𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗘𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁

𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗘𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁:

Baked Spaghetti

❅𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁❅

"I didn't realize they call you this late," Mazin said as we stood in the still elevator.

I shrugged, taking a step forward to click the button for the parking garage.

"You're leaving," she stated almost in observation.

And yet again, I refused to say anything, nodding my head once as I stared forward.

"Virelai," Mazin said, clearly bothered by my lack of response.

Or attention given she stepped over in front of me, sliding right into my viewpoint.

And just as my eyes locked with hers, I had to clench my jaw, especially when her cologne swirled around me.

"I don't want to speak to you, Mazin," I said very bluntly, hoping she would catch a hint.

But she did not.

"Well, I want to speak to you," Mazin determined, not backing down even with my clear demands.

"It's too late to speak to me—years too late actually," I emphasized, feeling my ears burn the longer I held her dark stare.

"You're forgetting you're the one who left," Mazin pointed out as if that changed anything.

"People don't tend to willingly stay places after getting led on and then rejected by their best friend, Mazin," I retorted, narrowing my eyes at her.

"You were with Dani—you wanted to be with Dani," Mazin said, tilting her head as she analyzed my face so openly that it made everything around me burn.

I couldn't tell if it was irritation or my usual shyness.

I'm assuming it's irritation.

"Is that what you've told yourself all these years?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest defensively, "Does that help you sleep better at night, Mazin?"

Mazin lazily raised her brows, "I'm not sure how one sleeps after the closest person to them blocks them on everything and moves overseas without a single warning," she countered back, unconsciously taking another step toward me.

So I took one right back.

"I'm not doing this," I said, distastefully eyeing the distance between us, which still felt too small for my liking.

But there's a wall behind me.

"You're not with Dani," Mazin said, weirdly as a statement as she analyzed my body, "Not after what she did."

I tilted my head, "Is that why you came up to us yesterday and behaved fucking rudely?" I asked, still feeling more than irritated by her actions.

"I don't like her—you know I don't like her," Mazin said, and I could sense that all she wanted to do was touch me.

Whether it was my hand or even my shoulder.

It was a thing that I recalled about her from years ago.

Physical touch eased her.

But she doesn't deserve to be eased right now.

"It was unnecessary," I said, keeping my arms strictly over my chest, "Your behavior was unnecessary."

Mazin remained silent for a moment.

At least until the elevator doors dinged open to the parking garage behind her.

But she firmly took a step to the side as soon as I tried to walk past her, "Fine, Virelai, it was unnecessary," she said, earning a deep sigh from me.

Especially when the doors closed back shut.

"But I meant what I said to you," Mazin had the nerve to say, leaning slightly to the right to capture my stare again, "You left before we could talk about anything."

I shook my head, feeling my jaw tighten, "Because of you—all of this was because of you," I said, uncrossing my arms as I attempted to walk past her again.

But Mazin was quicker.

She had stepped to the side again with me, clearly bent on this fucking conversation.

"I want to talk about this, Virelai," Mazin said, her voice nothing but firm with me, "I don't want to do this awkward shit with you."

I lazily raised my brows, "That's not for you to decide on your own," I pointed out, still set on not speaking to her.

I just felt so much blurring around me from the past.

How I felt.

The heaviness in my chest that lasted months after it was all said and done.

It was almost unbearable.

"Just go fuck Dove and leave me alone, Mazin," I suddenly said, almost out of spite.

But I also felt spited by that idea.

The girl who bullied me had to be the same woman she decided to get with years later.

Classic Mazin.

"Is that really what you think this is?" Mazin asked me offensively, "You think I would fuck her after everything, Virelai?"

I shrugged, "Nothing else better to think," I determined, my tone lowered and distasteful, "But if you haven't then you should—it would sum up the person you are."

Mazin scoffed, immediately glancing away from me almost out of irritation.

And... disappointment.

"Maybe I should be that person," Mazin mumbled, correcting her posture as she glanced back to me.

"Yeah," I forced out, clenching my jaw at the idea of her fucking Dove.

Especially now that I knew she never did.

They were only just friends.

"And I'll fuck Dani—we'll all just fuck who we want," I suddenly determined, drawing in a deep breath as I tried not to focus on my racing heart.

"You want to fuck Dani?" Mazin emphasized my words, her dark eyes trailing my face for more.

For the softer version of me.

But she's protected.

She has to be protected after what Mazin did to me.

"I do," I whispered before I could possibly think it through.

And now all I could do was regret it.

Regret everything I'm saying.

But I just want to hurt her.

She needs to hurt like I did.

"I want to get back together with her actually," I added to my previous statement, internally cussing myself out for what I'm currently fucking saying.

