Page 57 of Hypothetical Heart
Logan takes a step back, his back hitting my chest as he runs into me, pushing us both out of the room and into the hall.
“No, you are making things worse by doing reckless shit all the time!”
“I was messing around with a dart, Gen?—“
“Keywords:messing around,” Genevieve emphasizes, venom lacing every word. “You can’t do that shit and then expect us all to sit back and relax when it backfires. Because it’s not you you’re hurting. We’re the ones caught in your crossfire!”
“I’m sorry, Gen, I didn’t mean to?—“
“You never mean to, Eloise! Do you not get that?”Genevieve throws her arms up. “You do things without thinking, and then all you have to say for yourself isI didn’t mean to. Well, you meant to fuck around with a metal dart, and it ended up in my boyfriend’s fucking arm!”
By now, Logan and I have gathered what happened. And it’s not good. It also doesn’t help that it’s Genevieve’s boyfriend who got harmed. This isn’t like any other situation where she can forgive and forget quite as easily because all she’s worried about right now is the fact that her boyfriend is bleeding in the kitchen; it makes her a bit more irrational.
“Should we step in?” I whisper. Logan thinks about it for a moment, but when Genevieve takes a step toward Eloise, there’s no more thinking involved.
“Might be a good idea.” He lunges forward, stepping in between the two, not wanting this to get physical when it’s already heated enough as is.
“I’m sorry, okay!” Eloise’s eyes well with tears, the regret searing her voice. “I don’t know what else you want me to say.”
Logan has a hand on Genevieve’s collar bone, keeping her from getting any closer. In all honesty, if I didn’t know my friend as well as I do, I would think Genevieve was going to punch her.
“I don’t want you to say anything! All I want is some type of confirmation that you understand how much worse you could have made this.” Genevieve takes a large breath. “You could have hit him in the neck or in the eye, somewhere much more life-threatening than the arm.”
Eloise nods. “I understand.” Her voice is still tainted with defense, but it works.
“I should go check on Jameson,” Genevieve says,running her hands through her hair as she makes her way toward the door.
And as soon as she’s out of the room, Eloise breaks down.
I understand her hurt. It’s hard being called out by the people you love most, the ones who understand you best. It’s hurtful to realize the people who know you that well also know your flaws.
To her, Genevieve has attacked a big piece of her tonight.
And while we all know it needed to be done, considering this isn’t the first instance where Eloise’s reckless behavior has caused her and Genevieve to fight, there’s still a piece of me that feels like Genevieve might have gone a tad far.
Logan and I kneel next to where she’s still on the ground, her back against the leg of a pinball machine.
“E,” Logan sighs, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Everything’s okay. She’ll get over it.”
Eloise’s head falls into her hands, and she presses her forehead into her knees. “I feel like a horrible person.”
“You are not a horrible person, Eloise,” I tell her strongly. “It was a mistake, and Genevieve was clearly scared.”
“It’ll all be back to normal by tomorrow,” Logan adds.
“Where’s my phone?” Eloise sits up, patting her sweatshirt pocket frantically. “Where the fuck is my phone?”
Logan and I exchange a glance, one that says,what does she need her phone so badly for?Yet Logan finds it sitting on the pool table and hands it over to her.
We both stand, prepared to leave the room to give her space, when she puts the call up to her ear. Nearing the door, Logan and I stop in our tracks, me slamming into his back when we hear Eloise speak into the phone.
“Briar,” she shudders. “Can you talk?”
“Holy fucking shit,” Logan whispers, rushing into the hallway as if we heard something we definitely weren’t supposed to.
I’m sure we have matching looks on our faces. Pure shock.
“Are they—” I stop myself. Now is not the time.
