Emeralds

by K. A. Linde

  “And you, too.”

  “Yeah.” Trihn wrung her hands in front of her.

  “I just can’t believe…” Lydia’s words trailed off as she looked over Trihn’s shoulder. “Hey,” she whispered.

  “Hey, babe,” Preston said. He leaned against the doorframe. “What’s going on in here?”

  “We were just talking,” Lydia said. “And I was giving Trihn an outfit for sailing.”

  Preston glanced at Trihn’s outfit. “Nice.” He walked over to Lydia and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  Trihn tried not to cringe.

  “Sorry it took so long, but I’m all yours now. Work just really needed me.”

  “Oh, yeah? What’s her name?” Trihn said under her breath.

  Preston’s eyes narrowed, and this time, Trihn winked before turning and walking out of the room.

  She could hear Lydia yelling at him from down the hall.

  TRIHN SHOULD HAVE FELT BETTER.

  But she didn’t. Telling Lydia the truth didn’t change the fact that Preston had slept with and cheated on both of them. Really, nothing had changed, except now both she and Lydia were suffering for what he had done. Trihn hated that her sister had to hurt with her, but she knew telling her was the right thing to do.

  Trihn trudged back down the stairs on her way to Ian’s house, but her mother stopped her in the foyer.

  “Trihn, I love that outfit!” Linh called. She smiled at her from the kitchen where a large picnic basket sat on the counter with a half-empty bottle of chardonnay next to it.

  “Oh. Thanks.” She had forgotten that she was still decked out in the outfit that Lydia had wanted her to wear for sailing. “Lydia let me borrow it.”

  “It’ll be perfect for the boat.” She took a long sip out of the glass of wine in front of her.

  “Mom—”

  “Is Lydia about ready to go? Your father is restless to get out on the water, and you know how he is when he gets restless.”

  “Yeah, I do, but I don’t think Lydia is going to go sailing,” Trihn told her.

  “What?” Linh asked. She set her wine down and looked up at her in surprise. “Why not? She was looking forward to it. It’s her favorite thing to do at the beach.”

  “Yeah. Um…she and Preston are arguing.”

  Linh frowned. She glanced up the stairs like she wanted to go up there and find out what was going on. “Is it serious?”

  Trihn nodded. “I heard her yelling in her room from down the hall.”

  “Did you hear what it’s about?”

  “Um…no,” Trihn lied. She definitely didn’t want her mother weighing in on the Lydia-Preston-Trihn fiasco.

  “Should I go up there and check on her?”

  “I think it would probably be best if you didn’t. We should give them some privacy and go sailing.”

  Linh pursed her lips. “All right. I don’t want to interfere, but they seemed fine this morning.”

  Don’t I know it?

  “Okay. Well, go get Ian, and then we’ll head out.”

  “Oh, Mom—”

  “If your sister can’t go, then you absolutely have to go. March right over to the Petersons’ and tell Ian that we need him. I’m not doing all the heavy lifting on my own.”

  Trihn grumbled under her breath, but she didn’t see a way out of it. At least it would keep her away from Lydia and Preston’s argument.

  Ian had no problem in agreeing to come sailing with them. He was competent on the water from years of their families going together. Any earlier tension that had been between them dissipated when she told him what had happened with Lydia, not that they had much time to discuss it before driving with her parents out to the docks.

  Plus, she wanted to talk to Renée, who had sent her a bunch of text messages this morning. Apparently, Trihn had drunk-texted her the night before.

  What do you mean, you slept with him?

  Trihn cringed at that one. Not her finest moment.

  Hey. Sorry about the texts last night. I had a little bit to drink.

  A little bit? Puh-lease. Tell me what happened!

  This morning, I told Lydia about Preston. She didn’t believe me at first, but I finally got through to her. She and Preston are arguing right now. I think they’re going to break up.

  Sounds just like Lydia not to believe you, but at least you got through to her. I always knew he was creepy! But are you going to be okay, T?

  Trihn swallowed. Am I going to be okay? That was a good question.

