Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

ELOWEN VALE

I actively avoided Arden and Melrose for three weeks. It wasn’t difficult. They never really talked to me anyway, even though Melrose was always at our house with Arden. It made sense; she was the only child of extremely rich parents who were always busy.

But I couldn’t face them. I couldn’t face anyone. I couldn’t even face myself. I didn’t want them to ask me about the party, or whether I made out with Dane, or why I left so suddenly.

“Lowen, can I come in?” Arden’s voice came from behind my door, but before I could respond, she was already stepping inside.

I had soft music playing to drown out the chaos in my head as I painted. I’d always been different. I never quite fit in, and that left me lonely and sad. But since the night of the party, devastation, grief, and a loss I couldn’t even name had been layered on top of that sadness. I was doing my best to ignore it.

Melrose followed Arden into the room and shut the door behind her.

“What are you painting?” she asked as she headed toward my bed, her arms full of snacks.

I wiped my paint-stained hands on my apron and glanced at both of them. They had never come to my room before. My heart sank. Had they found out something?

“What’s going on with you?” Arden tilted her head, watching me. I turned away.

“What are you talking about?” I picked up my brush and ran a blend of blue and white across the canvas. My eyes teared up.

“We’re gonna watch a movie together,” Melrose said, climbing into my bed with her bedazzled crocs on. I cringed but said nothing.

“You know what I’m talking about, Elowen.” Arden crossed her arms. “You’ve been acting weird.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Arden,” I said, trying to steady my shaky hands. I was growing more agitated by the second.

“Hey, Dane is saying that weird shit again,” Melrose chuckled. Arden was finally distracted. I took a shaky breath and kept my misty eyes on the canvas. I just wanted to be left alone. I needed to be alone.

“About that watch?” Arden asked, moving toward the bed.

My heart dropped to my stomach. I choked on the air in my lungs as they both looked at me strangely.

I tried –and failed– to hold myself together. It could have been any watch. It didn't have to be the one that had been thrown at me. But the sinking feeling in my stomach told me otherwise. 

“What on earth is going on, Elowen?” Arden threw her hands up, clearly irritated. Melrose’s gaze was sharp, cutting into me.

“I just want to be alone, Arden,” I said, grabbing my phone. I opened the class group chat.

There it was–the exact watch. Same initials. Same image captioned, ‘She needs to find me.’ 

My guts had not been wrong. I scrolled up with trembling fingers.

‘Red Hello Kitty.’

I set my phone on the dresser, my hands shaking. Why was he looking for me? Was I in some sort of trouble?

When I turned around, Arden and Melrose were still staring at me.

“I’m gonna call Dane and find out what this is about,” Melrose said, dialing his number. I tried to tune them out, but she put the call on speaker.

Dane explained. His family friend had gone to the wrong suite, the one that was meant to be Dane's– and slept with the wrong girl. He didn’t know who she was. The only way he’d recognize her was by the watch, if she ever chose to come forward. He wanted to apologize.

I tried to keep my breathing steady. I failed.

“Look him up,” Melrose told Arden, who quickly pulled out her phone. Seconds later, her eyes widened.

“Mael?” she whispered. “Mael Virelis?” She said his name louder this time. Melrose grabbed the phone from her.

Dane sighed. “I’d prefer if you keep this private. I told you because it’s you two. Can I go now?”

Melrose hung up. They stared at the phone, then at each other, before their eyes finally settled on me.

“Lowen, it was… you,” Melrose said, disbelief lacing her voice. The expression on her face was not sweet and delicate like it had always been. Her surprise, disbelief and disgust were evident. There was something else. Jealousy mixed with rage. 

I flinched and my heart stopped.

Arden looked between us. “Think about it,” Melrose continued. “He went to the wrong suite. You were in Dane’s suite. So he met you there and had sex with… you.”

The way she said you made me feel like a stain.

