~Headed For a Dead End~

The car slowed to a stop in front of her house after they drove past security. An aged man in a security uniform flagged the car down when he saw Dolores leaning to the side with her eyes closed. As he peered closer into the car, he changed his motives when he saw his young mistress stir awake. Sending his kind regards, he let them through the gate and went back to keeping to his duties.

"The sleeping beauty finally wakes up." Simeon crooned when Dolores' sat up with a yawn.

She frowned at him. "What? The drive felt like forever. I don't know if it's just me but you drive like an old lady."

"Hey! Take that back and say your thank you properly. I drove that way on purpose so you wouldn't rouse too early." He defended, feeling a bit hurt.

She rolled her eyes at him. Who knew he was this dramatic? "Don't act like such a baby . Anyway, thank you for driving me home. I'll ask someone to take you back to school so you can take your car and leave for your house as well."

He stepped out of the car at the same time she did, then tossed her the keys. "Nevermind about that. I'll just take the bus to school."

"That'll be bothersome. We both know how late the bus arrives at the bus stop and I don't want you coming back here to get me when it's night. Allow me, okay?" She locked up the car, ambling over to stand in front of him. "You also look too haggard to take the bus alone. You might be mistaken for a homeless kid while you're in the bus."

"What was that for? You know what, I'll just head on alone and show you that I'm no sissy. Bye-bye, Dolores." He muttered, walking away from her with shoulders that dropped as he went.

She laughed at his behavior. "What a stubborn kid." There was a vibration from her bag which dragged her eyes away from Simeon's departing frame. Rummaging quickly through her bag, she found her phone. It was Adelina. "Hey."

"You leave for your house and you didn't think to inform me? What did I ever do wrong to you?" Her tone of accusation filtered through the phone.

Anger spiked in Dolores but she taped it under control and replied in the most controlled tone she could manage. "I'm so sorry about that. I and Simeon came home together since you were too busy to."

There was a scoff from the angry caller. "When was I ever too busy for you? It doesn't matter what I was doing but it's not a valid excuse for us not to go home together. Ever since Simeon came along, you've practically stopped hanging out with me altogether and are now stuck by the hip with him. You don't even talk or hang out with Nicolas as you used to. What sort of a friend are you? We can't even share secrets because you prefer to solve issues by yourself or tell Simeon and forget that you have me close by to help. What is the matter?"

Dolores counted to twenty patiently to ease the swirling anger within before she did something regrettable. "Did you just say I stopped talking to you? Lina, can you remember the last time we had a girl's night at any of our houses? Can you think of a time where both of us sat down like we used to and really, really converse? Was there any time you came to me and I flipped you off for no reason?"

"Yes, I--"

"You have no right to tell me all of this since they're what you do the most. You have a boyfriend? That's great! So you stop hanging out often with your best friend because you think she's so boring, antisocial and outdated. I try to tell you things but you wave me off before I even start. We're talking in the hallway or on the phone but when Grayson shows up, you walk away with him or put my call on hold. Do I matter so little to you?" If anything, she was truly heartbroken and her eyes were opened to see what was indeed playing out before her. Signs she had tried to ignore.

"But I--"

"Now you hold it right there. I knew there was something wrong with us. I just didn't know what it was exactly. I've talked to myself in my room before my mirror, tried to think if there was anytime I've been ignoring you and I see nothing." She fired at her best friend or soon to be ex, since everyone was letting go of what they shared so easily.

"It's not just about me. What about Nicolas? I haven't seen you both talk to each other since this week began. You need friends, Dolores. You can't continue acting like you can solve it all when you are struggling with your problems. I'm sure if you were open with Nicolas, you'll know that he's always ready to listen to you."

Dolores laughed uncontrollably, wiping at the sides of her eyes as she did so. They weren't tears of amusement but that of pains deeply impaled in her heart. "If you tried to listen to me talk, maybe you'd have noticed that he's been the one avoiding me the past few days. If you were next to me times when I need you to, you'd understand that it's been Nicolas who's keeping things away from me. But you only care about your selfish self and your stupid boyfriend."

There was a loud gasp from the other end of the line. "Now, take that back. Grayson isn't stupid."

Dolores rolled her eyes so far they almost went back into her head. "Fine, he isn't stupid but he's the dumbest son of a cow I've ever met and you know what, I'm ending this call right now."

