Little Bit of Truth

Eliza liked being of the female sex. There were not many perks in her pessimistic mind. After all, what were women? They were catty. They were judgmental. They were jealous snobs. They were every bad name in the book and trust Eliza to know every one of them, whore, sleaze, floozy, strumpet, sly, conniving, and vindictive and whatever others that came to mind. These extreme thoughts were subtly directed at a special someone named Elena Marshall, the girl who made Eliza lose faith in humanity.

Perhaps that is a bit histrionic but Elena Marshall was not a kind girl in no way shape or form. She had spread rumors involving Eliza and her promiscuity. Where Elena Marshall came across the idea that Eliza was a sleaze was impossible to place but it came across her mind and it was soon plastered across the girls bathroom stalls and the lockers and the minds of all the students at Fordham High School. That was Eliza’s freshman year. Calling it an extreme case of bullying would have been an understatement.

So following Elena’s rumors and Eliza’s numerous unfortunate experiences with women, Eliza decided it would be in her best interest to steer clear of women. But that left only the male population available for friendship and relations with males often led females to assume she was a sleaze so Eliza steered clear of humans in general.

So then, what were the perks of being a female? Well, it was the extensive wardrobe of course. At the moment, Eliza stood in front of a floor-length mirror wearing a flowing peach-colored dress and white heels, smiling. Yes, it was definitely the wardrobe that made being a woman worthwhile.

She left her flat when Ivy sent a kind text saying

“I’m outside, get your American arse out here.”

Quite the charmer, Eliza thought.

Eliza got into Ivy’s car and looked at the smiling blonde. Ivy had the same green eyes as Noah but her hair fell in blonde waves around her shoulders rather than Noah's black hair. She was quite tall which did not surprise Eliza, both Ed and Rose were rather tall whereas Eliza was vertically challenged.

“Well, let’s go love. I’m absolutely famished.” Eliza said in a mock, posh English accent.

“Don’t ever repeat that and I’ll save you from the embarrassment of telling everyone else.” Ivy said with a serious look on her face before breaking out into a fit of laughter.

The mood in the car was light and happy but that quickly changed when the girls arrived at Ed and Rose’s house to have Noah open the door. Eliza’s smile fell while Ivy merely rolled her eyes.

“You clean up nice.” Noah said sarcastically.

“And you don’t.” Eliza said before dropping her coat in his hands as if he were a human coatrack.

Noah scowled at the girl’s retreating figure. She did look quite pretty but her pouty lips spewed a waterfall of pure and utter crap. Why couldn’t she
just keep her mouth shut? Noah thought for a second and came to the conclusion that Eliza was like a rose, pretty and nice to look at but get too close and it will sting.

Dinner was an oddity. The food was quite delicious and Rose Parker-Evansson was to thank for that. Throughout the course of the dinner, Ivy's painted red lips gushed continuously about anything and everything. She spoke of her classes at Uni, she was studying film and was very happy with the way school was going. She spoke of her flatmates and their idiosyncrasies. She spoke of the London weather which was surprisingly nice, a tad on the chilly side, but better than the typical rain and gloom. Ivy was about to talk about to speak of her landlord who was a twat when Noah interrupted.

"Lovely meal Mum. Although, I would enjoy it a great deal more if Ivy shut her trap." Noah said.

Before Ivy could protest, Eliza spoke "Well it's a good thing no one cares for your enjoyment now, isn't it? I was quite liking Ivy's storytelling."

"At least she's got a story to tell. You sit there all mysterious with not a single detail of your life let out. The only thing we know is that you're American and frankly, that shouldn't be good enough to let you in for dinner."

"Noah!" Rose exclaimed.

"It's quite alright. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a breath of fresh air." Eliza said before excusing herself and walking out of the dining room and into the Evansson's backyard.

Noah was an ass, that much was a guarantee. However, the ass had a point. She had walked into their lives with barely a hint as to who she was and they had welcomed her with open arms. However, letting up her past was more difficult said than done.

How could she tell them of the demons that haunted her? How could she tell them about her family and her incessant need to run? How? She looked up to the sky and watched the stars that twinkled. She saw the vast expanse of nothing before her and sighed. She longed to disappear into that very vast nothingness, letting the cloak of the night to consume her very being. Tears were pricking at her eyes but Eliza refused to let them fall. She would not let some English bloke make her cry.

"You don't need to say anything you don't want to." Eliza turned around to see the green-eyed boy that had almost made her shed tears. He held her white coat out as a peace offering, a white flag of surrender.

"It's cold, I though you might want this." Noah said. The truth was, even though he enjoyed getting a rise out of the pint-sized American, getting her upset wasn't what he wanted. He enjoyed throwing smart remarks at her, not watching her cry. Sadly enough, Noah cared for the girl.

"What I want is for you to go away." She told him bitterly.

"Eliza, we all have things we want to hide. I just..."

"Don't tell me you're sorry. An apology would mean I'd have to be nice to you. Take your apology and shove it somewhere nice so we can head back inside." Eliza said giving him smirk.