I only froze for a few seconds.

Though, I'd be lying if those seconds didn't feel like eternity. I didn't turn towards Erik's voice. I didn't want to see him. I saw him enough, in my mind. In the worst part of my mind, my memory.

I couldn't breathe, the oxygen that was in my body was already trapped in my chest and all of it seemed useless. And it felt like the oxygen that was travelling through my bloodstream had stopped at a standstill too. My body had realized, I guess, that there was no oxygen.

So, my brain stopped working. There was no oxygen, so like I said I froze. I was scared. I didn't want to do what we did last time. I didn't want to run to the house and alert Daisy and her parents of my betrayal. I didn't want him inside the pool house.

I looked down at my new blankets— would I need to throw these ones away too? A wave of pain rushed over me as I contemplated having to do so.

And finally, my brain became unfrozen. It had only been a few seconds, like I said. Long, long seconds but seconds none the less. If I had waited any longer, I wouldn't have made it.

All of my muscles moved at the exact same time. Instead of turning toward Erik, like he must have expected, I turned the opposite way instead. I ran towards the bathroom, and when Erik realized what I was doing, so did he.

But, the surprise element had given me the advantage. I got to the door first, opening it as quickly as I was humanly able, and slamming it behind me before he could stop me. Erik twisted the door knob as the same time that I locked it. But that didn't keep him from trying to twist it again. Over and over, four more times he tried. Each twist becoming more and more forceful, until finally, he stopped.

He stopped in frustration. I knew this by the way he pounded on the door with his fist. The sound startled me, making me jump. I was worried that he would hit the door hard enough to open it up, and he would be able to get to me.

I felt my body fall weak and my eyes grow wide as I realized that possibility. I felt like I was going to fall, like my legs were made of glass and one wrong tap could shatter them completely. I stumbled away from the door, realizing this was as far away from Erik that I could get, in this threat.

I hit the wall, and my glass legs finally broke. I slid down the wall, hugging my knees into my chest. I waited for him to break the door and come to me. Just like last time. Would I be able to stop him? Did I have the option?

But, to my surprise, he didn't hit the door again. I heard another movement against it, but this one was not sharp and fast like his fist had been. It was dull, muted like it was his body slumping against the wood.

"Dahlia, come out here," Erik said. Though his voice was slightly muffled due to the closed door between us, it was still loud enough that I couldn't escape it.

I tried, of course. I pressed my hands against my ears, hoping to drown the sounds away so I could pretend I wasn't here. So I could pretend I was anywhere else but only feet away from him.

"Come on," he spoke again. "Unlock the door." He commanded in a stern voice, only waiting a second before trying to twist the knob again. He sighed in frustration, and his voice dropped from a command down to something much more subtle.

"We need to talk," he repeated his first words from when he arrived in the pool house.

When he had first spoke them, my mind didn't wander. I was too close to him to wander. But now, with the locked door between us and the apparent understanding that Erik couldn't break down Daisy's pool house door without serious question asked, I had some space to wander.

Of course, it didn't wander far before it came to the most likely conclusion. I was on drugs, I wasn't myself, I couldn't help it. Don't tell Daisy. Let's pretend it never happened. I love your sister, it was a mistake.

All of the cliche cheating excuses, I'm sure he would use. They've all been repeated a thousand times in our society, they would be hard to forget. I wondered if anyone who did such a thing ever truly meant them, or they were just premade excuses we all have access to.

I didn't answer Erik, of course. I couldn't connect myself to him in any way, even if it was just by conversation. He could talk at me, because unfortunately I had no shelter to shield my soul from his words. But I would not speak back.

I closed my eyes as I waited for his words, but when I heard them, they fell open again in surprise.

"You're doing a bad job, Dahlia," he spoke softer than he ever had before. "Daisy suspects something. You're giving it away."

I felt my features come together in confusion, not understanding the situation at all.

"She keeps talking about it. Every day she brings it up. There's something wrong with Dahlia. She seems sad. She's not talking to me. Do you think I did something wrong? Do you think she's mad at me? She never looks at me in the eye," Erik repeated her words, ending the monologue in a heavy huff.

Erik didn't wait for my response, it was almost as if he knew he wouldn't get one the longer I went without answering. But, he still spoke as if he was in a two-sided conversation.

"And what am I supposed to say? No, Daisy she's not mad at you, she's probably just avoiding you because she seduced your boyfriend," Erik let out.

"How could I have said no?" Erik mused like no one would ever disagree with him. I felt my stomach lurch again, the bile from my stomach beginning to creep back up my throat. "The way you were sitting there in those tight little shorts. I mean you opened the door for me, wearing those shorts. You sat on the bed beside me, looking like you did. Of course we were going to fuck. She wouldn't understand that, Dahlia."

