“I mean forever. This sounds like a forever goodbye.” I can’t stop the tears from forming, but I refuse to let them drop.
“I can’t take the chance of seeing her again, Poppy. At least not right now. I hope you understand that.”
A single tear moves down my cheek. “Will you at least tell me where you end up?”
“I’m not sure if I’m going to let anyone know where that is, to be honest. I just need… space,” she whispers, pausing for a beat too long. “From everyone.”
My jaw slightly drops. “Even me?”
“Sorry.”
I can’t believe she’s saying this without any emotion at all. “It’s okay. I understand. I know I should’ve told you about Pippa’s strange obsession with Eddie, but I just didn’t know how. Not without betraying her too.” The truth comes out before I can stop it, and the way she looks at me, staring into my soul like I’m a complete stranger, guts me.
“She’s your twin, Poppy. She comes first.” Her phone rings, and with the way she looks at the screen I already know who’s calling… Eddie.
“You could talk to him, you know?” I suggest.
“And say what? I can’t trust him right now. Frankly, I can’t trust anyone.” There’s so much frustration in her voice, and an emptiness that wasn’t there two days ago.
As much as I hate to do it, I grab a few of her bags and help her toward the door. She needs the space, and both of us know it. “I don’t know. But I do know he loves you, Amber. More than he’s probably loved anyone before.”
“That’s what makes it so bad. He loved me and still ended up fucking one of my best friends. People who truly love you don’t do that.”
My phone rings. It’s Eddie. “Now he’s calling me.”
“You can pick it up if you want. Just don’t tell him where I am.”
“I’m good. I have nothing to say to him either.”
“Where is Pippa, anyway?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from her today. Last time I talked to her, she was going to try to patch things up with Eddie.”
Amber looks at her feet, the pain in her eyes swelling again. “Wonderful. I hope they find happiness. Those two belong together.”
“You don’t mean that, Amber.”
“It doesn’t matter what I feel. It’s over, and I’m ready to move on. Anyway, I should get going.”
“Will you at least tell me where you end up, please? I wanna know where you end up after Italy.”
She steals a glance my way and gives me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll do my best. Goodbye, Poppy.”
“Bye, Amber.”
Then she leaves. No hug goodbye. No hope for a friendship after this. She just walks out the door, packs up her U-Haul, and leaves, abandoning me just like my parents.
I cry for what seems like hours. A hollow pit building in my stomach as I mourn the loss of my best friend, silently blaming myself for letting it happen.
I tried calling Pippa a few times, hoping that her voice would somehow make things easier for me, but she never picked up her phone.
Now I’m just sitting in our apartment, the emptiness causing the loneliness to drag in, wishing things hadn’t turned out the way they did.
Could it really be my fault that everything happened? Wesley being thrown in jail.My doing. Amber cheating on Eddie in Vegas.I could’ve stopped her.My sister fucking Eddie.Had I paid more attention I may have been able to talk her out of it.But the wedding… I know that’s my fault completely, and now I’m kicking myself for it.
A strange ache quakes through my belly, a pain I’ve never felt before. I cry out, emotion clogging my throat as an overwhelming sense of loss takes over. Not because of Amber, but because of something else. Something I’m not quite sure of. It feels hollow and listless, like a void you get lost in before dying.
More tears fall from my eyes, but they feel unreal, like they don’t belong to me.
