Chapter 19: Midnight Heartbreak

  Lily stood gathering her breath outside Eve’s bedroom door, dressed in her pyjamas and slippers. This was it, the threshold of the point of no return. If she turned back and went to bed now, nothing would have to change.

  No, no more secrets, Lily couldn’t suppress the emotions that had been bubbling up inside her any longer. One silver lining was that she was confident that even if her feelings weren’t reciprocated, odds were good Eve wouldn’t abandon their friendship either.

  Or so Lily hoped, there was still that little doubt of ‘what if’ rattling at the back of her mind.

  Even if the revelation didn’t destroy their friendship, it very well might alter it, would Eve look at Lily the same way once she knew? Only one way to find out.

  “Eve, I know it’s super late, but need to tell you something, and... it’s really important.”. Lily gave a small knock on Eve’s bedroom door.

  Only for it to swing open, revealing Eve’s bedroom was empty. The covers were still neatly pulled over, indicating to Lily that Eve’s bed hadn’t been slept in.

  Lily ran to the bathroom to check if Eve was there. The bathroom door was wide open, revealing itself to be as vacant as Eve’s bedroom had been.

  Just as Lily began to rush towards the kitchen to check if her friend was having a midnight snack, she heard the click of a door gently shutting.

  Lily entered the kitchen just in time to see Eve passing by the window, having left the house via the front door. She was absolutely baffled, where could Eve possibly be going at this time of night?

  Lily felt a lump form in her throat as an uncomfortable possibility crossed her mind. What if Eve was sneaking out to meet a guy?

  Was that possible? Why else would a girl Eve’s age be sneaking out so late? If it was a guy who was he? A volley of questions flooded Lily’s head within seconds.

  Before her mind even had a moment to settle, Lily raced out the front door, not even taking the time to pull on a coat. There Lily was, following Eve, through the night, dressed in nothing but her pyjamas and slippers.

  She hung back, just enough so Eve wouldn’t spot her, but close enough so she wouldn’t lose her as they made their way across the dimly lit streets. As she trailed her friend, she recognised the route. Eve was heading towards their college.

  Eve for her part, remained oblivious to Lily’s presence, believing her friend was safely tucked up in her bed. She checked her watch, muttering, “damn I’m gonna be late.”

  Hearing this, Lily wondered what Eve was about to be late for... a midnight date perhaps? Her heart was pounding so hard that it might burst. If Eve was seeing someone, that may mean Lily had taken too long and missed the chance to make her confession.

  Would Lily be forced to continue to suppress her feelings. Now forced to watch someone else get to be with the person she loved most? Would Eve drift away from her? Lily was spiralling, her mind becoming lost in a myriad of a million catastrophic simulated scenarios.

  Overhead, Lily spotted a large billboard sporting the image of a muscular Adonis. He was wrestling a bear while holding a can of drink that read “Chad Energy”.

  Wasn’t that the celebrity Eve had a crush on? Chad... something... what if Eve was meeting him, or at least someone like him?

  This threw Lily’s imagination into overdrive. Eve being walked down the aisle to marry this masculine stud. Lily beside her as maid of honour, biting her lip as the vicar asked if anyone objected to the marriage. Her soul screaming in silence as she watched the love of her life heading off with her new husband for her honeymoon. Ultimately leaving Lily alone.

  Lily snapped back to reality as Eve stopped, just across the road from their college, at the abandoned construction site.

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  Lily vaguely remembered reading this land was meant to be developed into a high-rise tower block, but protests seemed to have halted those plans indefinitely, not long before construction had been due to start. What was Eve doing coming to a place like this in the dead of night?

  Crouching behind some bushes so she wouldn’t be spotted as Eve made her way inside, Lily watched her friend through the chain-link fence. Soon, she would have the answers to her questions.

  “Sorry I’m late!” Eve yelled out into the seemingly empty construction site, “ready for another round?”

  “Another round!” Lily bit her lip nervously. “Is she talking about a make out session?”

  The darkness shrouding the site was suddenly pierced by the illuminating beam of headlights.

  Lily’s eyes went wide. She let out a quiet gasp which she quickly held back by covering her mouth with her hand.

  She’d immediately recognised the vehicle those headlights belonged to as it emerged from wherever it had been lurking.

