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xp_logsAfter seeing Angel's journal post, Sooraya decides Angel needs some comfort - and hot chocolate
Sooraya quickly made her way to the guest room where Angel was still staying. She still didn't quite know what had happened, but with the way her friend sounded on her journal Sooraya figured some hot chocolate was in order. When she arrived at the room, she shifted the small tray to one hand and knocked on Angel's door. "Angel? It's Sooraya... I have some hot chocolate with me..."
Angel's head snapped up as the sound of Sooraya's knock echoed through the room. She swallowed hard, jumping up and checking her face in the mirror. Eyes weren't red and puffy, and when she smiled it didn't look like a total lie. All set. Great. She hurried over to the door, yanking it open and putting on her best smile. "Hot chocolate? Magic words. What's up? Oh, come in, come in. " She stepped aside quickly to allow Sooraya into the room.
Quickly Sooraya stepped inside and made her way to a small table where she put the hot chocolate down. Then she looked at her friend. She was smiling and even though they had not seen her regularly for a long time it was still easy for her to see though her friend's smile. So she simple dragged to chairs close to where she had put the chocolate and walked over to Angel who still standing there looking her her. "You are not fooling me..." She said gently as she guided her over to the chairs. "What happened? Did you finally talk to Chloe?"
Angel's smile wavered slightly as she allowed herself to be steered over to the chair and sat down. She'd gone over the conversation so many times in her head, but trying to put that disaster into words... "Yeah," she finally said, reaching for a mug. "Yeah, I talked to her. It...didn't go well. Okay, that's an understatement. It was a disaster, actually. Actually, disasters go better than that conversation, did. Well, maybe that's an overstatement." She was babbling now and she knew it. She took a sip of hot chocolate to stop herself.
Sooraya took her own seat and sipped her hot chocolate. "I am so sorry to hear that. What did she say?"
Oh that was a complicated question. "She...wasn't happy. I mean, I knew she wasn't happy, there's a reason I had to take Kyle's phone to call her, I knew she wouldn't be happy. But I just hoped she would give me a chance to explain." I gave you months of chances. Angel winced, shaking her head of the words. "She was mad that I lied to her. Or that I didn't tell her the whole truth, at least. She said she couldn't trust me anymore, and I understand that. She said she didn't want to have to worry about things I was hiding from her or that I would accidentally set the apartment on fire or something...she told all of our friends about what happened." As far as summarizing the conversation went, that probably wasn't the best. But so much had been said... "She said I never gave any of them a chance to be my friends."
The young Afghani winced at the story and leaned over, gently putting her hand over Angel's. "That must have hurt. It sounds like she didn't give you much of chance to explain yourself..."
Angel gritted her teeth for a moment, ignoring the tears that threatened to well up. No, no, no, no, no. She would not cry. No. "I had my chance," she said quietly. "I had sooo many chances. We sat up together so many nights talking about everything, talking about our lives...it would have been so easy for me to just say, 'By the way, I'm a mutant.' Well, not easy, obviously. But it could have happened. It didn't. Ugh." She yanked her hand out of Sooraya's, digging her palms into her eyes. "Sorry," she muttered after a second. She'd been thinking about this way too much.
"It's okay. I understand why Chloe is angry, but she didn't really look at things from your side..." Sooraya's voice trailed as she saw Angel fighting back tears. So she simply moved her chair closer, just putting a supportive hand on Angel's shoulder. She wanted to give her the chance either to regain her composure or to let some things out...
Angel ran a hand over eyes, sucking in a sharp breath. "Ugh." She was torn between giving in to the tears (wasn't there something about crying making people feel better?), and putting on a good front for Sooraya. Not that it mattered now. "I know as far as decisions go, not telling her wasn't the best one I've ever made, but...I don't know. I just wish she wouldn't throw away the friendship we had over one mistake." And that did it. The tears slipped down Angel's cheeks, and she didn't bother trying to stop them.
"Maybe not, Angel. But she is making a mistake... a big mistake... as well, throwing away your friendship just like that." She gently slipped her arm around Angel's shoulders. "I think it's very hard for people in the outside world to put themselves in our place and to understand why you were so hesitant to tell Chloe about you being a mutant..."
Angel rested her head on Sooraya's shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment. "It works both ways though. Imagine if you were living with someone for three months, and then you find out they're a mutant. I can understand her being mad, I just...I don't know. You know what it's like when you have all these thoughts in your head and you can't make them make sense to people who aren't in your head with you?"
"Not directly, but I think I know what you mean. Do you think she might listen to you when things have had a little time to calm down? Or one of your other friends over there? You might at least have the chance to explain things a little more..."
