling up into a ball and laying my head on his lap.
"I don't understand, Duck. How does pretty boy geek always abandon you?"
Sniffing, I wiped my nose with the back of my hand. "He did it the day we were stuck in the storm drain, and when he moved away, and then again after we started fucking the other day."
Chris stretched toward my bedside table, grabbed my tissue box, and handed it to me. "Let's start with the storm drain. What do you mean he abandoned you there? You never told me that. You said you were both rescued together."
"We were, but, before that, he left me there, alone. He said he was going to get help." The memory tore right through me: the raw of the water, the darkness, the terror of not knowing where he was. I trembled uncontrollably, just like I had that very day. "I was so scared, Chris. I thought he'd drowned."
"But he didn't. You were both rescued."
"Yeah." I sniffed again. "But he left me. Everybody leaves me."
"No, they don't."
"Yes, they do. Every boyfriend I've ever had has left me. My dad left me-"
"Dani, you can't compare your shithead exes and your poor excuse for an old man with pretty boy geek."
"Yes, I can. He left me when he moved away. He didn't have to abandon me then. We could've still remained friends. He only moved a town over, for fuck's sake."
"So you're gonna hold that over him … seventeen odd years later? Come on, kiddo, you're better than this. You were both kids back then. And anyway, what stopped you from keeping in contact with him, huh?"
I sat up. "Whose side are you on?"
"Yours."
"Could've fooled me."
"You can't blame him for moving away. That wasn't his fault."
"Fine. But I can blame him for how he has treated me since we fucked."
"Which is how … ?"
"Like I was leftovers that seemed a good idea to keep at the time but then didn't appeal the next day."
He shrugged and stood up, making his way to my chair-of-clothing-I-need-to-put-away. "Nup. Can't see him doing that."
"What would you know? You don't even know him."
"But I know you," he said, picking up my bra and checking it out. "And I know you could never be seen as leftovers. Ever. Plus, I know when a guy has it pretty bad for a girl. Trust me, I normally try to cut his lunch just for shits and giggles … "
I climbed off my bed, snatched my bra from his hands and glared at him, his juvenile sex life disgusting at times.
"I'm tellin' ya, Duck, pretty boy geek has it bad for you."
I desperately wanted to believe him, but actions always spoke louder than words, and Elliot's actions had been what they'd always been - to up and leave.
"Look, I appreciate what you're doin', Chris. You're a great friend, my best friend, but you're wrong. Elliot is just like the others." Snatching my mini skirt from his hands, I gathered up the rest of my clothes. "You seem to forget that he's a lawyer. He makes a living fooling people."
"That's a bit harsh."
"Why? He knows how to manipulate. He said so himself. It's part of what he does. I just never thought he'd manipulate me the way he has."
Holding back the onslaught of tears that threatened to erupt again, I called back, over my shoulder, as I headed out of my room, "I'm doing the washing. Got anything dirty?"
Elliot didn't call or text all week, which just enforced that I was right and Chris was wrong; that Elliot truly didn't give a flying fuck about me, or our friendship. The truth was a sucker punch to my heart, but I couldn't acknowledge that fact because we had a community garden to finish before the looming deadline. What was also looming was seeing him again, something I didn't want to do, because I wasn't as strong as I made myself out to be. Plus, I sure as hell didn't want to pretend we were together and getting married. That bullshit ended today no matter what. As far as I was concerned, we'd broken up, and that was exactly what I'd be telling our mothers, which wasn't entirely a lie. My stance would be that I didn't want to talk about it, or to him, and that my main focus was to complete the garden.