“No, Mel. That’s not true.” My voice trembled. It was a lie, and a terrible one. I was a wreck, physically, emotionally, mentally.

“How could Mael have sex with you?” She gave me a once-over. I felt myself tearing apart under her sharp, shockingly hateful stare. 

“That’s why you left suddenly that night. And you’ve been acting weird this whole time,” Arden added.

I looked at her, pleadingly. Not you too.

“And you wore those ridiculous cartoon panties too,” she scoffed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said quickly, turning toward the bathroom. My face was flushed, my hands shaky, my heart thundering in my chest.

I washed the paint off my hands and stared at my reflection.

Ten minutes passed. I heard the door open and shut.

I emerged from the bathroom, crawled into bed, and plugged in my earphones. I blasted music, hoping it would mute the chaos in my mind.

Eventually, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I reached for my phone. The group chat was flooded with new messages. I scrolled through, panicked that Arden or Melrose had said something.

But it was from Dane.

He found her.

I ignored it, assuming it was another desperate attempt to flush her out.

My head was throbbing. I couldn’t tell if I was on the verge of a panic attack or actually sick. I left my room and made my way downstairs. I thought I heard voices. Maybe my parents. I hadn't seen or spoken to them in days.

Instead, I found Dane, Melrose, and Arden.

They stopped talking as soon as they saw me and I turned to leave.

“He’s out of town, Melrose. You’ll be the first person he sees when he gets back,” Dane said tiredly.

“I know,” Melrose replied, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “I just can’t believe he was the one I was with.”

“Me neither. I could’ve sworn you were at the party the whole time,” Dane said absentmindedly. Melrose smacked him.

“I wasn’t. I met him in your suite. Don’t make me feel bad.”

“Sure, sure.”

My blood ran cold.

I walked back into the living room before I could stop myself. “Mel… what are you doing?”

They looked surprised I had spoken.

“What are you talking about?” Melrose asked, her face colder than I’d ever seen it.

“Arden, are you…” I looked at her, but she didn’t acknowledge me.

Dane glanced between us. “What’s going on, Eliza?”

He didn’t even know my name.

I turned and stumbled into the kitchen, trying to breathe. This wasn’t happening. I didn’t want Mael, I didn’t want to be found, but Melrose was taking advantage of something that had shattered me.

Tears spilled down my cheeks. I couldn’t control them. I ran to my room, straight into the closet, locking myself in.

I curled into a ball and cried my heart out. I was tired. Tired of being invisible, of being unwanted, of being the outsider. East Halewood suffocated me. The town, its people, its standards– they crushed me.

And now this.

Melrose was pretending to be me. Pretending to be the girl Mael had slept with. The girl he didn’t even look at. The one who had let him use her just to feel wanted.

He hadn’t recognized me. Yet somehow, Melrose had said she was me, and he believed her.

I stayed in my room for two days, surviving off the snacks they left that night. Two days of hell. Fever, vomiting and cramps from how hard I was throwing up. 

On the third day, when I was sure no one was home, I slipped out. I found the smallest clinic I could and went inside. That was when I received the most devastating news of all.

I was pregnant.

I wasted no time in hurrying back home. I didn’t even have the strength or mental energy to fully process it. By evening, every single person in East Halewood would know. Nothing ever skipped their judgmental ears. Gossip traveled faster than light in this town. I needed to be out before it found its way to the wrong mouths.

Tears streamed down my face as I stuffed clothes into my bag. This wasn’t just about being pregnant. This was everything. It was the culmination of every ache, every humiliation, every silent scream I'd swallowed. The final crack came with the thing that happened two days before. Mael did not see or know me. No one ever did.

Not my parents. Not Arden. Not Melrose. Not even East Halewood itself. I was always the stray puzzle piece in a box full of perfection.

I used the little spare money I had and left. I didn’t know where I was going, but that was a problem for later. Right then, I needed to get far enough. Far enough that no one could find me. Far enough that I could breathe.