Page 207 of New Growth
We stepped away from the crowd, finding a quieter corner near a display of satin bonnets and detangling combs.
I let out a slow breath. “Look… you said some really hurtful things to me last time we spoke.”
“You did too, Ellie,” she replied quickly. “And you hurt my feelings by never telling me about you and El.”
I crossed my arms, trying not to get defensive. “I’ll admit… I should’ve said something. At the time, though, El and I weren’t a thing. Not officially. When you said you’d ‘find better,’ I thought that was you moving on from the whole situation.”
“You could’ve said something,” she said again. “You could’ve told me if something was going on. Even if it wasn’t official. I know you had feelings for him before this.”
I looked at her closely. “If you knew I had feelings for him, why would you go after him?”
She shrugged. “Because I knew you weren’t ready to move on yet.”
My face screwed up. “Did youreallylike him, Hope? Or were you just trying to get under my skin?”
Her lips parted, but no words came out. And that silence told me everything I needed to know.
I gave her a long look, my jaw clenched as heat rose to my face.
“He’s not a toy, you know. He has feelings.Ihave feelings, and you hurt them consistently. You threw jabs when I was already down. You nitpick everything I do. You make me feel like you’re too good to be associated with me. Then you turned around and tried to date the one person you knew I was trying to figure out my feelings for. It’s like you hated me. You continuously treated me like shit and I’d let you! I wanted you to like me so badly that I did whatever you said, like an idiot, and that’s on me for putting up with it for so long. But I’m over it now. This friendship no longer serves me, it probably never did, honestly.”
“I didn’t know it was that deep,” she mumbled. “I didn’t mean—”
“You did. You meant to,” I cut in. “And even if you didn’t, it’s not my responsibility to teach you how not to be a shitty friend. I’m overtrying to maintain relationships with people who made it obvious they don’t care about me. I’m tired of it.”
She nodded slowly. “So… we’re not friends anymore?”
I looked her in the eye. “No. We’re not.”
Hope blinked, then glanced down at the floor. “Okay.”
We stood there a second longer. I didn’t know what she was waiting for—maybe some softness? I didn’t offer it.
“I should get back to my booth,” I said.
She stepped aside as I walked past, and I didn’t look back. And that was the last time I made space for Hope in my life.
The moment I returned, Johanna handed me a bottle of water and gave me a subtle nod. Esther was pretending not to stare over my shoulder, clearly itching for the recap.
But I just turned to El and tucked myself under his arm.
“Everything okay?” he asked, his voice quiet.
“Yup. Just need a second.”
He pressed a kiss to my temple, his hand tracing small, soothing circles on my shoulder.
London peeked around the booth wall, eyes wide and urgent. “You good? They’re calling for our set in five.”
El and I exchanged looks. “Of course, ready when you are.”
He grinned and kissed me again, softer this time, just a brush of lips before he let me go.
I moved toward the small backstage area and peeled off my oversized hoodie, revealing the tank top I had deliberately picked for today; the new logo El designed was branded on the front. My nerves fluttered, but not as badly as I expected. I’d already weathered the worst part of my morning, emotionally speaking. Everything else was just hair. And hair? I could handle.
I stepped out onto the small stage space set up in front of the booth. Chelsea and London were already there, lights warming their skin as they talked through their live demo with the mic.
“Okay,” London said with a wide smile, “our next demonstration is by the woman who makes all of this magic happen. The owner, founder, and formulator—Elliot Sawyer-Greene.”
