How could I be okay when Lupe spoke for me?
When she told Kylo that it was okay to come over even when it was evident that I didn’t want him to?
"Why are you even asking?" she’d said, effectively stripping away any control I had over the situation.
I didn’t ask her to do that. That was...
"Lupe," I finally managed with a stern tone, "you shouldn’t have just told him it was okay to come."
"Look," she said, a line appearing between her brows, "if you told him not to come, it would be suspicious. We’re all hurting, and Kylo obviously cares about you. This way, it seems normal."
Normal.
The word felt like a foreign language in my mouth. Everything about this situation felt abnormal. It felt like a ball of mess of emotions and secrets threatening to work their heads out at any moment.
"I’m just not ready to face him yet," I confessed, picking at a loose thread on my sofa.
Lupe sighed out wearily. "Isleen, honey, Kylo is or was your boyfriend. You can face him. You just need to set aside this guilt you’re carrying."
Was?
Is?
We broke up. But we’ve broken up in the past and reconciled. Did I want us to reconcile now? Would we pick up the relationship where we let off? Kylo did seem like he wanted to.
Was I ready to?
"But it’s not that simple," I argued, tears welling up in my eyes again. "I can’t just tell him about Gamma Rhett. I didn’t even accept him, Lupe. This whole thing– it wasn’t planned. He marked me but– It happened in the heat of the moment."
To be frank, it felt good talking to someone about this heavy burden. I was suddenly grateful to Lupe for turning a new leaf and making friends with me.
More importantly, I was happy I didn’t send her off like I usually did. It was to my gain that I accepted her friendship.
A humorless laugh, however, escaped Lupe’s lips. "Well, what’s done is done, Isleen. Whether you like it or not, you’re Gamma Rhett’s now, not Kylo’s."
I was my boyfriend’s father’s. My boyfriend’s father owned me.
Father forgive me for I have sinned.
Lupe’s words seemed to send a jolt of dread through me. "But how can I be– his father’s and not his? What would people say about that? How can I be my boyfriend’s father?" The question tumbled out with so much desperation that I nearly forgot Liam’s presence in the room.
Thankfully, he was too invested in his video game to care about my and Lupe’s conversation.
Lupe sighed, her earlier composure seeming to waver. It must have been hard trying to be there for me while she was grieving too. "The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways, Isleen. Her decisions can’t be questioned."
"At times like this," I retorted, my voice rising in frustration, "maybe they should be questioned."
The defiance in my tone seemed to break through Lupe’s already wavering demeanor. Her eyes welled up as she saw the pain and anger in me and a tremor ran through her lower lip. Shame washed over me when I realized the unintended cruelty in my words. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.
Lupe wasn’t the cause of my predicament.
Huh?
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