Page 43 of The Cinderella Secret
“I love Ella,” said Lilly switching back to Aiden. “Ella’s the besht.
“Yes,” he agreed.
“It’sh jusht so mush better sinch she came to live with ush. You know what I mean?”
“I do actually,” he said. “I have a cousin like that too.”
“Isn’t it the besht?”
“Yes,” he agreed. On the other side of Lilly, Ella frowned thoughtfully, although he wasn’t sure why. The elevator jerked to a stop and Lilly tried to fall over. Aiden heaved her back upright.
“Give me a second,” said Ella. “I’ll have the car pull up.”
She disappeared out into the parking area and Aiden had a sudden fear that she was going to ditch him with a drunk underage girl, and it was going to be all over the papers in two seconds.
“I think maybe I shouldna had the lasht sch-sch-sch-drink.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you should have stopped way before then,” said Aiden.
“Kacey ditched me,” said Lilly, with a sob and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I stood up for her. I stood up for her and she just ditched me in front of everyone.”
“Oh,” said Aiden, feeling his heart drop at the level of heartbreak in her voice. “Oh, kiddo, I’m sorry.”
“I should have…” She petered out and looked up at him in desperation. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be an outcasht but… I can’t hang with Brett and fucking Chet. I know what they are. They’re fucking wannbe rapists.” The final word came out crisp and clear and sober. “How can Kacey just pretend that they didn’t do what they did?”
Aiden tried to come up with something that a sane adult full of wisdom would say. He did not feel like he was qualified to be having this conversation. He looked around, hoping that Ella would return soon.
“I know Kacey’s freaking out,” continued Lilly. “I jusht… How could she ditch me?” Tears leaked out the corners of her eyes and she leaned heavily on his arm. He wasn’t sure what all had happened with her friends, but it sounded bad. He also hoped Ella knew about it, because he didn’t think Ella would want him involved in whatever this was. He didn’t think he could step into whatever was going on with Brett and Chet, but emotionally the real damage seemed to be coming from Kacey’s defection. He tried to remember what he would have wanted to hear when he had been seventeen and Evan had ditched him to hang with the college assholes.
“She’s doing her best,” Aiden said. “Right now her best is pretty sucky. But sometimes people that are hurt make stupid decisions. For instance, sometimes they drink an entire bottle of peppermint schnapps.” Lilly looked at him suspiciously, but he continued. “Think of it like an injury that she hasn’t recovered from, only you can’t see the bandage. And when people are injured, you try to be kind. You don’t have to take shit from anyone, but just… be kind to hurt people. That includes yourself.”
Lilly looked up at him, her expression miserable. He wasn’t sure how much he’d actually helped.
“Plus, you’re lucky,” he said, a little desperately. “You have an Ella. Kacey probably doesn’t have an Ella. I didn’t get my Ella until much later.”
“You have an Ella too?”
“Yes. He did punch me in the face and tell me to stop being an idiot, of course. So your Ella might be better.”
Lilly giggled. “My Ella can punch you in the fashe too. She’s good at it. And then she’ll tell you to get your guard up and then you’re like… well, fuck.”
Aiden laughed at the unexpected color commentary and tucked the information away for later consideration. “I think you’ve just described every training fight I’ve ever had,” he said.
Lilly swayed on her feet. “I’m gonna be in so much trouble.”
He heard the sharp click of high-heels on concrete and looked up as Ella returned. Lilly looked at her and gave a little hiccup and a sob. Ella looked from Lilly to Aiden, questioning. “She’s worried she’s going to be in trouble,” he said, hoping she believed him.
Ella sighed. “No, honey. We’re just going to go home now.”
Lilly sobbed again. “I’m such a screw-up.”
Aiden winced in sympathy. He remembered that feeling all too well. It felt like he’d spent all of his teens and early twenties trying not feel like the family idiot.
“Hey, now,” he said pulling Lilly’s attention back to him as the car arrived, “remember what we said? Kindness, right?”
Lilly blinked at him. “Right. We’re kind to hurt people.”
“That’s right,” said Aiden. “And that includes you. You’re not a screw-up. You are someone who made a mistake and we all make mistakes. Ella’s going to take care of you. And you are going to be OK. Tomorrow is going to suck a bit, but you can’t be that big of a screw-up if you’ve got people like Ella who love you.”