  Yeah. Don’t worry about me.

  Someone has to.

  About to get to the sailboat. I’ll talk to you more about it after!

  Yuppie.

  Trihn laughed at the comment. Ian raised his eyebrows, and she showed him the text.

  “Well, if the shoe fits,” he said.

  Trihn surveyed his outfit and shrugged in agreement. He was wearing khaki shorts that stopped four inches above his knee, a white polo with a navy-blue sweater hanging from his shoulders, and brown boat shoes. Together, they looked like the definition of yuppie, and it hurt her rocker soul.

  Once they arrived, they found their boat, and Ian helped her on deck. The sailboat was really more of a yacht, if they were getting technical, and had the option of coming with a captain and small crew that her parents had accepted since Lydia and Preston weren’t with them.

  The crew easily maneuvered the boat out of the dock and onto open water. She and Ian sat down with her parents to eat lunch out of the picnic basket her mother had prepared earlier this morning. With the absence of Lydia and Preston, there was more food to go around than expected, and they shared with the crew.

  Trihn’s parents grabbed a bottle of wine and reclined back in chairs at the aft of the ship, leaving Trihn and Ian to enjoy the rest of the afternoon how they saw fit. They found a spot near the front, lay back against the deck, and stared up at the cloudless sky.

  “What do you think Lydia and Preston are talking about right now?” Trihn asked. She propped herself on an elbow and looked down at him.

  Ian shrugged, meeting her gaze. “How much of an asshole he is?”

  She bit her lip. “I hope he’s gone by the time we get home.”

  “Don’t we all?” he said.

  She dropped back down next to him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They had done this every summer since they were kids, but suddenly, Lydia’s words rang in her mind. Ian liked her. Trihn knew that he cared for her, but she hadn’t thought it went further than that. Or maybe she just didn’t want it to. She never wanted this to be awkward.

  “Thanks for being here for me.”

  He squeezed her tighter. “You know I’d do anything for you.”

  “Yeah.”

  Silence dragged on between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It never was.

  Trihn was lost in her thoughts about Preston and Lydia. She was stressing over what could be happening, not that she wanted to be there to deal with the fallout, but she just wanted to know what to expect when she got back.

  “I really like this,” Ian said softly.

  “Me, too.”

  She closed her eyes and let herself drift off. In another world, this could be her life with Ian. Sometimes, she wished that it could be this easy.

  But then she knew it couldn’t. And wanting something that she couldn’t have had only made a mess of her life.

  She pulled away from Ian and sat up on the deck.

  “Hey,” he said, reaching for her hand, “what are you thinking about?”

  “Us, I guess.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Is there an us?”

  She met his gaze and shook her head. “I love you, Ian, but you know…you’re more like a brother to me.”

  He nodded, but the pain was on his face.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know. I’ve always known, Trihn. You don’t have to apologize. This isn’t news to me.”

  “We’ve never talked about it before…�
��

  “We never needed to,” he said quickly. “I confess that I thought it might be different once I was back in the city again. We’d be closer, spend more time together. It would be easier. We wouldn’t have to wait just for vacations.”

  “Ian,” she whispered, “I don’t know what to say.”

  He smiled forlornly. “It was a dream. Nothing more. I knew things weren’t going to change.”

  “You’ll find someone better than me at Columbia. I know you will.”

  “Unlikely. I’ve known you my whole life, and I haven’t found someone like you yet.”

  Trihn touched his arm in appreciation. It was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her. She didn’t believe it though. Ian had just known her for too long. He would branch out in college and find the perfect woman for him. She knew it.

  “And here I am…falling for an asshole.”

  “Nice guys do finish last.”

  After a minute, Trihn sheepishly peeked back up at him. “You know, I am sorry.”

  He shrugged. “Don’t be. After all this time, it’s good for you to finally know. At least I’ll never wonder what could have been.”

