I looked over at Liz who was already starring at me. She instantly looks away with a nasty expression on her face, as she shifts impatiently in her chair. In exactly five minutes, it will be the beginning of the end for me.
Ever since a rumor started that I slept with Kyle, Liz's boyfriend, she hated me. Liz wouldn't listen to my side of the story, she wouldn't listen to her best friend who knew her since we were in diapers. No, she decided to believe the liars that started this dumb rumor that changed my life forever.
Some would tell me to ignore it, and soon enough it will blow over. But I don't have time to sit back and watch Liz hate me even more with each look at me.
The bell rang loudly, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst summer I was going to ever have.
Liz stood up slowly then flung her backpack onto her back with more force than was needed. She walked up to me, glaring the whole way, and stopped inches in front of me. "Watch your back." She growled, shoving me with her shoulder as she passed.
I just stood there looking straight ahead with my arms crossed. Trying to hold back all of my emotions.
"Have a wonderful summer, Halley." Mrs. Campbell said all cheery from behind her desk.
I placed a small fake smile on my face and whispered, "..Yeah." Then turned and walked out the door.
The people in the hallway who knew, including all of my former friends, didn't look at me when I passed them. The only person who actually believes, and will listen to, my side of the story is Keith.
"Ready for summer?" He said coming up behind me and putting his hand on my shoulder.
"Do I look like it?" I whispered with my arms still crossed over my chest as I watched my feet when I walked.
"Come on." I didn't have to guess to know that he was smiling when he said this. The tone of his voice gave it away. "You know that you didn't do anything wrong, so you need to stop being in Suicidal Depression."
"I'm not in suicidal depression." I moaned hearing this for the millionth time. "I just want my friends back."
"But I thought I was your friend" He said in a girly voice as he fanned his face with his hand and acted like he was crying.
"Keith." I said stopping and looking at him. "Please stop. You know how I feel about this situation."
"Chill." He said laughing. "I was just trying to make you feel better." Then he smiled his crooked smile that always made me smile back.
"Keith." I said laughing slightly as I tried to hide my smile.
"Ha! I got you." He said smiling and laughing with me.
"Keith, I will see you around four?" Liz said completely standing right in front of me to talk to Keith, like I wasn't even their.
Keith looked at me with this sad/sorry look on his face. "Yeah." He said quietly looking back at Liz, like he didn't really want me to know, but now, obviously, I did.
"Great." She said flipping her hair so it hit me on the side of the face as she walked away.
"God!" I yelled. "Do you see what I have to deal with? And why are you going to her house?" I said crossing my arms over my chest again, and narrowing my eyes at him.
"Halley, just because you two aren't friends anymore doesn't mean that I can't be friends with her."
"What is she going to make you do?"
"She isn't making me do anything, she asked me to come over and hang out-"
"You do know she is only doing this so that I will be more miserable that I already am. She will try and tear us apart, so that I have no one left!" I said raising my voice getting frustrated.
"Hal," He said putting his arm around my shoulder as we walked to his car. "You know I am, and will always be, your friend. Besides its not like I'm going to spend the night and hang out with her every second." He took his arm off my shoulder so he could unlock the car. "She is having more than just me over."
"Who else?" I asked opening the passenger door and sliding in.
He leaned back in his seat and starred out the windshield. He didn't want to tell me.
"Who, Kieth!" I asked getting impatient.
He didn't say anything and just kept looking out the window.
"I should of known." I said laughing once with no emotion. I looked out the passenger window and shook my head slowly as I despised Liz more than ever right now.
"Its just a get together-"
"You know why she is doing this though, don't you?" I asked still looking out the window, trying to avoid his eyes.
"Halley it doesn't matter-"
"So that she can rub it in my face. Laugh with all of my old friends and make fun of me, then obviously she knows that I will have you over later tonight so that I can have you tell me everything that happened at the party-"
"Halley come on. Stop it-" He groaned running his hand over his face.
"-and then," I kept going, as if he never interrupted me. "I can cry myself to sleep. In hopes that maybe, just maybe, everything would go back to normal, and I wouldn't be the most hated person among my friends." I slouched down in my seat, and rested my head on the window, still not making eye contact even once with Keith.