But it's too late to backtrack.

Or at least it feels too late.

Fuck.

Mazin suddenly took a step to the side, motioning her head to the doors for me to go, "I think I want Dove too then," she mumbled, but I could hear the reluctance in her tone.

Or maybe I wanted to.

Even after all these years, I wanted to imagine she would just take it all back and it would be okay.

But there's just too much here.

I can't move past it.

I suddenly let out a deep sigh, shaking my head as I walked past her—clicking the elevator button to open the shiny doors again.

And once they were wide enough open, I slid right through them—walking out into the parking garage and leaving Mazin completely alone.

Somehow that conversation still went a hundred times better than I expected.

Yet also worse at the same time.

I still remember our worst disagreement years ago. 

We never had anything beyond small disagreements, but one time in sophomore year she genuinely upset me.

Mostly because we had made plans together—plans that I set up for specifically.

We were going to have a movie marathon consisting of all our favorite childhood movies.

But Mazin never made it that night.

I learned how to make sushi for her and I even baked her favorite funfett cupcakes.

A recipe that I had to get from Lena.

Luckily, my dad ended up eating it all with me and watching the different movies I picked out.

But it didn't soften the blow of Mazin's forgetfulness.

It was her apology that somehow made up for it all.

Or maybe I just wanted to forgive her.

❅Eight Years Ago❅

"Come on, we could go to that one library," Nelli said, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

I shook my head, "You've already dragged me to numerous stores—I'm ready to go home and never get out of bed," I said as we walked through the hotel lobby.

It was already bad enough that Mazin didn't make it to school today.

She doesn't even care about the effort I put in last night.

She probably doesn't even recall the plans she missed in the first place.

It always feels like I care more than she does.

"I'm trying to save you from your own self-pity," Nelli tried to convince me as she walked beside me toward the wall of elevators.

I shrugged, "I don't need saving," I determined, pressing the button for the elevator.

Which dinged open immediately.

And suddenly, Nelli's rambling managed to grow, trying to convince me to be anywhere but my room.

Which I found odd over halfway through the elevator ride.

"Why don't you want me to be here?" I questioned, defensively crossing my arms over my chest.

"I just—I want to hang out," Nelli quickly said, blinking a few times as she stumbled over her words.

I furrowed my brows, "You can join my pity party then," I said as the elevator doors dinged open.

And as soon as I turned away from Nelli to walk off, my lips naturally parted—eyeing the boxes of white tulips lining the hallway to the front door.

I raised a skeptical brow, "Nelli," I said, turning around to the elevator.

But she was already waving me bye with her usual smile, pressing the button to close the doors before I could say anything else.

I stood there for a moment.

A few moments actually.

Until I hesitantly turned around, feeling my stomach tie in nervous knots.

Mostly because I have a feeling Mazin is behind this.

And... that makes me feel nervous.

Any gesture she does has that effect on me.

I drew in a deep breath as soon as I made it to the front door.

Which was already unlocked for me.

I hesitantly pushed the door open slightly, peeking my head through first.

Almost immediately, I spotted Tahir by the oven, pulling a dish out. 

Then there was Omara sitting on the counter as she kicked her feet back and forth.

And further down was Mazin, entirely focused on plating something.

Instead of her usual Claremont uniform with khakis, she wore a dark grey shirt that clung to her toned stomach and a pair of baggy sweatpants.

Her long blonde hair was slicked back out of her bare face—which held a focused expression.

I glanced over to Lena and Tazmin who sat at the counter—also noticing my dad was off on the balcony handling a phone call.

"Oh no," Omara suddenly said, her green eyes locked precisely on me.

And suddenly I wanted to close the door back and pretend I never saw anything.

I'm not good with big gestures.

"You aren't supposed to be here yet," Mazin sighed, glancing up from the plate in defeat.

"I can—I'll leave," I suggested, furrowing my brows as I thought about where I would go in the meantime.

"This is your house," Tahir laughed, turning around from the oven he turned off.

"We'll go," Lena suddenly said, glancing between Tahir and Omara with a knowing look, "Right guys?"

Omara immediately nodded, "Mom promised me a new pair of shoes for helping," she said, sliding down from the counter to walk over to Tazmin.

Who awkwardly pursed her lips when Lena gave her a narrowed look.

"Then I should get something too," Tahir determined as he rounded the counter, walking with them toward the door I still stood at.

"Just get out guys," Mazin rushed them as she walked behind them, "And thank you," she quickly added when Lena managed to raise a brow at her.

"You're welcome," Tahir said as Omara nodded a few times, walking past me.

But not without Tahir lightly hitting my arm and running down the hallway—easily making Omara laugh a few times as she followed behind him.