  Trihn decided to let the conversation be. There was so much more she could have said, but she was glad that they had cleared the air. She didn’t want him to be hurt over what had happened with Preston, and she definitely didn’t want their friendship to suffer because of that—or worse, because of her insensitivity to him.

  They spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging on the deck and catching some rays. As their time in the sun came to a close, Trihn realized she was glad that she had come out on the boat even if she was anxious about what she would find when she got home. She had tried not to think too much about it, but as they docked the boat and then drove back to the house, nerves buzzed through her body.

  “Let me know if you need me later, okay?” Ian whispered into her ear when they pulled up to the house.

  She nodded. She was so tense that she couldn’t even speak. She just hurried inside.

  None of the lights were on when she walked in, which she took as a good sign. Maybe Preston had already left, and Lydia was napping or something.

  She didn’t know, but she was ready to find out.

  Her feet carried her through the kitchen and then into the dark living room. She flipped the switch on and stumbled backward into the wall. Of all the things she had expected, this was not it.

  Lydia and Preston were lying on the couch, their clothes were rumpled, and they were making out like it was the last thing they were ever going to do.

  “What the fuck?” Trihn cried.

  “I THOUGHT YOU SAID THEY WERE ARGUING, TRIHN,” Linh said. She had been following close on Trihn’s heels and witnessed what was happening on the couch. “I should have realized that was teenager code for wanting to be alone in the house.”

  Trihn just stared open-mouthed at the display before her. On the inside, she was raging. What the fuck could have happened in the span of an afternoon to go from Lydia yelling at Preston about cheating on her to making out on the couch? There was no way they should still be dating. It made zero sense.

  “You guys are back!” Lydia said. She quickly straightened and stood. “Already.”

  “Already,” Linh said with a shake of her head. “It’s dinnertime, and the Petersons invited us over. You should go…freshen up.” Linh raised her eyebrows at the two of them. On a normal day, she wouldn’t care what her children were doing and with whom, but she didn’t like for it to interfere with her plans.

  “Okay, Mom,” Lydia said. She brushed her hair over her shoulder and smiled lazily.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Preston said quickly.

  Linh nodded at them, as if her message was clear, and then left for her own room to get ready for dinner.

  Trihn just glared at Lydia and Preston. “What the fuck is this?” she demanded as soon as Linh was out of earshot. “When I left, you were screaming at each other, and a few hours later, you’re back to making out? What part of ‘he was cheating on you,’ did you misunderstand, Ly?”

  Lydia looked up at Preston, and he nodded.

  “Can we go talk?” Lydia asked, nodding toward the empty den.

  “We can’t talk right here? Are you afraid Mom and Dad will find out what an asshole he is?” Trihn said.

  All the anger that she had been feeling this week on vacation was pouring out of her. She wanted to yell and scream at the top of her lungs for everyone to hear. The man who she had loved could not be putting her through this hell right now.

  “Trihn, let’s just try to be reasonable,” Preston said softly, consolingly.

  Fuck that.

  “Do not try to talk to me like I’m an idiot. I see what is going on here, but I don’t understand any of it.” She clenched her hands into fists. “Someone, please explain to me how this happened. What lies did he feed you for you to just ignore the facts?”

  “He didn’t feed me any lies, Trihn,” Lydia said carefully.

  “You don’t know him if you think that every word he says is the truth. He twists words and the truth, all so that you will believe him…so you’ll fall for him.”

  “Jesus, Trihn,” Preston said. “I didn’t realize you thought that lowly of me.”

  “You made me feel this way!” Trihn tried to reel herself in, but it wasn’t working. She had never thought that Preston and Lydia would stay together once Lydia had found out the truth. In fact, Trihn had been more worried about hurting her sister. It was apparently all for nothing.

  “We actually both wanted to talk to you about this,” Lydia said, standing in between Trihn and Preston. “This wasn’t how we wanted you to find out that we were staying together.”

  “What exactly would be a good way for me to find that out?”

  “Not like this, obviously.”

  “Obviously,” Trihn repeated. “Just…why?”

  “I know that you and Preston were talking for a while this summer,” Lydia began.

