"Where do you want to study? Here or in your room upstairs?" Lily asked, wiping her brow from sweat. She hung her bag, which looked quite heavy for a Saturday, and looked at me expectantly after walking past me from the front door.

I rolled my eyes at her. She was the same dominant when it came to studies. Whatever she had in mind, she had to do it before she could turn it down for her own reasons.

Nick and James had bailed on us and we had decided to get going with the studies at my place.

"No, how are you? Or how's your leg?" I asked, folding my hands across my chest. "So much for being a best friend."

She gave a weak smile. "I saw you yesterday, Scar." she said. "I know when you are in pain and when you are not."

I did not believe her. If she knew my pain, then she would have been here with a vodka bottle a week ago, nursing my wounded heart, swearing on her life that she would make the kill if necessary. But when I saw her standing at the bottom of my stairs, waiting for me to tell her where would be a good place for us to study, I knew she knew no shit.

"And I also want to talk to you." She added, when I didn't make an attempt to give her answers. "But that will be after we study. So, lead the way, Miss."

We both chose my bedroom for the study session, since we were both very comfortable there. We spread our books on the bed and sprawled across each other. Soon, we were both debating about the ions and atoms that revolved around us, yet so big and confusing.

"Not bad Scar," Lily said, closing her books. "I was starting to think that your brain was shrinking day by day."

I heaved a sigh and fell on the bed, my back hitting the soft mattress. I was too tired to answer anything witty back at her. Four hours of study had drained my energy. It was half past noon and we both were starving and too weary to cook anything. So we ordered pizza.

"What did you want to talk about?" We munched on the cheesy garlic pizza and stretched our legs on the coffee table in the hall. "You said we would after study."

"Yes." She said, dabbing her mouth with a tissue. She took a big gulp from the coke and redid her hair.

I took a seat on the floor and supported my elbow on the table, looking directly at her. Her long earring had wiped away her blond strands and was stuck. Lily took her sweet time in getting her hairs back in position.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, not able to understand why she was taking it so long to tell me what the issue was. I mean, her confession about her love to James was not this dramatic. "James and you had a fight?"

"What?" she said and a minute later she started to laugh at my idea. "No Scar, we did not have a fight. He's too scared to lose if we start one."

I chuckled at that. It was true.

"How are you?" She asked a while later, the laughter forgotten.

She had a straight face and her eyes held something that I couldn't decipher. For a moment, she looked like a psychiatrist holding her elbows far apart and resting her chin on top of her enclosed fingers while I was at the ground looking at her thinking if there was something wrong with me.

"Um," I said, clearly confused as to how to answer that simple question. Though my mind said that it was a plain query and all the answer it required was ready made - I'm fine thank you - I couldn't tell her when she looked at me in the eye. "My leg still hurts when I walk, but I should fine."

"You and I both know we are not talking about the leg." She said, her head tilted to her right. Her voice was so soft as if she was talking to a baby. "Ever since Nick came clean, I don't see the Scarlet I knew anymore."

I heaved a sigh and put my head in my hands. Had I been that obvious? Heck, she was the one to tell me that she knew I liked Nick for a long time. It would have been a miracle if she hadn't picked this up till now.

"Scarlet, it's okay." Lily placed her hand on top of mine in a soothing gesture. "You can tell me and we can both figure it out together."

"I still love him." I whispered, my head hung low in shame. "I can't be around him when he tells me he doesn't love me back."

"Scarlet," She sighed. "I understand it's very difficult for you, but I can't see you like this."

I took a deep breath and smiled at her. "I'm sure I'll get over it."

That was what I said to myself over and over again so that it sat in my head and never planned to elope. I wanted to be strong, not for anyone else but for me. To be able to look at things in a different perspective that there would be nothing to heal anymore.

"Do you want me to talk with him?" She asked me after a second. She looked at me as if I was in a coma, trying desperately to breath the fresh air again. I could tell that she wanted to help me be myself and she looked like she could do anything to make that happen.

"And tell him what?" I asked her with a bored expression. "That I am suffering from him? Every time he puts his arm around me, I flinch? Each small peck on the cheek that means nothing to him brings rainbow dancing in front of me? Or do you want to say that I can't stand him anymore because I love him still?"

Lily sighed and fell on the couch, not knowing how to answer the questions that was thrown at her. "How do you deal this, Scar?" She asked, looking at the beige ceiling that was once white. "You almost seem normal if I don't look closer. But deep down I know you are suffering."

Lily turned on her stomach and supported her face by her hand. She tilted her head towards me and gave me a small smile. "I could help you stay away from Nick." She said. "You know, at least for a little while till you be okay."

I chuckled at that.

"What's so funny?" she asked, knitting her eye brows together.

"Robert said the same thing too." I said. "He was the one who proposed the idea of him driving me around in my car till my leg heals."

"Wait." She sat up straight and pointed her index finger at me accusingly. "You have a car? Like your own? And when did you change your BFF?"

"Um... it's... um..." I stuttered.

"Don't tell me it's that blue one?" She suspected. When I didn't correct her and stayed silent, she had got her answer that she was looking for. "God, Scarlet! I thought it was his car and was driving you like the other time."

I put my head low. Lily was smarter than anyone can give credit for. She was already working out the facts and details coming to a conclusion.

"It's a BMW." I supplied in a whisper. Before Lily could think that Robert was smart enough to make a BMW himself, I added things just to clear things up. "I won it in that race I had been to."