I pushed my hand against my mouth, as the bile threatened to enter my mouth. I was shaking my head, though there was no logical reason to do so. I couldn't help it. My muscles moved, back and forth my head swayed.

"And I can't lie, you were better than I thought you would be. I can't stop thinking about you," Erik sighed, and it sounded like he pressed against the door again. "But you have to do better or Daisy will figure it out."

"And I don't think you want her to figure it out, Dahlia," Erik said and it sounded like a threat. "I think it will be really bad if Daisy figures out what you did to her. I mean," he stopped, letting out a short whistle. "That's the ultimate betrayal isn't it? Sleeping with your best friends boyfriend?"

I couldn't stop the bile from entering my mouth this time. I flipped my body over instantly, vomiting into the toilet beside me. I tried to force my body to be as silent as possible, but there was only so much to do to prevent the inevitable noises from happening. If Erik heard, he didn't let on.

Tears slowly rolled down my face as I threw up, three times until there was nothing left to dispel. Erik waited until I was silent again, before his vile voice continued speaking.

"I'm about to leave and it will be at least a week before I come back to Sapphire Cove," he said, and though his words should have made me feel lighter, my body wouldn't allow that to happen. "So, I'll say it again," his voice grew sharper. "Be a good girl, and be better."

I held my breath, waiting for the next words but none came. Erik said nothing more, but he still didn't leave. I could see his feet in the inch of space between the door and the floor. I continued to hold my breath, watching his shoes with intensity like I could will them to walk away myself.

I heard the door open.

I double checked the slit of the door. Erik's feet were still there. I heard footsteps into the pool house, but Erik didn't move.

"Erik?"

Erik turned sharply. I would have too, if I weren't safely locked in the bathroom. I sat up straight instead, like my muscles all stiffened at exactly the same time. I felt my eyes grow wide. I knew that voice, of course I did. This was not good.

"Hey, Sterling," Erik tried to say casually, but I heard a slight shake in his voice. I wondered if it was only audible to me, because I knew what secrets he kept.

"Uh," Sterling said, the end of the sound long, trailing in confusion. It was obvious why. "Where is Dahlia?"

"Why?" Erik's voice changed quickly, like the turn of a dime. It wasn't quite so casual any longer. Sharp, and slightly accusing. Again, I wondered if it was only audible to me.

"Because I've been waiting in the driveway for the last ten minutes and she didn't answer any of my calls?" Sterling's voice hardened too. "I'm her ride to school."

"Oh," Erik seemed to grasp his own attitude change, dialling it back down. "She's in the bathroom. She's doing her makeup, taking forever," he chuckled, false but not unconvincing. "I just came to get my book I lent her before I go back to Georgian."

"I'll just get it when I come back, Dahlia," Erik seemed to call out to me. "Better yet," he continued, "just give it to Daisy. Let her know how much you liked it."

And this time, Erik didn't wait for a response. I watched his footsteps, not breathing until the last one left the pool house.

And when it did, I felt like the oxygen returned to my body, at last.

"Dahlia?" Sterling called out, and he said my name like it was a question on its own.

I gulped down the oxygen I was now breathing, trying my best to let my voice ring clear and without a shake. It took me a few seconds before I thought it was possible.

"Yeah?" I said the single word and hoped it was good enough.

"We're going to be late for school," he said, his voice sounded detached. As if they were the last words he wanted to say.

"Just give me a minute," I breathed out. Pulling all my strength into my body, I stood up, trying to tame myself. I felt like I had been lit on fire, and I was trying to hide the flames. I breathed in, again and again. I took longer than a minute.

When I opened the door, I didn't look at Sterling, who was standing in the middle of the room, waiting for me. "I have to get dressed."

"Okay," Sterling said, and his voice still sounded off.

I pulled clothes randomly from the dresser, rushing back into the bathroom with them. After I had pulled them on, the designer black jeans that reminded me of the ones I had flown here in, and the grey cotton shirt that Daisy had picked out, I didn't look in the mirror.

I just opened the door instead, and I found Sterling still in the same place, staring at me. He hadn't turned to look as the door opened, which made me think he had been staring at the door, waiting for it to open.

"Okay," I said, still not meeting his eyes. I grabbed the new phone, tossing it into my backpack. I walked towards Sterling, who hasn't moved.

I expected him to move. I expected him to walk towards the door, and then to his car. He didn't. He just stared at me.

He didn't speak until I raised my eyes to look at him. He was looking at me like he knew I was lying, but he didn't know what the lie was. He was trying to find which words didn't make sense.

But, I had barely said any words to him. Only short sentences, none of them leaving room for a lie.

"You're not wearing any makeup," he said, his voice sounded cold and he looked me in my eyes like he was daring me to lie to him.

It took me a second to realize that he had found which words were a lie. They just hadn't been mine.