  “Talking,” Trihn said tonelessly. If that’s what you call fucking backstage at a ballet and on his dining room table and at the studio and, and, and…

  “Yes, but after Preston and I discussed it, I realized I was only getting half of the story. Just your half. I didn’t realize how much more there was to it.”

  “Oh, this should be a real treat. What exactly is Preston’s side of the story? And how does what we did this summer equate to just talking?” Trihn asked.

  “Trihn, I know you told Lydia that I was your boyfriend this summer, but we never defined our relationship like that,” Preston said.

  She couldn’t even meet his gaze. She stared firmly at Lydia. If she looked at Preston, her anger might disintegrate into tears. “I’m not sure the definition is relevant at this point. You and I both know what happened this summer.”

  “The truth is…Preston and I never defined our relationship this summer either. We never talked about dating exclusively.” Lydia shrugged. “I don’t normally do that anyway. Until I invited him to come on vacation with us, he hadn’t even realized how serious we were and that maybe I would want this to become something more. We both messed around with other people before that point, so that’s why he didn’t break up with you until right before vacation.”

  “What?” Trihn asked. Her head snapped to Preston. “We didn’t break up. You never broke up with me.”

  “You’ve been saying all week that we broke up.”

  “I said that because you showed up with my sister!” Trihn cried, pointing at Lydia.

  “Well, I didn’t know that you would be here,” Preston admitted. “Lydia invited me on vacation with her, and when the rest of the family showed up, it was a bit of a shock to me. Neither of us wanted to hurt your feelings.”

  “You’re joking right now,” Trihn said. Lies, all lies. Everything out of his mouth was one big lie. “Do you ever tell the truth? Did you really work all night that time you didn’t
answer the phone? Are you fucking that Stephanie girl? That one morning after I stayed the night, was it really someone else who was calling rather than work? How about we just check your cell phone right now and see if all the lies are unraveled?”

  “Trihn!” Lydia cried. “I’m sorry about all the stuff that happened during this vacation, but you don’t need to go accusing Preston of being a liar. You told me what happened. He told me what happened. I can’t preach free love and then be pissed when I’m not even in a serious relationship.” She intertwined her fingers with Preston’s and leaned into his arm. “I’m ready for this to be serious now.”

  Trihn’s eyes popped out of her head. “You’re seriously choosing him over me?”

  “It’s not a choice, Trihn,” Lydia said. “I choose both of you. We can make this work.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re so very wrong, Lydia. I can’t make this work.” Trihn shook her head in disbelief. “We’re about to move in together, and you’re dating…him. I won’t live there if you’re with him.”

  “Trihn, don’t make this an ultimatum.”

  “It became one the minute you cared more about him than me,” Trihn said. She shook her head and backed up a few steps. “And you chose him.”

  “This is a choice you’re making. You’re choosing to walk out.”

  “You’re right,” Trihn said. “I am. Fuck this.”

  Then, she turned and ran from the house. She ran from the bullshit that she considered her life and the torment of seeing Preston with her sister and the utter inhumanity of her own flesh and blood choosing a boy over her.

  TRIHN’S FEET CARRIED HER TO THE PETERSONS’. She found Ian in his room on his computer. Before she could get a word out, she broke down into sobs.

  “What? What happened?” He reached for her and pulled her onto his lap. “Trihn, are you all right? Tell me what happened!”

  “She…chose…him…over me,” Trihn said between hiccuping tears.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her tears stain his polo. Words were failing her as her heart shattered into as many pieces as there were stars in the night sky.

  “She did what?”

  Trihn sniffed a few times before the tears subsided enough for her to have a coherent conversation. “They talked it out when we were gone, and she believed all his lies. He told her that he wasn’t serious with her until she invited him on vacation, and then he broke up with me, which wasn’t what happened. I just said that he broke up with me because I saw him with her. When I tried to explain, she wouldn’t even listen to me. Then, I told her that I couldn’t be around her if she was dating him, and she chose him.”