She leaned her head back on the couch and closed her eyes, trying to take it all in. I knew it was difficult. I wondered if I looked this out of place and troubled when I learnt about the whole racing agenda for the first time. When Lily finally took a breather and looked at me, she looked as if she wanted to puke.

"I read about this in the paper few days ago." She muttered.

Paper? That meant, Calvin was right. There was supposed to be an interview that day which I had escaped narrowly. When I thought about it now, I think that it was done mainly to avoid any public name and a face to the facts.

"I didn't realize that it might be you. They hadn't mentioned your name or anything, just some race and someone had won a BMW." she went on.

"Oh," I said, relieved that my name or my race name for instance was not mentioned anywhere. I wanted to know what else was written on it and if it was written why didn't Dan or Rob or Calvin mention anything about it? "What else was there?"

"Are you kidding me right now?" Lily asked, her nose flaring with anger.

Lily stood up abruptly and started moving back and forth in the tiny hall of mine, breathing fire. She always did that when she was worked up.

"I can't believe that I came here for you while you are keeping secrets from me!" She almost screamed, pulling her blond hair at the ends. I was scared if the hairs would come out any minute. "Speak up now before I strangle you to death!"

I heaved a long sigh trying to gain some time. Lily was looking at me ready to split me into two and throw me on the beach so that no one could find me. 

It was then I told her everything. The race, the party, the drinks, the night over, everything. "With everything that was happening, I just lost the whole idea of telling you." I said, leaning my head on the coffee table, my hair covered my face in shame. "I'm sorry Lily, I really am."

There was silence for a long period of time and I thought, with all the information that Lily had come across, she had left even when there was no sound of the front door open and close. I slowly lifted my head up to see what was happening. Lily was just smiling at me, with her big blue eyes teasing me.

"What?" I asked.

"So you... you know, spent a night with him?" She asked, taking a seat back. She put her hair behind her ears, away from her eyes, as if she would miss some of my emotions if she didn't. Her eyes twinkled with the new information she had discovered and seemed to chew on it till the aftertaste.

"What the hell!" I shouted at her, more in embarrassment than in shock. "I didn't. I just crashed in the party and he took me to his place. Nothing happened. He slept on his couch."

"Okay," She said, laughing loudly. "What about your car?"

"Rob has it now." I said. "He's going to take care of it until my leg gets healed."

"Hmm." Lily hummed, thinking. Her face was scrunched up like she was solving a mystery puzzle. Her eye brows knit together in confusion while her fingers tapped on the couch's arm rest. "But why is it not here? In your garage? Does that mean he has full authority on the car until you are able to?"

I had not thought about that at all. I could have asked him to keep the car in the garage while he took me out on his car. But then again, with Tom Cruise on spree in our school campus, Maria was too old fashioned to keep me running with her. And with the help that he was doing, I hadn't minded if my car stayed with him or not. But with Lily, questioning how the car might be used, especially with the girls that he often talked about, I was not so sure now.

"He told me that will help with the Nick's case." I said, guiltily. "I was ready to take any offer if it was thrown my way."

"So, that means you told him about Nick?" She asked.

"Well," I started, not knowing how she might take it all in. "When I was drunk, it kind of sipped my mouth and he got to know."

"Scar!" She said. "It was supposed to be Nick's secret."

"I know." I put my head low. It was not that I wanted to intentionally spill it all out and corner Nick, it just that Rob hit me in a sensitive spot. "He won't be spreading it out."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Her voice had grown softer.

"Because I thought you would stand up for him and not me." I said in a low voice.

Lily, Nick and I were like a tripod stand ever since we got to know each other. Anyone of us stumbled meant all of us would fall. But when I had trouble with one of us, it meant I was breaking the stand. It also meant that Lily had a choice between me and Nick, and would have to choose.

More than anything, I was scared she might choose him. I already had trouble dealing with Nick, I didn't want to lose her in my emotional affairs.

"Oh, Scar." She said, pulling me up. She hugged me without another word and in that instant I knew it was all going to be okay. "I wouldn't have taken sides. I would have made you guys sit and talk it out."

I nodded my head. That was worse than taking sides. The matter with Nick and me was something that I had to deal on my own, especially not with him. Talking it out meant more pain to him than he already was in.

"How else do you think James and I survived this long?" She said, laughing. I laughed along with her. "If you are still up for it, then I'll set you guys up and everything will be soon back to normal, what do you say?"

I did not agree to her at all. Her idea was so much different from what I had in mind. With talking to each other, I was sure Nick was getting hurt more than he could take and I couldn't risk that. This time, I wanted to stick with Rob's idea till I healed. Mentally and physically.

"No Lil." I said with a sad smile. "We don't work like that."

Lily nodded in understanding.

"I think it will give me a distraction with Robert." I said in all honesty. "Makes me forget it all, even if it is only for a second."

"You do understand that you are jumping from one bowl of fire to another right?" She asked, concerned. "According to what you say, Robert is a perv, so be careful."

The door bell rang loudly at that and we were both startled at the noise. I looked at my leg and pointed the door to Lily. She only rolled her eyes before making her way towards the interrupter.

Lily creaked the door open, only slightly to see who it was at the other end. Once she had a good view, she shut the door quickly, making a scary face at me.

"What's he doing here?" She asked and I looked at her in confusion. "Does he have a camera installed somewhere here?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, not able to decipher her words.

"Robert is here."  

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A/N: Do you think Scarlet did the right thing? Or do you side with Lily?