"Have fun, Mazi," Lena said, hugging her and then briefly hugging me, "I hope you like it," she told me before following Tahir and Omara to the elevators.

"Call us if you need anything," Tazmin emphasized as she briefly hugged Mazin and then me.

And once Tazmin and Mazin exchanged a few hushed words, Tazmin walked past me—flashing me her usual smile as she closed the door behind her.

Which left me awkwardly standing in front of Mazin, unsure of what to say.

But it seems she already knew—given she grabbed my hand and immediately pulled me over to the kitchen.

"Nelli was supposed to distract you for longer so I could set this up better," Mazin went to say, walking us over to the stove, "But I made your favorite spaghetti," she said, motioning to the pan of baked pasta.

Which had the perfect amount of cheese melted over it.

"I also combined our favorite cakes to make strawberry funfetti cake with cream cheese frosting," Mazin said, motioning over to the mini-cake.

Which was delicately iced with frosting.

I bet Omara did that one.

"And then your dad said you made sushi, so I attempted to make it for you too," Mazin explained, gently pulling me over to the plate of sushi that she had been previously plating.

And her attempt looked... very attempted to say the least.

The roll itself barely held any of the contents and the rice looked like it was falling off.

But it was cute.

Her attempt was cute.

And the look on her face right now is almost priceless.

I've never seen her eyes so big with anticipation.

"So do you like it?" Mazin asked, eyeing my face almost anxiously, "You kind of aren't saying anything, Virelai."

I felt my lips unconsciously twitch up, glancing back over to the sushi she made.

Before a laugh fell from my lips, shaking my head a few times.

"Mazin this—this..." I trailed off, laughing again as I attempted to pick the sushi up.

"It's bad I know," Mazin said, smiling as she eyed my face.

I nodded a few times, "So bad—really bad," I whispered, leaning into her when I couldn't help but laugh again.

Which inevitably made Mazin laugh with me, "I swear it's the hardest thing ever," she breathed out, eyeing the five sushi rolls, "And it took me hours."

I shook my head, feeling my smile grow, "Good, now you see how I felt," I determined, feeling satisfied that she had worked just as hard as me, if not more.

"But you at least showed up to see what I made," Mazin pointed out as her beautiful smile slowly faded away, "I had lacrosse practice and then I had that mandatory dinner with the team—I completely forgot about our plans."

I pursed my lips slightly, feeling her hand softly tighten around mine.

She feels really bad.

I see it on her face.

"Our plans were made weeks ago—it's fine really," I quickly assured her, hating the frown that grew on her lips.

Mazin furrowed her brows, "But your dad said you were really upset—"

"He was being dramatic so you would feel bad," I quickly cut her short, gently squeezing her hand back for reassurance.

"I'm still really sorry," Mazin told me, her tone nothing but genuine with me.

"It's okay, this definitely makes up for it," I told her, glancing around at the different things she made.

"I'll never forget our plans again," Mazin said, sighing as she pulled me into a brief hug.

"I would appreciate that very much," I said as we naturally pulled back from the hug.

And even if her arms had wrapped strictly around my upper back, it always managed to make my heart shoot up in my chest—nearly losing my breath for a moment.

"I also like what you did," I added, hoping she knew I appreciated her effort.

"Even the sushi?" Mazin asked, smiling slightly as she tilted her head at me.

I laughed slightly, "Even the sushi," I said, walking away from her to prepare our bowls of spaghetti, "Does this mean I can call you a flake now?"

Mazin dramatically scoffed, "No it does not, Virelai," she said, stopping beside me at the stove as I grabbed a large spoon to cut into the spaghetti. 

I smiled slightly, "Mazin the Flake has a ring to it," I told her as I scooped some of the spaghetti into the bowl.

"If you call me that, then I'll really start flaking," she told me, taking the bowl from me so I could make us another.

"No fun," I mumbled as I made the next bowl of spaghetti.

"Too fun for you," Mazin countered back.

❅❅❅❅❅❅

I pursed my lips as I grabbed one of the bottles of wine from my wine fridge.

Immediately pouring myself a large glass of the deep red liquid.

And then pouring a second glass for my best friend who should be here any minute.

Hopefully, she can help distract me away from my thoughts.

I've officially finished lesson planning and even checked over the hotel-related business to ensure everything is in check.

Now I'm left with nothing.

No distractions from the conversation I had in that elevator.

Now that I've replayed it hundreds of times in my head, I've decided that it went as worse as it possibly could've.

Maybe I should've just agreed to move past it. 

We could've found a way to be cordial. 

Just not best friends again. 

Now I'll be forced to see a lot more of Dani.

And probably Mazin and Dove. 

Great.