The idea of talking to one of her other friends made Angel wince. "I don't know if I can fix this. They all know I lied to them, and I can't imagine they're going to be any more understanding about it than Chloe. Maybe once they've had time to think...but then again that's what I thought when I put off telling Chloe I'm a mutant. I thought if she had time to get to know me better, she'd take the news better. Clearly I was wrong."
Sooraya nodded. "Maybe you can't fix things, but you might be able to have a little more closure... And your friends only have heard Chloe's side of the story. If they were your friends, I think they need to hear your side as well. To give them the chance to let them make up their own minds..."
She was right, Angel decided, lifting her head and dragging her hand across her eyes, pulling in a deep breath. She didn't have much hope that the others wouldn't take Chloe's side, even if they knew Angel's story, but if nothing else, closure on that very brief, but no-less-wonderful part of her life would be nice. "Sorry," she said again as she rubbed her eyes and attempted to put on a rather shaky smile, and sipped the hot chocolate. "I didn't mean for...that...to happen."
"It's fine. That is what fr..." Sooraya quickly cut of her sentence as she realized how it would sound and smoothly continued: "...I am for." She took her own chocolate and quietly sipped it. "If you do decide you want to talk with your other friends, maybe you can write them a letter first. With your side of the story... It might give them the chance to think about things on their own..." She carefully offered the suggestion.
Angel's responding smile was a bit stronger this time. "Yeah, maybe. A letter or something...yeah. I think I'll do that." Not tonight, she decided at once. She wasn't going to be able to handle that tonight. But soon. It would be better than dealing with getting hung up on, or knowing someone was hitting the call-kill button. "Thanks, Sooraya. And thanks for the hot chocolate." She was really trying to say thanks for giving her a shoulder to cry on. But there was no way to say that without sounding utterly corny.
"You're welcome, Angel." Sooraya continued to sip her chocolate. "And I am sure things will have some way of working out..."
Somehow, Angel couldn't quite find it in herself to be that optimistic. But there was no point in counting her chickens before they hatched, and anyways she couldn't imagine all of her friends in England completely hated her...it was possible she'd find one who would be willing to listen. So she just smiled, said, "Yeah. I'm sure they will too," and drained half her mug of hot chocolate in one sip.
It was easy to see Angel's doubts at what Sooraya had said, but the Afghani woman simply let things be for now. Instead she just repeated: "They will..."
Sooraya quickly made her way to the guest room where Angel was still staying. She still didn't quite know what had happened, but with the way her friend sounded on her journal Sooraya figured some hot chocolate was in order. When she arrived at the room, she shifted the small tray to one hand and knocked on Angel's door. "Angel? It's Sooraya... I have some hot chocolate with me..."
Angel's head snapped up as the sound of Sooraya's knock echoed through the room. She swallowed hard, jumping up and checking her face in the mirror. Eyes weren't red and puffy, and when she smiled it didn't look like a total lie. All set. Great. She hurried over to the door, yanking it open and putting on her best smile. "Hot chocolate? Magic words. What's up? Oh, come in, come in. " She stepped aside quickly to allow Sooraya into the room.
Quickly Sooraya stepped inside and made her way to a small table where she put the hot chocolate down. Then she looked at her friend. She was smiling and even though they had not seen her regularly for a long time it was still easy for her to see though her friend's smile. So she simple dragged to chairs close to where she had put the chocolate and walked over to Angel who still standing there looking her her. "You are not fooling me..." She said gently as she guided her over to the chairs. "What happened? Did you finally talk to Chloe?"
Angel's smile wavered slightly as she allowed herself to be steered over to the chair and sat down. She'd gone over the conversation so many times in her head, but trying to put that disaster into words... "Yeah," she finally said, reaching for a mug. "Yeah, I talked to her. It...didn't go well. Okay, that's an understatement. It was a disaster, actually. Actually, disasters go better than that conversation, did. Well, maybe that's an overstatement." She was babbling now and she knew it. She took a sip of hot chocolate to stop herself.
Sooraya took her own seat and sipped her hot chocolate. "I am so sorry to hear that. What did she say?"
Oh that was a complicated question. "She...wasn't happy. I mean, I knew she wasn't happy, there's a reason I had to take Kyle's phone to call her, I knew she wouldn't be happy. But I just hoped she would give me a chance to explain." I gave you months of chances. Angel winced, shaking her head of the words. "She was mad that I lied to her. Or that I didn't tell her the whole truth, at least. She said she couldn't trust me anymore, and I understand that. She said she didn't want to have to worry about things I was hiding from her or that I would accidentally set the apartment on fire or something...she told all of our friends about what happened." As far as summarizing the conversation went, that probably wasn't the best. But so much had been said... "She said I never gave any of them a chance to be my friends."
