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Lizzy wasn’t sure of the response she was expecting from Keir. She knew that whatever it was it would probably be cold, distant, and closed off, but it still took her by surprise when it came. The comparison to Charlotte, the unforgiving look in Keir’s eyes, the deliberate use of full name - Lizzy’s eyebrows twitched upwards, it was all she could do to stop her jaw from gaping out and the hurt to spill openly across her face. She couldn’t let Keir see that she had gotten to Lizzy that easily. Even though it had really been that easy, as it was coming from someone who used to be a best friend. The insults carried weight - a sad and confusing comparison against what once was, that left constantly Lizzy wondering what had gone wrong in the time between.
“That is totally not true,” Lizzy started, her mind in a hurried search for a suitable defence. This hadn’t been the first time Lizzy had been tied in with Charlotte, seen as living in her shadow. And, no, sure, it wasn’t untrue that the pair were extremely close, but Lizzy was still her own person. And that person was someone who looked up to Charlotte, maybe was often influenced by her. But always willingly. “Lottie would die before she admitted you have better technique than her,” Lizzy pointed out, her tone edging on playful, despite internally brimming with nerves and the desparate need for this not to fall flat.
But fall flat it did, and Keir was immediately rolling her eyes and starting to walk away at Lizzy’s push for the cheerleading agenda. When Keir’s back was turned, Lizzy didn’t need to hide a wince as she looked up to the ceiling, before she followed Keir’s footsteps with a quickened pace, catching up to her. “Okay, okay, okay, no cheerleading, that’s fine, no stage, no uniforms, got it,” She started, trying to appeal to her as best as she could. Her efforts to maintain a cool demeanour were slipping slightly, especially when Keir stopped in her tracks, awaiting whatever Lizzy was setting up to say. What was she setting up to say?
“But… something?” Lizzy said, her gaze softening in a slight plea, unveiling a fraction of the vulnerability in hopes it would get through to Keir. “I don’t know, anything, just to, like, see each other around a bit more,” She continued, her tone getting lighter as she tried to tell herself this was a casual question in a regular conversation. “I’ve missed you, you know. During summer, and…” and all the times before summer when Keir started to distance. But Lizzy instead trailed off, hoping her point was made without the full sentence.
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