'Today could not be possibly any worse' I thought as I viewed the scene in front of me; amusement clearly written in my brown eyes. I watched as my four best friends sat in my living room, bruised and bleeding from various places.
"You know, you probably shouldn't have soaked those girls. Now the field hockey team is gonna be out to get you."
"You know, you're not helping the situation Mandy." A boy who was holding an ice pack to his cheek remarked. His name was Logan; he's my best friend and older brother. The other three boys, who all groaned in unison agreed with him, were also my best friends.
James Diamond, 'the face' of our little group. He's dreamt of being a famous pop star ever since he learned the definition of music. He always carries his lucky comb with him and whenever you catch him singing, he'll go off into a rant about how he's going to be a huge famous pop star one day. But he's like my other brother, always looking out for me and telling me what hair products would work great for my hair.
Carlos Garcia, 'the daredevil', as we all calls him. Carlos always has his luck hockey helmet on and he never takes it off. If it weren't for that helmet, I think he'd suffer more brain damage than normal. Carlos is like one big giant goof ball of a teddy bear. He can be sweet and caring and then extremely risk taking the next.
Logan is my older brother. He's smart and sarcastic at times but really has a caring side once you get to know him. As my brother, he's always watching out for me and stands up for me whenever I'm being bullied. Not only that but he's my math tutor since I suck at the subject.
Then there was Kendall Knight. Kendall is a true natural born leader and always knows what to say. He's an amazing hockey player and I'm probably the closes to him out of everyone in our group; including Logan. He always has the right joke and loves to pull pranks on everyone.
Then there's me. My name's Amanda, Mandy for short. I'm not a daredevil, I'm not smart, I'm not the face, and I am most certainly not a leader. I'm normal unfortunately. I barely fit in with the crowd and especially with my brother and his friends. The only thing I can really do is dance. I've been dancing since I was four years old and now twelve year later here I am. The guys say I'm good but I know their just saying that because they don't want to hurt my feelings.
"Well it serves you right," I say while readjusting my glasses. Yeah, I'm one of those girls with the frizzy, unmanageable hair, the dorky glasses, braces and baggy clothing. I like the way I look, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't stop the teasing from everyone else.
"Still, you could be a little nicer while were in pain right now," Kendall groans.
"Or I could rub it in your faces how much of a stupid move that was and that it's kinda your fault." I smirk and make my way up to my room to do my homework.
About ten minutes later Logan barges into my room with the others hot on his tail, "Hey Mandy, were going out for awhile and who knows when we'll be back so you know the rules an make sure you follow them , okay? Bye." He says in a rush
I look at all of them strangely as they pile out of my room. 'Well that was interesting,' I think as I turn my attention back to by bio work. I was starting to become bored so I put my ipod on and started listening to my favorite music.
I didn't realize how late it had gotten when Logan came back into my room. I took my ipod out of my ears and looked at him strangely. He had this weird look on his face, like something good just happened but it's also a bad thing too.
"Hey, what's with the face?" I ask as I move my books over so he can have room to sit.
"What? Me? Nothing, nothing at all." He rambled on. Usually when Logan rambles something's going on.
"Logan, you're rambling again and you and I both know what that means." I give him my famous 'I- know- something's- up- and- you- better- tell- me' look, and he avoided eye contact with me.
"Well nothing really. Honestly Mandy, you have nothing to worry about. Hey it's getting kind late. Shouldn't you be getting ready for bed? I mean you have an all day rehearsal tomorrow and you want to have all the energy you can get. Okay well goodnight sis'." Once again with the rambling and then he's out the door. 'Well, that could've gone better,'
But he was right about one thing, I do have an all day rehearsal tomorrow. My dance studio is performing a ballet for the retirement home here in Minnesota. It should be fun, least it counts as community service.
I get ready for bed and drift into a dreamful slumber. The only thing that ruined it though was the annoying sound of my stupid alarm clock.
6:30 a.m. I groaned as I read the digital numbers. I quickly got up, showered, dressed in my dance wear, and went downstairs for a quick breakfast. By the time I was done, it was already eight in the morning. I rushed out of the house and out to my car and quickly drove off. By the time I got to the studio we were all practicing and soon I was joining them.
The day seemed to fly by because by the time we were finished, it was seven in the evening. Since I was exhausted, I decided to stay over at my friends' house since it was much closer than my own.
Hey, sleeping over at Dani's house tonight, tell mom see ya tomorrow- I txted Logan this and didn't wait for a reply. By the time we were done showering and dressed in our pj's , we'd already crashed.
The next day, I bid goodbye to Dani and her family as I drove back to my own home at a nice speed. By the time I pulled into the driveway, something didn't feel right. I don't know what it was, but I just had this feeling that something was missing.
"Mom? Dad? Logan?" when no one replied I definitely knew something was up. But then my mom came in through the kitchen.
"Oh Mandy, I didn't hear you come in. How was the rehearsal yesterday?"
"It was good, tiring really but other than that things ran smoothly." I smiled as I told her.
"Well that's good. I'm glad things weren't hectic as usually for you." She gave me a warm smile. That's my mom always loving me no matter what the situation.
"Speaking of hectic, where's Logan? I wanna tell him about yesterday." My mom's smile then fell from her face and was soon replace by a sadden expression.
"Mom, what's wrong? Did something happen?" I asked worriedly.
"Well no, nothing bad to be exact," I waited for her to explain the rest. "Well your brother and his friends, Kendall, Carlos and James, all got a recording deal with Gustavo Rocque and are heading out to Hollywood to record some songs." I felt my insides freeze. Gone? Hollywood? I felt a sudden shaking feeling inside me start to turn up.
How could they leave me like this? And they didn't even say goodbye. No txt message, no phone call, not even an email. Just gone, just like that. I felt the saltiness of tear star to leak down my cheeks. My brother and my best friends just left me. What am I going to do? How am I going to survive high school without them? Who will be there when I'm sad and need a shoulder to cry on? Who will be there to listen to me when I need to vent? What about when I start to get bullied again? No one will be there to protect me anymore.
I drop my bag onto the floor and race upstairs to my room, ignoring my mom's calls. I burst into my room and fling myself onto my bed; already the tears are soaking the pillows. Why? Why did they have to leave me? My own brother, and my best friends too. I am literally alone now. I know I have my parents, but I don't have any other friends except the ones from dance; and they don't go to my school. Life will never be the same now. I don't even know how long they'll even be gone for. Who knows is and when they're coming back. Will they forget about me? All these questions swam through my head as my tears kept flowing. I raised my head off of the pillows, which were now soaked with my tears, and wiped my eyes.
"I have to be me. I have to, no I will stand up for myself and I will not be put down anymore." Even as I said these words, a few tears escaped from my eyes. I just have to move on. I can't let my brother and his friends always defend me. I have to make a name for myself. I'll have to be me.