"What the fuck? Sarah –"
"What is she doing here, Brian?" Sarah demanded, her voice thick with tears. What the fuck was going on?
"Listen, can you calm down for a second –"
"What the fuck are you doing here, Maria?" She moved around me. Shocked that Sarah addressed her by name, I turned to Maria, who still remained silent.
Her blanched look was replaced with a flinty stare aimed straight at Sarah. Her little chin rose in hostile defiance. I was so confused.
'Wait, do you two know each other?"
Maria finally glanced at me, her eyes softening in a sadness I couldn't understand. I reached a hand out towards her. "Maria?"
"She bullied me!" Sarah yelled. The plate balanced precariously in one hand while she jabbed a finger towards her.
My head swiveled back to Maria. She folded her arms and sighed as if exhausted. Her gaze still fixed on Sarah with a hard glare. "Sarah –"
"She slept with my boyfriend," Sarah accused. "Remember Daniel? I caught them fucking. She was the reason I had to switch schools."
Astonished, I turned to Maria who refused to meet my eyes. Her lips rolled in—lips that moments ago I'd been kissing—as she continued to stare at Sarah unflinchingly. Her demeanor was baffling in light of the accusations being thrown at her. Accusations that I was starting to think weren't unfounded.
"Maria, is this true?" My throat felt strangled as I waited for her response. She was staunchly unmoved by Sarah's emotional outburst.
"Of course it's fucking true!"
"Sarah, please!" I cut in. "I want to hear it from Maria."
Maria's chest rose in a deep, slow inhale before she released her breath. She unfolded her arms and glanced back at me, clear regret written on her features. Her quick nod sunk my stomach. "Yeah, it's true."
I sucked in a breath. Conflicted feelings traveled through me as I stared at her in disbelief. "Maria –"
"Get her out of here!" Sarah screamed. "She made my life a living hell! She's a fucking slut who doesn't give a shit about anyone but herself."
Sarah was completely hysterical. Her face was red, fire spitting from her eyes as she glared at Maria in what could only be described as pure hatred. I’d never seen her like this before. Never heard her scream and rant like this. The trouble was, I remembered Daniel. I also remembered Hannah trying to talk down a broken-hearted Sarah.
Yet, I couldn't reconcile the person Sarah was describing with the woman I had fallen for. A bully? Selfish? Sleeping withsomeone's boyfriend? This all happened so long ago. Maria wasn't that girl anymore. I knew she was a bitch to people in high school; she’d confessed it to me. But to emulate the characteristics of someone who had tortured her as a kid? I thought she would know better than to do that.
"Maria," I started, not knowing what to say. Memories of a sobbing sixteen-year-old Sarah had me pausing. My loyalty was torn. This time, Sarah had a genuine reason to be upset.
"It's fine," Maria finally said, her voice hardened. "I'll leave."
I stood there like an idiot while she grabbed her coat off the rack and moved to walk out. As she stepped to pass me, I reached out and grabbed her arm. Everything in me screamed at me to stop her, but I also knew that Sarah needed me right now.
"She's evil, Brian. Please don't tell me you're seeing her? Hannah would be so pissed."
And there it was.
I closed my eyes, my hand releasing Maria. This time, I knew for sure that Hannah would disapprove. There was unequivocal proof of that, given Hannah's angry vitriol about "that fucking slut who hurt my sister" as I tried fruitlessly to calm her down. The devastation hit me like a ton of bricks, cracking my heart and splitting it in two.
But it wasn't Hannah's disappointment in me that crushed me. When I opened my eyes and met Maria's sad stare, that crevice in my soul deepened.
Without a word, Maria slipped by me. She strolled past Sarah with her head held high despite Sarah refusing to move aside. Their shoulders brushed, and Sarah cried out, fumbling her plate before righting it again. I chose to ignore that performance. Instead, my tortured eyes stayed on Maria's retreating form as she opened her car door. My feet itched to follow. Something in the deep recess of my mind niggled at me.
Sarah stepped in front of me, blocking my view. Her glare stabbed me, and the tears that had been trickling down her cheeks had vanished. "I can't believe out of all the sluts you slept with, you choseher. She used to torment me!"
"Sarah, don't call her that."
Her mouth dropped open. "That's what you took away from what I said? Sheisa slut. She slept with half the boys at school and didn't stop once she left."