The young Afghani winced at the story and leaned over, gently putting her hand over Angel's. "That must have hurt. It sounds like she didn't give you much of chance to explain yourself..."
Angel gritted her teeth for a moment, ignoring the tears that threatened to well up. No, no, no, no, no. She would not cry. No. "I had my chance," she said quietly. "I had sooo many chances. We sat up together so many nights talking about everything, talking about our lives...it would have been so easy for me to just say, 'By the way, I'm a mutant.' Well, not easy, obviously. But it could have happened. It didn't. Ugh." She yanked her hand out of Sooraya's, digging her palms into her eyes. "Sorry," she muttered after a second. She'd been thinking about this way too much.
"It's okay. I understand why Chloe is angry, but she didn't really look at things from your side..." Sooraya's voice trailed as she saw Angel fighting back tears. So she simply moved her chair closer, just putting a supportive hand on Angel's shoulder. She wanted to give her the chance either to regain her composure or to let some things out...
Angel ran a hand over eyes, sucking in a sharp breath. "Ugh." She was torn between giving in to the tears (wasn't there something about crying making people feel better?), and putting on a good front for Sooraya. Not that it mattered now. "I know as far as decisions go, not telling her wasn't the best one I've ever made, but...I don't know. I just wish she wouldn't throw away the friendship we had over one mistake." And that did it. The tears slipped down Angel's cheeks, and she didn't bother trying to stop them.
"Maybe not, Angel. But she is making a mistake... a big mistake... as well, throwing away your friendship just like that." She gently slipped her arm around Angel's shoulders. "I think it's very hard for people in the outside world to put themselves in our place and to understand why you were so hesitant to tell Chloe about you being a mutant..."
Angel rested her head on Sooraya's shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment. "It works both ways though. Imagine if you were living with someone for three months, and then you find out they're a mutant. I can understand her being mad, I just...I don't know. You know what it's like when you have all these thoughts in your head and you can't make them make sense to people who aren't in your head with you?"
"Not directly, but I think I know what you mean. Do you think she might listen to you when things have had a little time to calm down? Or one of your other friends over there? You might at least have the chance to explain things a little more..."
The idea of talking to one of her other friends made Angel wince. "I don't know if I can fix this. They all know I lied to them, and I can't imagine they're going to be any more understanding about it than Chloe. Maybe once they've had time to think...but then again that's what I thought when I put off telling Chloe I'm a mutant. I thought if she had time to get to know me better, she'd take the news better. Clearly I was wrong."
Sooraya nodded. "Maybe you can't fix things, but you might be able to have a little more closure... And your friends only have heard Chloe's side of the story. If they were your friends, I think they need to hear your side as well. To give them the chance to let them make up their own minds..."
She was right, Angel decided, lifting her head and dragging her hand across her eyes, pulling in a deep breath. She didn't have much hope that the others wouldn't take Chloe's side, even if they knew Angel's story, but if nothing else, closure on that very brief, but no-less-wonderful part of her life would be nice. "Sorry," she said again as she rubbed her eyes and attempted to put on a rather shaky smile, and sipped the hot chocolate. "I didn't mean for...that...to happen."
"It's fine. That is what fr..." Sooraya quickly cut of her sentence as she realized how it would sound and smoothly continued: "...I am for." She took her own chocolate and quietly sipped it. "If you do decide you want to talk with your other friends, maybe you can write them a letter first. With your side of the story... It might give them the chance to think about things on their own..." She carefully offered the suggestion.
Angel's responding smile was a bit stronger this time. "Yeah, maybe. A letter or something...yeah. I think I'll do that." Not tonight, she decided at once. She wasn't going to be able to handle that tonight. But soon. It would be better than dealing with getting hung up on, or knowing someone was hitting the call-kill button. "Thanks, Sooraya. And thanks for the hot chocolate." She was really trying to say thanks for giving her a shoulder to cry on. But there was no way to say that without sounding utterly corny.
"You're welcome, Angel." Sooraya continued to sip her chocolate. "And I am sure things will have some way of working out..."
Somehow, Angel couldn't quite find it in herself to be that optimistic. But there was no point in counting her chickens before they hatched, and anyways she couldn't imagine all of her friends in England completely hated her...it was possible she'd find one who would be willing to listen. So she just smiled, said, "Yeah. I'm sure they will too," and drained half her mug of hot chocolate in one sip.
It was easy to see Angel's doubts at what Sooraya had said, but the Afghani woman simply let things be for now. Instead she just repeated: "They will..."
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