Right There

I pull Echo through the crowd, still no words between us, I hear Poppy restart the auto-DJ, and everyone seems to settle back into the party mood. It's amazing how much people will overlook if you play music and hand them beer.

I saw Andi head to the cabins, so I lead us in that direction, but the hallways are sprawling in here, and there's no clear way of knowing which room she's in. I try a couple, checking if there's any signs of life, but so far there's nothing. Suddenly, Echo yanks her hand out of mine, causing me to turn round to face her.

"Why are you doing this?" She demands, not waiting for an answer before continuing. "You heard her, I was using you. You were just a tool to make her forget about me, now your job's done. It's over. Fuck off." Her words are full of venom and spite, but she says them all while looking straight at the ground.

"You done?" I ask, causing her to look up in surprise. "I'm doing it because you're a shit liar, and none of that is true." With that I take her hand again and begin opening more doors, until I hear a sound from one of them... Weeping. It's Andi, for sure.

I go to open it, but Echo pulls back on me again. "Don't..." She whispers. "She's better off this way."

Oh, fuck that.

I open the door and push Echo inside, before entering myself, and locking the door behind us. Andi shrieks in surprise at our sudden entrance, before realising who it is. I decide to declare my intentions before either of them try to start a world war.

"Look, I'm the new guy here, I don't know every little detail of your relationship, but that, out there? That was fucking insane, from both of you." I state loudly, drawing both of their attentions. "Let me get this absolutely clear, you two broke up for whatever fucking reason, then decide you're not broken up enough, so Andi sits there pining like a lovesick puppy, and Echo decides to make out with me to get her to stop... Am I getting any of this wrong?"

Their silence tells me my recap is at least mostly accurate. I take a seat on a chair, looking around the small room, it's equipped with a couple of bunkbeds and not a lot else, makes sense, this thing likely wasn't used for long-term voyages, channel hopping probably.

"I never told you to wait for me." Echo finally says, sitting on the bottom bunk of one of the beds. "You asked if you could wait for me, and I said do what you want."

"Why on Earth wouldn't I? I loved you!" Andi snaps back. "We were best friends! I'd have waited forever for you... Especially after..."

Well this is going nowhere, I need to understand what's going on, these two are too close to it to think clearly. "That's enough. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me what happened? Maybe then I can figure out what the fuck you're talking about." I suggest.

I look between the two, waiting to see who will open up first, eventually, Andi proves to be the one willing to talk. "We were friends, we grew up together. A lot of people used to pick on Echo for her condition, but I... I thought she was so pretty. So different from everyone else." She begins, Echo looking away from the compliment. "Then we got older and... One day Echo told me how she felt. That she was in love with me. I was so happy, we organised to meet up here for our first date, I set everything up, and I waited... But that was the day her mother..." She trails off.

The day her mother abducted her. Echo's face remains unchanged, but her clenched fist tells me it's hard to think about. I know she hates her mother, I can't blame her, but I don't know how it relates to Andi.

"When she got back... She pulled away, said she needed time alone, so a few days passed, then weeks... Months... Years... Until now. I just waited. Guys would ask me out, and I'd just turn them down flat. Even if I really liked them, there was always the question, 'What if she comes back?' I couldn't risk it. Because... Who else would she have?" Andi concludes.

"Oh fuck off!" Echo bursts out, finally looking Andi in the eyes. "I don't need anyone, I was doing just fine by myself, you aren't some magical fix to every issue in my life. If you want to fuck every guy from here to the South Pole, fucking do it! I didn't want you anymore, and you just can't deal with it." She roars.

Each word seems to cut Andi to her core, causing her to well up. Is that it? Echo just didn't feel like it, so she left Andi hanging? Echo's the big, bad, villain? Something about that... No, wait, this is obvious.

"Such a shit liar." I deduce, causing both to look to me with an expression of confusion. "Here's what I think. The shit with your mother happening coincidentally the same day you were going to meet Andi? No way, I think you told your mum that you were in love with Andi, and she didn't approve in her... Sick way. Once it was over, you'd realised that Andi being close to you was an actual danger to her, not just her reputation, but an actual, physical, threat." I surmise.

Echo's face turns from confusion to fear, Andi just looks shocked. "You pushed Andi away, spread the rumour that you were some sociopathic monster, dyed your hair, changed your attitude... All to make sure no one would get as close as she did." I continue, finally feeling like I have some grasp on the situation. "Better to be feared by everyone than risk others using you as an excuse to harm those you care about, am I right?"

Echo leaps to her feet at my accusation. "What the fuck do you know? It's so easy to fucking judge when you've got the perfect fucking life. Perfect body, perfect future, perfect family. You think it was so easy for me? I did it because I had to... It was all I could do." She yells, her voice breaking as she speaks each solemn word, her gaze drifting to her feet.

I stand and walk to her, putting my hand on her shoulder. "I know. I can't pretend to understand exactly how you feel... But you don't have to do it alone. Like it or not, you've got friends now." I reassure her, as finally, she breaks. Tears pour from Echo's eyes, I can't help but pull her into a hug. Andi stands as well, placing a hand on Echo's shoulder, who turns and receives a second hug.

"You fucking idiot." Andi sighs, it's weird hearing her swear, but pretty cathartic. "You could've just told me... I could've helped you." The girls embrace, and I step away, it doesn't seem like my moment right now.

The two break apart slightly, resting their foreheads on each other, for a moment I think they're going to kiss... Which would certainly cause conflicting emotions, but they just stay wrapped in a hug, like they're trying to make up for all the cuddles they missed over the years.

I turn to the door a reach for the handle before I'm cut off by a sudden bark. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Echo's voice barks at me. I turn instinctively, seeing her walk angrily towards me. "One question I haven't figured out, why do all this? Why get involved, yeah, you're a friend, but... I mean, no one else went this far, so why?"

Why? Well, that's a stupid question, isn't it? It's clearly because I... Because of... 'So, maybe be careful with it unless there's someone you really want to feel that way about you.' Those words linger in my head. Now's not the time, not unless I really know what I want.

"Oh, just because of something my Mama said." I reply without elaborating, Echo looks rightfully confused but I don't have a better answer right now. I make my exit, with one question running through my mind...

Why is my heart beating so fast?