The Hidden Truth

Ch.9 Valerie

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Sage knocks on my door.

"Eden? Can I come in?" I ignore him.

"Eden?" Maybe I shouldn't be doing this to him. I don't know who she is. Maybe I should give him a chance to explain.

"Eden? Eden, what's going on?" He asks more urgently. I slowly unlock and open my door. I'm sure my face is a mixture of sadness and anger.

"What's wrong?" He asks worried. I walk over to the bed and sit down.

"Who's Valerie?" I watch his face as I ask, he looks shocked and then he looks understanding.

"You heard my call?" He asks and I nod, "And that means you heard me say 'I love you' to her." He states, I nod again. He sighs and rubs circles on my back.

"She's an old friend. My old best friend. Me and Marie's really. But then something happened and we grew apart. She and Marie are still close but she blamed me for what happened." He says.

"Oh, sorry for overreacting." I say as relief rushes over me. He shrugs it off.

"Do you want to meet her? I was actually planning on inviting you anyway. I don't know if I can go alone without going to that dark place. I need you there with me."

"Yeah, I'd love to meet her. When?"

"Tonight. I hope that's okay." He says glancing at my cuts.

"Yeah, it's fine. What should I wear?" I ask.

"I'll have Marie help you. She knows the place. She'll know how to dress you." He says, "Want to go join everyone else downstairs for a movie?" I nod and follow him down.

His parents are on one couch, Marie is in a chair and me and Sage take the other couch. I curl up next to him and lay my head on his shoulder. He drapes a blanket over me and we start to watch Ghostbusters.

When the movie is over Sage says that I should probably get ready to go to the restaurant. He sends me upstairs with Marie.

"Okay, please, if you're going to pick a dress don't pick anything too short. I don't want to show my cut." She looks at me like I'm crazy. "What?" I ask.

"I don't know how that happened, all I know is that you've been through some shit and you're still here and strong and amazing! You should show it off! Show people that you're strong and won't back down!" She says.

"Wow. Thank you for that." She really knows how to make me feel good about myself. That's why we're best friends. She hugs me and says "Of course" before she off to her closet.

It's a huge walk-in closet. She has so many clothes and shoes. It's crazy.

"Now I want you to wear a dress and show off that hot bod of yours," She says which makes me giggle, "but, if you're not comfortable wearing it than I will pick something else." She says coming out of the closet with a beautiful red dress.

"How fancy is this restaurant?" I ask.

"It's pretty fancy. Hard to get into too. Not for us though." She says shrugging.

"What? why?"

"Our mom owns it. It's her little hobby I guess. She likes to cook and has a business degree." She hands me the dress and practically pushes me into the bathroom to get changed.

I go in and look at the dress again. It's a red lace dress that is sheer around my torso and then isn't again. It has lace straps and it hugs my body.

I put it on and I love it. It stops a little above my knees. You can see the cut on my leg and on my arm but Marie is right, they make me look badass.