"Whatever! Do what you want. It's what you have always done anyway." The call ended with a click.

Mustering all self control, she battled not to smash her phone to the ground and curse loudly. Having been raised to exceed that state of destructive anger, she ignored the need to because at the end, she would be the one at a greater loss. Instead, she marched up into the house and she right into her father's office where he was making a call.

He took one look at her face and his demeanour soured. "Twenty minutes, Eleanor. I'll be right back. Yeah, it's Dolores." He put the phone down after that, rushing quickly to meet her. "What happened amor?"

Dolores couldn't help the hot gush of tears that streamed down her face with each passing second. She didn't trust herself to utter a word. He wouldn't be able to comprehend the gibberish that would spill out of her mouth if she tried to speak.

Damian led her to the couch nearby then quickly moved to grab her a glass of cold water. He was very alarmed, if not by the way she stormed into his office abruptly, by her tears. Her tears was the highest level of her vulnerability and anyone she did it in front of, meant more than the entire world to her. After he passed her the glass of water, he sat down opposite her, allowing her a moment to regain her composure.

Taking a small sip, Dolores dropped the glass on a table next to her, wiped her face and looked her father square in the eyes. "It seems Nicolas and I are headed for a dead end."

Damian scooted to the edge of his seat, his forehead wrinkling in worry. "Why? I thought you both were doing fine last week. You guys didn't fight over anything, right?"

She shook her head. "No, we didn't. He's been avoiding me and never returned any of my calls. If he picked them, he found one excuse or the other to end the call and never bothered calling after that. One time last week when we were talking, he sudden asked me if I'd found a date to prom. I thought the question was very startling."

He couldn't wrap his head around anything she was saying yet. "He asked you that? Honey, maybe it could be he wants you to ask him formally."

Dolores looked at him, face emotionless. "You think I didn't think that too? Well, I did. But that's not what he meant. This week we were supposed to plan our matching outfits for prom tomorrow. Unsurprisingly, he didn't show up and just right after school in the parking lot, I saw him usher another girl in his car."

"Are you sure that wasn't his relative or sister?" Damian asked with a hand to his chin in thought.

"That wasn't because his sister's missing-- I mean, spending time with a friend." She smartly tried to backtrack but it was a futile attempt. He had noticed. His eyes narrowed down in suspicion.

"What are you not telling me?"

She sighed in resignation. "It's just-- she isn't missing per say. She is spending this week and probably next at the house of her best friend so we just casually refer her to as missing."

"You're sure that's what it's about?"

"Trust me, dad. That's all it is." Her mind raced with endless possibilities of what might happen if he ever found out the truth. Would be send her off to some other state or ground her for the rest of her short span on earth?

He nodded, feeling quite unsure. "Okay. So what about Nicolas?"

"He's nothing but a major jerk. I tried to wave when I saw him and instead of waving back or coming to explain why he couldn't make it, he just walked into his like I wasn't standing there. God, it was so embarassing. I almost begged the ground to open up and swallow me whole."

Damian leaned back into his seat, pondering on the revelation. He was a man who'd gone through those adolescent phases and therefore was highly knowledgeable on meagre issues such as these. "Who else was with you? What did you notice when he ignored you?"

"Carlos was the one who pointed out where Nicolas was. As for Nicolas, I did notice that after I waved at him, he kept on staring at me as though unseeing. It was as though he was looking at something else..." She paused mid sentence with her eyes wide as another possibility occured to her. "Hold up! He was looking in my direction still, not at me but somewhere behind me."

"And who was behind you?"

She clapped her hands suddenly. "Carlos! He was looking at Carlos cos he was the one behind me. I mean, what if Carlos was the one who put him up to this? They both used to be friends." Master and slave rather.

Damian let a small smile creep to his face. "That settles it. Still, I think the both of you need to talk about everything that's been happening. You can do that tomorrow, can't you?"

She nodded, grabbing her bag and placing it over her shoulder. "I think so. Thanks Dad." She wrapped her arms around him in appreciation before stepping out of his hold.

~~~{•}~~~

Sorry I haven't been so consistent. Can you take this chapter as a peace offering from me? *Cues waterworks*

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~~Chignature~~