Hi! It’s me! Lily!
… Crystal is here. All the girls are here.
I’d like to say it was a happy, cheerful night, like it used to be. But it wasn’t. Not really. I mean, we were all happy to see her, and she got treated like a queen in many ways. Sabby made her a cake (one of the really chocolatey and decadent ones), and… we went upstairs, and it all kind of went to heck.
Beth was not happy with her.
It’s not that Beth hates her. She doesn’t, not at all. I don’t think she would be near this upset if she hated her. But she was kinda snapping at Crystal a bit. Crystal just sat there with her eyes downcast, and Beth just… kinda laid into her. In fact I thought she was going to slap her a couple of times, but she didn’t. Diana and Liz and I just kinda sat there and let her. She needs to get it off her chest, and it’s not really about us.
But then Crystal started crying.
Beth just kinda deflated and sat down on the side of the bed, and just said, quietly, “I thought I’d lost you.”
Crystal just quietly sobbed.
Beth wrapped her arms around her and started crying.
And the rest of us just went downstairs for a snack.
A few minutes later they came down. both of them were sniffling, but they seemed to have worked it out. We all had another piece of cake, and now we’re getting ready to make a girl-pile.
I missed Crystal. We all did. She told us about her time in the inpatient program. Apparently she made a few friends, and has a support system if she needs it.
That’s good. I don’t know when we’ll get the old Crystal back. Or the old Beth. But this is a really good start.
Tomorrow we’ve got much to do, so it’s time for bed.