Keely couldn't tell what bothered her the most. Was it the fact that her boyfriend Dan had been cheating on her for two weeks? Maybe that he had been cheating on her with Liz Fox, whom she couldn't stand?
Or maybe that it had been Liz, and not Dan, that told her about it; that he didn't even have the decency to tell her it was over himself?
She decided it didn't really matter which it was; the fact of the matter was that her relationship was no more, and there was no way she was getting him back.
Why did I think he would be any different? Of course he would end up like every other guy... he didn't love me. He didn't ever love me. He was just... using me...
Her musings were interrupted by her younger sister, Bonnie, knocking on her bedroom door. "C'mon in," Keely said in a chipper voice.
"Hey, I just wanted to borrow your--" Bonnie stopped in her tracks as she noticed her sister was still in bed. "What are you doing still in bed? Are you sick?"
Keely let out a chuckle and shook her head. "No, just woke up late I guess. What did you want to borrow?"
"Hmm? Oh, your blue headband. I figured it would go good with this," she muttered, looking down at her tied-off button-up shirt and blue tartan skirt. "But that's not the point. You're never in bed after I'm up. Are you sure you're not sick? I don't want to catch the flu."
"I feel fine," Keely reassured her. "Check by my scarves, I think I left it somewhere in there." She smiled at her sister and threw back her blankets, and started to get out of bed.
Bonnie gave a noncommittal "Mm" as she walked to the closet and grabbed the headband. "Well, talk to me if you feel like something's bothering you," she said as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
"It bothers me that I don't have an outfit like that," Keely observed. Bonnie rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"I'm being serious, Keely. You know you can talk to me, right?"
"Of course. Come on, get out, I've got to get ready. Out!" Keely urged, nudging her sister along. Once she was safely alone in the room, Keely sat down and rested her cheeks on her hands, with her elbows on her thighs.
Why do I let this bother me so much? Relationships in middle and high school aren't supposed to last... they're just... practice for what's ahead...
Of course if they were really practice, we'd go through them dry and flat, without any emotions. Like robots.... and that's just not right.
Try as she might, she couldn't convince herself that Dan wasn't worth her grief.
With considerable effort, she walked over to the door, opened up her closet, and picked out a long-sleeved shirt and pair of jeans to throw on. She wasn't feeling particularly concerned with her appearance today. Within 15 minutes, just as she was picking up her bag, Bonnie knocked on her door. "C'mon, Keel Big Fish, let's go."
Keely couldn't help but feel as if nature were mocking her with the completely overcast sky that day. The autumn air was dense and chilly, and Keely could practically feel the moisture with each breath she took in. She sighed and kicked at some dead leaves on the walkway as they headed off for school. She kept her eyes down, scanning the sidewalk as they walked along. She couldn't think of anything to say; the only sounds other than a soft breeze came from her Converses and her sister's Mary Janes plodding along the concrete, crunching the occasional leaf.
Bonnie, who found the silence unbearable, decided to try and strike up conversation. "So seriously, what's bothering you so much? Is it Dan?"
Keely pursed her lips and looked away from her sister while she slid her hands into her pockets.
"Oh no... it is, isn't it?" her sister asked, her tone softening. "He broke up with you, didn't he?"
"Sort of. His girlfriend did," Keely said bitterly.
Bonnie put a sympathetic arm around her sister's shoulders. "He wasn't good enough for you, anyway, Keely."
Keely wanted to break out in argument at that. Who's to say he wasn't good enough for me? You can't judge him based on my standards! Only I know what I want! If I say he was good enough for me, then dammit, he was good enough for me! Nothing you say is going to change that, and I can't stand your empty platitudes telling me everything is going to be okay!
Instead, Keely said, "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Trust me, Keely, guys are all idiots. The best you can hope for is one that realizes he's an idiot, and that he needs you to survive."
"Like you should be talking," Keely said, smiling despite herself.
"Don't go dragging me into this. You're the one being all mopey."
"I'm not being all mopey." Keely rolled her eyes. "I'm being ... understandably morose."
"Six of one, half a dozen of the other. The point is... you got rid of a guy who obviously didn't care about you, and now you're open to find someone else who really does. Someone who deserves you."
Keely sighed. Maybe her sister had a point.
"You've got plenty of time to be worrying about that anyway," Bonnie added. "Why are you so concerned about finding someone? You're young! Get out there and have some fun! Forget about guys!"
Keely couldn't help but laugh at the irony of her younger sister giving her this advice.
"It's not funny; it's true and you know it!"
Keely shrugged. "Okay, maybe it is. Can't you just let me be a little sad over this?"
"You know I don't like seeing you sad, Keeko."
She nodded. The conversation died off and they finished the rest of the short walk to school in silence. Bonnie opened the door and walked in before her sister. "So hey, I'll meet up with you after school? Or do you have something going on after that?"
"Yeah, I'll probably meet up with you. I don't know. I'll text you later."
"Okay," Bonnie said, and started down the hall. Keely sighed softly and turned the other way and started walking down the hall.
She was stopped by a pair of arms grabbing her from behind. "Hey, what the--!" She glanced over her shoulder to see that Bonnie was hugging her.
"Have a great day, Keely," she said, her head resting against her sister's shoulder.
Keely slowly turned herself around to hug her sister. "Thanks, Bonbon." With that, Bonnie turned back around to head down to her locker. Keely smiled softly and turned to find her own locker.
"Hey, Tia," she said as she spun the combination to her locker.
"Hey girl! I—" Tia pulled her face away from the mirror in her locker and glanced at Keely. "Ohh.... hey.... you doing okay?"
Keely gave Tia a quizzical expression as she tried spinning her combination again. "What are you talking about?"
"It's just... I heard about the whole Dan thing, and... well, you don't really look your best. Did you get enough sleep?"
"Not enough. Too much. One of those," Keely said, resetting the lock and starting to spin the combination again.
"Well, don't worry about it, Keel." There was that advice again. "You don't want to be with a guy who goes after Elizabeth Fox."
You can't possibly know what I want! Don't even pretend you know what my interests are, because you don't! Keely shrugged her shoulders and looked over at Tia. "She is kind of a skank, isn't she?"
Tia just raised her eyebrows and gave a knowing look.
Keely pulled on the locker door in frustration, having spun the wrong combination for the fourth time. "WHY can't I get this today?" She shook the handle before sighing and thumping her forehead against the door. Tia looked over curiously, then slowly reached over and dialed Keely's combination for her while she rested her head against the door.
"Try it now," Tia said, going back to her mirror. Keely half-heartedly tugged at the door, which opened.
"Thanks," Keely said. "I must be more tired than I thought."
"You gotta get more sleep, Keely," the sage observed.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Dr. Chandler," Keely said sarcastically as she took her psychology book out of her locker. "Um, you done there?"
"Takes effort to look this good, hon. Did you already forget since this morning?" she teased, grinning at the less-than-best-dressed girl in front of her.
"Well, whatever. I'm just ready for this day to be over. Is it me or do Mondays just get earlier and longer each week?"
"Ha, come on, stand tall and operate positively. You've got a long day ahead of you, Keely! Try and look at it with an open mind!"
Keely sighed. She wasn't ready for a long day.
Today's discussion: button-up or button-down? I always say 'button-up' (despite the fact that I button them from the top down), but I am curious to what everyone else thinks. Tell me!