The Fifth Pillar

The rain outside made everything look like a grey smear, but the storm brewing inside the cosy coffee shop was much worse. Cecil held a mug of chamomile tea, and her hands shook as she watched her boyfriend of two years, Mark, nervously mess with a sugar packet. Her best friend, Clara was sitting across from her, looking at her phone with an unsettling smile. Cecil felt a cold fear settle in her stomach when Mark finally looked at her. His eyes were flat and didn't have the warmth she loved. He started with a flat voice, "Cecil." "I know this isn't easy to say, but I have to be honest. It was just a bet between us". Cecil's breath caught. She could only look at him, her mind having trouble understanding what he was saying. "A bet?" she said softly. Clara looked up from her phone, and a big smile spread across her face. "He won, of course," she said, her voice dripping with disdain. "The goal of the game was to get the good girl to fall in love with him." “It was almost sad how easy it was to trick you”. The world turned on its axis. The smell of coffee and baked goods that she was used to was replaced by the bitter taste of ash in her mouth. She felt a rush of heat to her face, not anger, but deep, deep shame. This wasn't an error. This was a cruel and planned act. She had been the pawn in a game they had been playing. She got up, and the loud noise of her chair falling over made some other customers look at her. "How could you?" she said, her voice breaking. She looked back and forth between the two people she trusted the most in the world, hoping to see a sign of regret, but there was none. Only a cold victory and a sickening lack of concern. She tripped out of the cafe and into the pouring rain, leaving them to win. Her heart, which had once been full of love for them, was now empty and broken.