“A mishap,” Gabby mumbled. “Could you take me to the ER? I need to have my nose looked at.”
“Sure, come on.” Emilia took Gabby’s arm and led her out of the house.
Noel stood for a moment, staring down at the table with her one good eye. The cloth Gabby’s mom kept on there to protect the wood was soaked with ranch and water from a knocked over glass. Droplets of blood splattered on the light wood floor and table cloth. Noel silently berated herself. She’d lost control and Gabby paid for it.
Maybe Amber was right about Noel being selfish.
Slowly, she gathered up the plates and carried them into the kitchen. Neither of them said a word as Amber picked M&M’s off the floor, setting them into the crystal candy dish with a clack.
Once everything had been removed from the table, Noel gathered up the table cloth, ignoring the throbbing in her eye. “I’m going to put this in the washer.”
“Whatever.”
Noel stopped in the entryway and faced Amber. Amber’s right cheek was swollen and bruised and Noel couldn’t help the sliver of satisfaction it caused.
“I don’t even know why you are here if you don’t like Gabby.”
Amber stopped gathering up the favor supplies and stared at her. “I do like Gabby. I can’t understand what she sees in you.”
“You know what’s funny? I wonder the same thing when it comes to you.”
“Gabby is my girl. I love her because she doesn’t judge people. That’s why she’s friends with you. It’s why she’s the only girlfriend you hang with.”
That statement was a little too accurate and it stung. “You want to talk about judging? You do nothing but slut shame me, yet how many times have you ditched Gabby drunk at some club so you could hit some after-party?”
“I always asked and she said she’d be fine!”
“How big of you!”
Amber pointed her finger at Noel accusingly. “At least I do fun things with her. You check out for weeks on end, with one-word texts!”
“I do not check out!”
“Really? Where were you when her aunt had cancer and she had to be put on hospice? Did you hold her hand while she waited to say goodbye?”
Noel swallowed hard. Sophomore year. A few months after she’d lost her parents. She’d attended the funeral, but had to leave halfway through. It was too fresh. Too painful.
“I was there for her,” Noel whispered.
“Not the way I was. You expected everyone to bend over backwards for you. To feel sorry for you, but you couldn’t put anyone’s needs above your own. Even your so-called best girlfriend.”
“I don’t know where you are getting that, but it isn’t true.”
“Yes it is! You always looked out for yourself, so there was nothing left for anyone else. Always a little bit more than everyone else, including me! A little bit more talented. A little bit funnier. A little bit smarter. I met Gabby first and even she liked you better than me, no matter how hard I tried. You used to look at me so smug every time you beat me at something I wanted. Then your parents died and you stopped competing. You stopped caring about anything and everyone. You weren’t just selfish, but you became an empty, worthless shell.
“But people still talked about you. Poor Noel. Has anyone talked to Noel? Is she doing all right? We sure do miss her.” Amber’s voice grew sharper. “The spring play. Chorus. I played second fiddle to you my whole life but you know what? Not with Nick.” Amber smiled, even as tears trailed down her cheeks. “I had him first. He’s going to remember me for the rest of his life, no matter who he’s with.”
Amber’s accusations almost made Noel feel sorry for her, if she hadn’t played on her insecurities with Nick. Losing the people she loved was her biggest fear, yet she knew at times she pushed them away. She should have been better to Gabby, but she was too caught up in her own grief at the time. Amber had been extracting her revenge for years, all because she was jealous and thought Noel was hurting her on purpose?
“I may be selfish at times and pull away from the people I love. That’s on me. But I don’t know why you ever thought I was trying to take anything from you. I never gave you a second thought until you started tormenting me in high school. I’m not saying that to be mean, but because it is the truth. We had different friends in middle school. Yeah, we shared choir, but we didn’t mesh. I’m sorry, but I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I loved singing. Being on stage. Until I didn’t.