Chapter 2. Betrayal

Once again, in the once love-filled room, stillness returned to it, as a young lady in her twenties sat and stared into space. Tears filling her eyes, she settled into a nearby chair and began to think.

Susan sighed as she thought of how much longer she would be alone in this place she dreaded. She felt like lonely. She had to admit it. She missed Peter's bossiness, Edmund's stubbornness and even Lucy's thoughtfulness. But most of all, she missed her parents.

She stared down at her palms; they were pale, and they felt lifeless. She couldn't bear the pain. She glanced up at her nearby mirror, and then she began to examine herself closely. But this time, there was something different about the way she did it. Tracing her finger up and down her reflection, grasping the concept that she was now alone, Susan cried.

She cried in no one's arms, she took to no one for advice, and as she thought of how what hurt most in her body was the new void her heart, what truly destroyed her though, was that she didn't know why.

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It was afternoon now. Susan had invited her friend over previously, before the "little incident"(as Susan liked to call it) had occurred. They were heading to the opening of a new historical landmark. She thought of how boring it would be, standing outside in the heat of the sun in formal wear, waiting for a man gibbering to shut up and get on with it already.

She bathed, changed combed her hair, did her makeup, then grabbed one of the many black bags in her cabinet, to match with the black dress she was wearing. Then she proceeded downstairs, to wait for her friend. She didn't have to wait long though, since as she was just about to take a seat, the doorbell rang causing her to get up and answer it.

"So, Susan, are you ready to go? You look fabulous! I thought that since "the incident" occurred, you would return to your old ugly self again, but I guess this proves that young ladies like me can learn something new everyday!" Aria said.

Susan hated Aria, she was loud, bossy, tactless and oftentimes mean. Susan always wondered why they were friends, until she once again realized, that it was because Aria was popular. She knew where all the parties were, and when they would be. Without her Susan couldn't have all the fun she wanted. Susan went to parties and would often return late in the morning the next day too drunk to speak. She didn't care, that sickening morning feeling you got after being drunk was worth the few hours of joy you got at night from the high, or at least, for Susan.

Susan shook her head. "Who cares if some of my friends are a bit wild, I have plenty of them and they love me." She said to herself, not fully convinced though, she continued this odd conversation.

"Mum thinks that Lucy has the most friends, though I don't see why, she isn't nearly as pretty as me, but mum says it doesn't matter as long as her friends love her. Ever since that girl jumped in front of a carriage to prevent it from hitting Lucy, everyone thinks Lucy's got the best friends. My friends would do that for me." Susan smiled, and convinced herself that she was right as she stepped into Aria's car.

"No, they wouldn't." A small voice in Susan's brain said.

Susan stopped moving, just as she was about to step into Aria's car. She had heard that voice before, it was her own. It was the voice she had when she had been queen Susan the gentle. It was the voice she had when she was playing ball with Peter and Edmund. It was the voice she had back when she was laughing because of joy, not because of alcohol.

"You know Susan, I think "the incident" has made you stupider, that's the second time today that you had that dumb, lousy look on your face." Aria said, turning on the engine of her car.

"Maybe it has." Susan murmured, and she stepped out of the car.

"What did you say?" Aria said, standing up. Susan turned around quickly to face her.

"You know maybe it has made me stupider!" Susan yelled frantically. "Maybe, it has killed a few of my brain cells, but I am so sure that I have lost more brain cells talking to you, you f little b!" she screamed, and began to walk back into her house, and to her surprise, Aria was laughing.

Aria got up from her seat and spoke. "I'm going to do you a favor and forget what you just said Susan, you know why? Of course you don't, because you need me. I'm the only friend you've got left, do you know why? No, I'm sure you don't, because no one else can stand you Susan! You're a self-absorbed b!No one likes you. The reason I know when are where parties are, is because people invite me to them, as long as I keep them away from you." Aria said, staring emotionlessly at Susan's tear-stricken face.

"Now get in the car, and we'll go to the new historical landmark and pretend like nothing is wrong, just like you always do. Hurry up and wash you're face, we're going to the mansion of some rich professor that died recently, and now his mansion is a landmark. I'm just going for laughs. It seems that the house was empty because just before he died, he sold everything in it. He probably knew that he was going to croak soon and wanted all his money kept for himself. Funny though, he didn't sell some tacky wardrobe that was there…hmm…" Aria said, getting back into her car. "Now let's go."

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I left a little cliffy here, I'll try to update ASAP, please review and thanks for reading. Reviewfriend.