˖ ݁𖥔.
︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖
There was silence in the air as Esther waited for Lyra to answer, her mind racing with thoughts and feelings. The seconds tick by, the silence growing deeper, and soon Esther’s smile turns to a worried expression. She studies her friend carefully, trying to read her body language. Lyra takes a deep breath, her eyes shining like a window to her soul, just as Esther had always remembered. “It has to be something big,” she thought. Lyra takes in another deep breath, as if freeing herself from a burden. Then she shifts, and her voice trails off as she lets the words hang in the air.
"Vincenzo?” Esther’s eyes widened, her stomach knotted at the very sound of his name ringing in her ears. "I’m so sorry that happened”, she began, her face a mixture of expressions. "I don’t know how to say this - but I dated him too, years ago”, Esther’s voice began to crack, her composed facade crumbling. Letting her sadness speak for her, she continued, "I can’t believe he hasn’t changed, and he did this to you out of all people, you’re so kind and beautiful -”, she began tearing up, leaving her words behind in a stream of salty tears. Esther buried her face in her hands, embarrassed at her lack of composure, "I’m sorry for crying like this”, she started "I just - I’ve been feeling so terrible lately”. When the tears stopped, she wiped the remaining liquid from her cheeks, clearing her throat. "You know what, he isn’t worth it”, she admitted, sucking air into her lungs. She took Lyra’s hands again with reassurance, "You did nothing wrong Lyra”, she said softly.
Lyra then shifted her focus onto Esther’s concerns, taking her arm in hers. Her friend’s support brought a smile to Esther’s lips, despite the rather depressing situation. "Well - this is going to sound crazy”, she started, taking her phone out of her purse. She unlocked her phone and scrolled to her father’s messages, showing the screen to Lyra, beginning to explain the situation. "So, over the summer, I dated this guy, Hayes”, she started, "Everything was good at first, but when I told him I was enrolling in Ninth House he started acting very weird”, she paused, gazing up at Lyra with a tinge of sadness in her eyes.“After that, we had constant fights, until we finally broke up on my birthday”, looking up at the ceiling light, she sighed, finally admitting the big truth, "He poisoned me without enough poison to kill me - and I can’t figure out why”.
˖ ݁𖥔.︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖
@Jass - Lyra
@raviola - Vincenzo (mentioned)
@astxrism - Hayes (mentioned)