Believe Me
By Laura Schiller
Based on: Stravaganza
Copyright: Mary Hoffman
"If you two want to be together, then that's all right."
Alice whirled and ran, before Georgia, Sky and Nicholas could see her crying.
Georgia and Sky – she should have known. What a vivid, flamboyant, cool picture they made sitting side by side on her father's lawn – Georgia's tiger-striped hair, Sky's chestnut skin and golden-brown dreadlocks. Always talking earnestly with their heads bent close together, falling guiltily silent whenever bland, blonde, tag-along Alice came near. She should have noticed earlier.
"Alice, wait!"
She flinched as if cut with a whip, but kept running, barely watching where she went. Sky, of course, had longer legs and was very fit due to all that fencing with Nicholas. He caught her shoulder with his hand and whirled her around, looking positively fierce.
"You've got to listen," he said, both of his big warm hands pinning her down.
"I've heard enough," she shot back, her attempt at coldness failing miserably due to the lump of tears in her throat. "Now will you please let go?"
He did, but the sight of his burning brown eyes kept her fixed in place as surely as before.
"There's nothing going on with Georgia and me, all right?" he said. "We're just friends, that's all!"
"Friends who spend more time together than you and I? Friends who keep secrets from me?"
All the hurt feelings she had suppressed over the past few weeks crowded into those words, making Sky's head drop as if the world had dropped onto his shoulders. One heavy rope of hair fell over his left eye; her fingers itched to smooth it back, but she crossed her arms instead, glaring through her tears.
"I know I'm not interesting like Georgia," she continued in spite of herself. "I never was. I can't stand up to people...I don't blame you. Only you might've been a bit more honest about it...instead of pretending to like me to get close to her."
Sky's eyes flashed lightning. "How could you think that about me?" he shouted, raising his voice to her for the first time since they'd known each other. "I'd never – ever – do something like that. Not only to you, but to Nick! He's my friend and he obviously loves Georgia – I'd never try and compete with him even if I were into her, which again, I'm really not."
"Believe me, Alice," he continued in a softer voice, taking a step back to give her breathng room. "You're the only girl I've ever liked in that way. And you don't need dyed hair or a blunt attitude to be interesting...you make me happy just the way you are."
He gave her a lopsided, affectionate smile. "Besides, I'd say what you said just now definitely counts as standing up to a person."
She could feel that smile of his melting away her suspicions like ice cream in the sun, but even as he wrapped her up in one of his perfect hugs – not too long, not too tight, and just warm enough – that small, suspicious voice at the back of her mind would not be silenced.
I really want to trust you completely...but for that, I'll have to find out the truth.