Chapter 10.

I went straight to the principals office to get permission to do my work for the first period. Except she was already talking to someone.

"I'm sorry. I can't help you with that." Her muffled voice had a clear tone of disappointment. I knew I shouldn't spy, but the next line caught me.

"This is TELSA we are talking about here! She's famous so what does it matter! She won't know I got this information from you!" The person complained to the principal. Is was a female voice.

"Except, I just heard what you said." I barged into the room. Give me A+ for making a scene today.

"Telsa!" Larissa practically screamed.

"Larissa." My voice was much more calm, though there was a slight tremble.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"My father was checking out one of the restaurants over here, so I decided to come along! I thought it would be nice to see you again!" She smiled charmingly.

"Oh, I didn't know your father had a restaurant down here. You should've mentioned." I went along with her act.

"Well," I turned to the principal. "Would it be alright if I skipped the first period. I have to make some calls still."

"And I can help!" Larissa winked.

"Sure. Come see me before you go back to class when you're done." The principal smiled nervously.

"Come on." I told Larissa, and walked down the halls. They were mostly empty.

We walked into the library. I chose a table that was in the open. We sat across from each other.

"So, what information are you just begging for?" I asked.

"Where you live. I told you. I wanted to see you." The lie was smooth as ice. One that sounded so truthful, but I knew her. I knew her well, she wanted something other then that. Not that she would confess.

"Well. Actually." Larissa scratched her head. And looked away.

"You were right." She mumbled.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"You were right! Okay? Remember the last thing you said to me? Well you were right! So... I... You know..." She burst out before looking down.

"Oh." I remembered. I told her that her father had been cheating on her mom, and a bunch of other things. She probably wanted comfort, and honesty. The things that nobody in her life would ever give her. That is, except me.

"I'm sorry, but everyone was expecting it. Even your mom. Don't feel like it's your fault, because it's not all your fault." I tried.

"But it's still kinda my fault." She looked down. Tears gently streaming down her face.

"They're going to get divorced. I feel horrible, because Anthony was really shaken up. He's so young." Anthony was her littlest brother.

"Hey. It could be worse. The twins. Their parents got divorced when we were in second grade. Look at them, they are fine. And in a more extreme case, look at my life. Look at my messed up life. I'm being fostered, even though both my parents are alive, and one of them is still sane. And I'm being fostered due to my idiotic ex-boyfriend. It could be so much worse. These things never hurt you, Larissa. You always had a bulletproof shell. So why should it be different now?" I pointed out.

"Bulletproof shells wont help when you're drowning in acid." She laughed a little.

"How do you know that bulletproof shells aren't acid proof either? Besides, it's not just about blocking the harm. It's excepting and healing from it. Your father wasn't happy with your mother. So do you want him to continue to pretend so you can be happy. Face reality. These things happen all the time, and your mother is strong. Whatever happens, you will be fine. Maybe you'll get lucky and you won't have to live with your brothers." I mentioned her brothers.

"Yeah. Maybe." She smiled at that.

"Thanks, Telsa. Everyone else would all tell me that I'm strong for going through it, instead of pointing out the facts. I feel like everyone is trying to deceive me." She wiped off her tears, only for more to fall.

I stood up, walked around the table and sat down next to her. She seemed like a silly little girl for coming all the way here, just to hear what I had to say. She was strong though. She just didn't realize it.

"Hey. It's okay to cry. It's natural. I used to cry all the time." She snorted.

"That's because you're such a softie, Telsa." She teased.

"Yeah... I was." We both looked at each other. She began to cry again.

"I'm so silly. I feel so dumb coming all the way here, just to hear what I already know." She laughed and cried.

"Hey. I'm like that too. My life's just so messed up. I'm broken beyond repair. Shattered fragments of glass." I became aware of the tear forming as I said this.

"Telsa. Let's cry for our lives, and how it could have been better." Larissa's face was streaked with tears and makeup all messed up.

"Even the most pefect families are messed up." I felt the tear fall. And so we cried for all the sadness in our lives.

