Achieving Unbroken
Chapter Forty Five

—

"And all the kings horses and all the kings men,
Couldn't put me together again
'Cause all of my enemies started out friends"
The Archer | Taylor Swift

—

Lilla
[Wednesday, August 4th, 2018]

Allison: Hey Lil. You're probably busy but if you're not, could we just meet for coffee? I really would like to talk to you.

Fuck. How did I forget about this? I still kind of want to hear her out.

But I can't let her know that so easily.

Me: What about Piper? You wanted to talk to her, too.

Allison: She's busy, her and I are going to meet tomorrow.

Allison: Please, Lilla.

Me: ... I have dinner plans, so don't think this is gonna turn into a girls day.

Allison: I don't expect anything. I'm just asking for a cup of coffee.

Me: I'll see you at 1. Usual Starbucks.

"Okay," I say to myself, glancing down at my pajamas and thinking about how bad my morning breath probably smells. Pushing off on my arms, I stand up from my seated position on my bed.

I quickly go through my closet to find something to wear; coming up with a crop top and high waisted sweat pants. I spend a little over 30 minutes in my bathroom tying my hair into a topknot, brushing my teeth, washing my face, and applying a layer of eyeliner and many layers of mascara.

The clock now says 12:48, which is perfect timing, because it takes me about ten minutes to reach the Starbucks that Allison and I are meeting at. Grabbing my purse, I walk out the door, planning on being back before my dad gets back from his appointment with a client.

Ally is already there when I get to the coffee shop, just sitting at a table, no coffee. Her gaze lifts from her lap and lands on me.

"Hey, Lilla," she says quietly.

"Hi Allison."

"I hope you don't mind, I ordered your coffee for you. Your order hasn't changed, right?"

Taken aback, I shake my head.

"Nope. It's the same."

We sit in tense silence for the next few moments, until the barista calls her name. Allison scoots her chair back, but I put my hand up, indicating for to not get up. Instead, I do; bringing her her coffee before getting mine and preparing it how I like. If Allison ordered her usual too, she doesn't need to prepare it.

If she was kind enough to order my coffee, I could at least bring her her own.

"Thanks, Lil."

"Yeah. How much do I owe you?" I sit down across from her, and take a long sip from my drink. Ally shakes her head back and forth and shakes her hand in a careless gesture, insinuating that coffee's on her. "Thanks. So. You wanted to talk. Talk."

She follows my action and takes a swig of her coffee before starting.

"God, Lilla, I was so stupid. At first, I thought that it was Jason's fault, that he was emotional and temperamental because that was all the rest of us had seen of him over the past year. But then Shayla and Bianca started hanging around Charlie and his crew, and it was just... Terrible. Not only is Charlie the asshole of the century, but Bi and Shay would almost throw themselves at him, fawning over him like he's a king.

"It's so weird, because there is next to nothing redeeming about him, and I've actually wondered if he's blackmailing them or something Gossip Girl like that because they seem so into him. He acts so full of himself and I have no idea why, and he's made comments about Jason..."

She trails off, like there is more, but she stops herself; looking off into the distance and taking a sip of her coffee.

"Comments about Jason? And what?"

A heavy sigh leaves her lips.

"And about you, Lilla."

"What did they—"

"I don't want to—"

"What did they say?" I push harder. Relenting, she almost growls.

"Just stuff about what a, and I quote, 'stubborn bitch' you are, standing up for Oakland because you probably just wanna get with him, being a 'freak' just like him."

I'm about to storm from this table and track them all down to pound their faces in, but Allison continues talking, probably sensing my aggressive urges.

"I swear on your grandma's life, Lil, I vocally disagreed with everything they said. I left the room every time they were shit talking, and it got old so fast. I was so wrong about everything, and I'm so, so sorry."

"You understand where I'm coming from?"

"Then? No. The last few months? Yes. I learned my mistake, and I really want to make amends with you, Piper, and Jason."

I blink in surprise.

"Jason? You two weren't fighting, unless I'm missing something."

"No, but I insulted him by believing that he was a more angry, violence-driven person than he really is. That was a poor impression, and I want to apologize for assuming such a thing about him, and defending such a dick, before actually getting to know him."

A more angry, violence-driven person than he really is...

Violence-driven...

"Jason punched Dad..."

"That would be really cool, Ally." I force a smile, and she gives me a real one when I call her Ally.

Can people quit saying negative things about Jason? Loose cannon. Ticking time bomb.

And now, he's violence-driven.

"Lilla? Lilla?" Allison asks, waving her hand in front of my face. "Did you hear me?"

I shake my head, apologizing.

"Sorry, I spaced out. What did you say?"

"I asked if we could hang out again soon. I don't know if that's too fast for you or anything, but I really missed having you and Pip around."

"We've missed having you around, too. The three of us should do something." I pause. "I think I already know the answer to this, but are you and Shay still 'thinging'?"

Allison waves it off.

"God, no. She became significantly less attractive when she started being a petty bitch. Plus, it already wasn't really going anywhere, I think that extra push was needed, though. Are you still hanging out with Maxwell?"

Allison lifts the cup to her lips to take a drink, and suddenly, I feel like she's back. Like we're just two teenage girls gossiping in a Starbucks, and not formerly-feuding friends.

"Nope. I ended that before the school year was over. He was expecting more, you know? But he didn't really ever tell me until he started acting jealous about Jason and I hanging out."

"Well, did he have a reason to get jealous about you and Jason hanging out?" She prompts. I shake my head lightly and shrug my shoulders, face contorting into an "eh" face.

"No," I try, but unfortunately, Allison has known me for too long.

"You know, for an actress, you can be a real shitty liar."

"I lie when it's important."

"Your relationship with Max wasn't important?"

"In the grand scheme of things, not really. I have other priorities, and it's not like he's all torn up about it. There's other girls."

"But he liked you."

Taking another long drink from my cup, I shrug with a mouthful of coffee.

"But not in the same way I liked him. It happens all the time. I feel bad, but it is what it is."

Pondering this, Allison plays with the straw of her drink.

"Do you like Jason in the way that Max liked you?"

"God, you're hitting the hard questions."

"I've been out of the loop for months. I need all of the updates."

I take a deep breath.

"I'm kinda on the fence. Acceptable answer for now?" Playfully, she rolls her eyes.

"I guess."

"Great. Can we change the subject? I'm dying to know how your psych grade came out."

Honestly, I wasn't on the fence about Jason. I was pretty damn sure that I had feelings for him, the romantic kind, the strong kind. But there's nothing I can do about them right now, and no way in hell am I letting this information be in the hands of anybody but myself.