"Thanks for doing this, Maria," Eliza Schuyler says, glancing over her shoulder, her long black hair woven into a braid that's hanging down her back.
"Sure," Maria replies, unable to keep from smiling at the way Eliza compulsively nibbles at pieces of peppermint bark. It's endearing, really. "What are friends for?"
Wringing her hands before dusting off pieces of peppermint, Eliza goes on. "I mean, I wouldn't have asked, but my sisters both have significant others and I really didn't want to deal with questioning-"
"Eliza," Maria interrupts , "It's fine." Eliza smiles and takes the other girl by the shoulders, making Maria's pulse quicken as it always does around Eliza.
"This really does mean a lot to me," Eliza says earnestly.
Maria can only smile, letting her eyes trace the cupid's bow curvature of Eliza's mouth.
"Anything for you, 'Liza," is her only reply.
And then Angelica, Eliza's sister, is there with her boyfriend, John Church, dangling a sprig of mistletoe over Eliza and Maria's heads,with a mischievous grin.
"Hey, lovebirds. Can we get a kiss out of you two?"
A split second later, the chant spreads throughout the Schuyler household swelling to impressive volumes.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
Maria glances at Eliza, who looks like a deer caught in headlights. The poor girl is shellshocked.
They have merely awkward seconds before the façade falls apart.
Now or never.
Maria takes a deep breath and moves forward, capturing Eliza's lips with hers, her hands coming up to cradle both sides of Eliza's face. The cheers of the Schuyler family fades to white noise as Eliza recovers from her shock and presses back.
Her lips are moving in sync with Maria's, and she tastes like peppermint and chocolate. Her chin tilts slightly, changing the angle, and Maria swears she can see lights dancing across the insides of her eyelids. It's all she's wanted for the past four years-
And then it all comes crashing down as she remembers that this is only an act, that Eliza is only playing a part, and the realization hits her like a ton of bricks.
She pulls back, and reality comes back and punches her hard in the chest. The red on Eliza's lips is smudged, like Maria's lipstick undoubtedly is as well, and Eliza looks almost dazed.
Everyone around them is too busy celebrating the successful kiss, and they quickly move on from it.
For some reason, it's that, the fact that everyone accepts it, that pushes Maria over the edge. She edges past distant relatives and Eliza's younger sister, Peggy, with her boyfriend James Madison, wanting to escape the party.
It's not everyone's fault they don't know the real situation. They're just reacting to what's presented in front of them.
They don't know Maria's had a crush on Eliza for almost four years. They don't know how much it hurts. They just see two happy girls in a relationship.
They just see a lie.
Maria keeps walking, weaving her way through the labyrinth of the Schuyler house, until she finally collapses on a couch, burying her face in her hands. A few tears find their way through her fingers, and drip down the backs of her hands, sliding down to her wrists. She wipes them on her red skirt, watching the fabric darken.
She never should've agreed to this.
What the hell just happened?
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