Hear You Me

Delilah stared at Joel in shock for a few seconds before finally speaking. “What did you just say?”

Joel sighed. “Holland and I were broken up when she first found out she had cancer.”

Delilah sat there in silence as a few things from the past began to suddenly make sense.

Delilah opened the door to her car and willed herself not to cry. Winter break was over and she was heading back to school the next morning so she had spent the afternoon diving around and saying goodbye to people. She hated saying goodbye, even if it was just for a little while, and always ended up crying. She had just finished saying goodbye to Joel and it was now turn to say goodbye to Holland. Saying goodbye to those two was always the hardest.

Delilah walked into Holland’s apartment without even bothering to knock. She hadn’t knocked on the door at Holland’s house since she was ten.

“Hey, are you here to say goodbye?” Holland asked as she looked up at Delilah.

“Yeah, I am.” Delilah said with a shaky breath.

“Don’t cry, Lila. I hate when you cry.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just hate saying goodbye to you. You’d think I’d better at this after a year and a half of college. I also hate that Stanford is so far away. I mean I love it and it’s my dream college I just wish it was closer to you and Joel.”

“Me too, Lila, me too. It’s where you’re supposed to be though. Plus spring break is only a couple months away and we’ll see each other then.”

“Yeah, I know. So I was kind of surprised you weren’t at Joel’s. I figured I’d say goodbye to both of you at the same time. Don’t you guys usually have date night on Saturdays?” Delilah asked as she changed the subject.

Holland shrugged, “Yeah but we were both kind of busy today so we’re just going to hang out next week or something.”

“Oh, ok. I was just surprised. Well, I better get going. Mom and dad are having a nice dinner for me since I’m leaving tomorrow morning. I’ll see you later. Don’t forget to call. Love you,” Delilah smiled.

Holland hugged Delilah and said, “Love you too.”

Delilah made her way out to the car and Holland followed her so she could wave goodbye as Delilah drove away. It was kind of a tradition with them.

“Hey Lila?” Holland called as Delilah was about to open her car door. Delilah turned around and waited for Holland to continue. “You know that sometimes things change and people change too even if you don’t expect it. I mean it’s life. Sometimes the things you didn’t think would happen, happen and people grow apart.”

Delilah gave Holland a weird look. “Yeah, I know that. Hol, is something wrong?”

“No,” Holland shook her head. “I’m just rambling. Have a safe drive back to Stanford and have a good semester. Love you.”

“So that’s why Holland was acting weird when I left to go back to Stanford for spring semester last year. When did you guys officially break up?” Delilah asked Joel.

“I think about a week after you left.”

“And you guys didn’t get back together until after she was diagnosed?”

“Yes.”

Delilah sat there and did some quick mental math. “So you guys were broken up for nearly two months and never told me? What the heck?”

“Please don’t be mad, Lila.”

“How can you expect me not to be mad? My two best friends hid something huge from me. If Holland hadn’t written the letter and told you to tell me would you have?”

“I’m sure I would have eventually. We thought about telling you when we first broke up but we didn’t know how. Plus we didn’t want to upset you,” Joel said.

“I’m sorry but this is bullshit,” Delilah fumed.

“Lila, we thought we were doing the right thing.”

“By lying to me? I’m not some child that needs protecting, Joel. I’m a big girl. I can handle the truth and that’s what I deserve to be told. I want to go home,” Delilah said a she stomped to the car.

Joel stood up and started running after her. “Lila…Delilah! Wait up. Please, just let me explain.”

“Take me home, Joel,” Delilah insisted.

Joel sighed but got in the car and started driving. He continued to try and fix his mistake though. “We were going to tell you when you came home for spring break but then Holland found out she had the tumor and then we got back together.”

“You know there’s this crazy thing called a phone, Joel.”

“I know, and we should have told you. We just thought you’d be upset and we didn’t want to distract you from school.”

“I’m your friend though. I’m supposed to help you! Everyone thinks that I need to be protected and sheltered from the world. Oh, Delilah Magdalene, we just won’t tell you things because it might make you upset. I understand that sometimes things happen that we don’t want to happen and life isn’t fair. What I don’t understand is why people think I need to be sheltered.”

“No one thinks you need to be sheltered,” Joel softly said.

“Oh really?” Delilah argued. “My parents have sheltered me my entire life and now I find out that you and Holland were sheltering me too.”

“We weren’t sheltering you.”

“Then what were you doing? You guys didn’t tell me about the break up and then it took two weeks for Holland to tell me about her tumor because she didn’t want to upset me. That sounds a lot like sheltering to me.”

They were back at Joel’s house which was where Delilah’s car was by this time and she quickly hopped out of his car to get to hers.

“Delilah, please don’t leave angry with me,” Joel pleaded.

“I’m just extremely hurt right now Joel and need some time, okay?”

“Okay. Once again, I really am sorry, Lila. Holland and I never meant to hurt you.”

Delilah started her car and began driving but instead of driving back to her apartment she drove to her parents’ house. She walked in and immediately hugged her mom as soon as she saw her.

Julia Reed hugged her daughter back and soon noticed the tears coming from Delilah’s eyes. “What’s wrong Delilah?”

“Everything,” Delilah said, her voice muffled from being pressed against her mother. “I should be at Stanford and helping Holland plan her wedding to Joel. Instead Holland is gone and everything is falling apart.”

“I know dear, I know,” Julia tried to soothe her daughter. “Things happen for a reason though and sometimes things have to get harder before they get better.”

The only problem was Delilah wasn’t sure how much more she could take.