"Geez. We finally finished!" Larissa cheered.

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me out." We both looked at my completed work. Then we looked at each other.

"Your makeup is all messed up." Larissa told me.

"You're one to talk! Just look at yourself!" I retorted.

"Should we get cleaned up?" Larissa suggested.

"Yeah. Let's put away all this work. I have to get back to class after we fix ourselves up." I nodded.

We packed up quickly and headed into the bathroom.

"Pffft! Look at me!" Larissa pointed at her reflection as soon as we walked into the bathroom. We looked like walking nightmares.

"Quick! Grab the makeup remover! We look like we just out of a car crash!" I gasped. She grabbed a tissue from my bag and we quickly cleaned it up.

"Telsa! Hurry up!" Larissa urged as I began applying my makeup.

"Put on your makeup! Let me finish this though!" I grumbled at her impatience.

"Fineeee..." She dragged out the word to show her annoyance. "Oh! That reminds me!" She brighten up as she pulled out her eye shadow.

"What is it?" I finished my eyeliner. I took a step back and double checked to make sure it was even.

"Alicia posted that video of you two doing that dance. It's going viral!" Larissa cheered out.

"Wait. That one that we choreographed? In the beginning of seventh? Or the more recent one?" I demanded, trying my hardest to stay calm as I reapplied my lipstick.

"Well, both. But the one that is going viral is the recent one." Larissa smiled. She didn't seem to understand.

"She posted it! WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!" I snapped.

"Yeah. Why are you so mad?" Larissa glanced at me. I snapped my lipstick closed.

"Number one, she posted it without my permission. Number two, I don't want it online. It gives me a bad image if it goes viral. I have a conference today, and I don't want to appear immature. You know my job is like that." I was furious.

"That's it? You know, the video could also make you appear tech savvy, and up to date. Show how good you are at dancing. It could boast your image, and make you appear better. It would show that you know what the entertainment industry. You did get Caitlin up there, it would just be another thing on your resume. I think that you're just afraid of letting the people here know what you're like." Larissa declared. She was on point.

"Alright. You have a point. You know me very well. But still, I might not be able to make it appear like that." I added in.

"We're both manipulators whether we like it or not. You know how to manipulate. So manipulate this situation." She shrugged.

Heartless. That was one of her names, I recalled. She was always heartless. That's why I left her long ago, remaining friends, but not close. I avoided her, because she manipulated me. I manipulated back. Reverse manipulation, I liked to call it. I manipulated her, but I didn't like it.

One day in seventh grade, when I went wild, I called her that. We yelled at each other about manipulation. Then everything got crazier, and we didn't speak to each other for quite awhile.

Jasmine eventually told me I should at least try to talk to her before I left. So I did. I pointed out that her father was very clearly cheating in that conversation. She got a little mad, and stormed off. The next day she emailed apologizing, saying that she wanted to talk to me. Face to face. But I was long gone by then. On a bus to my foster home, and I came here. To Sweet Amoris.

"Ugh. I guess. Come on. I'll walk you to your car or whatever." I lead her out of the bathroom.

We were silent as we went down the hall. We walked outside.

"I'll have to walk back to the hotel." Larissa announced.

"Should I walk you there?" I asked.

"Nah. I have to take the bus."

"Alright. Do call me sometime." I gave her a hug.

"Stay strong, Telsa. I'll miss you. " She murmured into my shoulder.

"Me too." We pulled apart.

"Bye!" She smiled and walked off.

"Farewell!" And I turned and walked back to the school.

Author's Note

Okay! Past friends are mentioned again! I tried conveying how manipulative she is, but I couldn't help making her show her honest thoughts a little. I'll make her appear more manipulative then!

Again, do leave a review or something! I would love love love to hear from you guys! Remember I don't own any of the MCL characters. Only Telsa, Abel, Jasmine, Elmira, Aria, Cara, Larissa and Arsen are mine (Wow! Lot's of different characters appearing now.)