  It was that truck! The same one that had been trying to run Eve down mere weeks ago. What the hell was it doing here?

  Eve, stood in the middle of the yard, didn’t flinch, staring the truck down. Meanwhile neither of the girls could hear Wheeler and Abeona bickering inside.

  “I’ve got a good feeling about tonight.” Abeona crowed. “Tonight will be the night we finally get her.”

  “You said that last night.” Wheeler sighed, his engine emitting a low rumble of frustration. “And the night before that, and the night before that, and the night before...”

  “Nothing wrong with trying to be positive.” Abeona interrupted. “You should try it sometime.”

  “HEY!” Eve unable to hear the conversation between the two, was tapping her foot and tapping her watch. “Are we going to start tonight’s training session or what?”

  “Overhearing this, Lily’s own emotions began to shift. The black overcast cloud that had hung over her on the way here, was swiftly beginning to turn red.

  “Training?” she whispered, clenching her fists, “Don’t tell me...”

  Lily teetered on the precipice between fury and fear as the truck sprung to life, racing towards Eve. Lily could barely watch covering her eyes yet peering through her fingers as the truck raced towards Eve.

  Eve, acting as if she’d done this dance many times before, which she had, calmly attempted to sidestep the truck.

  Wheeler however, still had a few new moves stored in his semi trailer. As he approached where Eve was standing, instead of continuing onward, he broke hard and swerved. This caused his semi trailer to swing towards Eve.

  As he swung around, Wheeler’s rear clipped a few of the barrels that had been sat nearby, sending them crashing to the floor and spilling there contents everywhere.

  The barrels had contained some kind of oil or lubricant which coated the ground, making it slippery. Eve used this to her advantage, sliding underneath the swinging semi-trailer while narrowly staying clear of the truck’s wheels.

  She emerged on the other side in one slick movement. As the truck skidded off on its oil covered tires, Eve held her arms up in triumph aa she came to a stop while kneeling on the ground. “Nice try but you missed again.” Eve jeered.

  Looking across the junkyard, Eve then noticed the sudden and wholly unexpected appearance of her friend Lily, standing still in shock at what she had just witnessed.

  “Really?” The cocky, dodging obsessed girl scoffed. “Trying to trick me with an illusion of my friend now? Sorry but I’m not falling for another one of you cheap illusions again.”

  The ‘illusion’ began to shake uncontrollably before storming up to Eve.

  “YOU IDIOT!” Lily exploded as she drew face to face with Eve, causing her friend to stumble back in shock.

  “Lily... you’re really here?” Eve began prodding Lily, trying to confirm she wasn’t seeing things

  “YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT I’M REAL, AND YOU ARE IN REAL TROUBLE! CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO ME EXACTLY WHAT THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?”

  Eve was taken aback, she had never in her life seen Lily this severely pissed off before. “Now.. I know this looks bad...”

  “Looks bad?” Lily gave a hollow laugh of disbelief. “Looks bad? Eve do you have any idea how dangerous what you just did is?” She gestured around at the freshly scattered oil drums, whose contents was now splattered across the construction site floor, to emphasise her point.

  Eve held up her hands, attempting to shield herself. “You’re right, this is dangerous. That’s why you shouldn’t be here, it’s not safe for you.”

  “But it’s safe for you?” Lily scoffed

  “Look I’ve been doing this for a few weeks now, I’ve got this all under control.”

  “A FEW WEEKS?!” Lily exploded once again.

  “I probably shouldn’t have just admitted that should I?” Eve began poking her foot at the ground unable to look Lily in the eye. She was acting like a naughty child, who had just been caught with it’s hands in the cookie jar.

  As the argument raged on, Wheeler and Abeona simply watched the pair from a distance. “We’d better stay back for now.” Wheeler reasoned. “We don’t want to accidentally hit her friend.”

  “Yeah” Abeona agreed, “Plus this is too juicy to interrupt, it’s like a soap opera.”

  Wheeler could hear familiar crunching noise over Abeona’s communication channel. “Are you eating popcorn again?”

  “Mmmm butterscotch” Abeona mumbled between mouthfuls. “Now hush, I can’t hear what they are saying.”

  Wheeler and Abeona for now continued to observe the ongoing confrontation between the two friends, which was becoming more intense by the second.