He took in a deep breath and then let it out. "Do you want me to take you home?" He asked avoiding the conversation.
"Yeah, whatever." I said feeling a lump throb in the back of my throat.
Later that night at exactly 9:00, when Keith said he would be leaving, I called his cell.
"Hey, Halley." He sighed. Already knowing it was me.
"You going to come over?"
"Yeah I'm on my way, see you in a second." Then he hung up.
I laid back in my bed and starred at the ceiling. I would never be able to mention this out loud, but I truthfully missed Liz. She had been my best friend my whole life. And when someone like her is in your life, then all of a sudden they are gone, a piece of you goes with them. But in my case, half of me went with her.
I wish I would of blurted out that I wasn't even near Kyle that night. That I was with my mom the whole day. She took the day off so we could bond. But with Liz yelling at me like she did, I was scared to speak up. Seeing her always glowing, pretty face, angry and sad made my stomach turn. It made me feel like I was going to vomit.
"Hey." Keith said walking into my room and then shutting the door behind him. He walked over, kicked off his shoes, then laid next to me on the bed. "You ready to hear it?" he asked already knowing why I wanted him to come over so quickly, so badly.
"No." I said still starring at the ceiling.
"Then lets not talk about it." he said looking up at the ceiling as well. "There's not much to talk about anyways."
"So your saying no one laughed, made fun of, or called me every name in the book?" I asked looking over at him.
Silence.
I snorted then looked back up at the ceiling. "I knew it." I whispered.
"Then why did you want to know?" he asked.
I shook my head, feeling that knot in my throat come back. My eyes started watering, and I felt my stomach turn.
"Hal." He said putting his hand on top of mine. "I'm sorry…really. I am. And you should really talk to Liz. I'm being serious this time. I'm not kidding." Then he sat up and looked down at me, waiting for me to reply.
But this time. I had nothing to say to him.
"Just do it-"
"You know she wont listen." I said shaking my head.
He let out a sigh and hunched over thinking. He ran his hand through his hair then looked back down at me. "Just try at least. That wont hurt anything."
I laughed this time with humor. "Oh yes it will. It will hurt me." I said sitting up.
"Hal, you know that its worth a shot, your already hurt enough-"
"And I don't want to be hurt anymore." I said my voice stern and I starred at him with a hard expression.
"I need to get going." He said sitting on the edge of the bed as he started putting on his shoes.
"Wait. I thought you were going to spend the night. You usually do." I said getting up off the bed.
"I can't tonight." He said slipping on his last shoe and standing up.
"Why not?" I asked whiny.
He grinned at this. "I have work tomorrow."
"I thought you said you don't work over the summer?"
"I don't." He said walking over towards me. "Tomorrows my last day for the summer." Then he hugged me tight, in a comforting grip. "You will be fine tonight."
"Yeah, yeah." I said letting go and watching him walk out the door. I wasn't use to him coming and leaving. He always spent the night when he came over. I always expected him to. So when he said he couldn't and then left, I felt alone in my room. I felt like I was imprisoned. I laid down on my bed, and like I told Keith would happen, I cried myself to sleep.
I woke up the next morning thinking about what Keith had told me the night before. 'Talk to her' he said more serious than he has ever been. I wanted to call her and talk to her, but I knew that she wouldn't listen. I didn't have to listen to her yelling over my voice whenever I said something to prove what I knew was right.
But even when I knew this would happen my body walked over towards my cell phone and grabbed it. I searched instantly for her number in my address book. But before I pushed 'call' I froze. Instead of feeling ready for this I felt scared all over again.
After a few minutes I pushed call and slowly brought the phone up to my ear.
It rang three times and I promised myself on the fifth ring I would hang up. But It didn't get that far.
"Why are you calling?" Her voice came through the phone with more anger than I had imagined. I forgot for a moment that phones had caller id. I forgot that she actually had me in her phone, even though I would of thought by now she would of deleted me.
I was frozen again. I had no idea what I was going to say to her, or what I was going to be able to say to her before she would interrupt me.
"Halley, why the hell are you calling?!" Her voice rose as she said this.
"Liz…"I whispered. "You don't underst-"
"Shut up." She growled. "Just Shut Up!" She yelled this. Making me flinch away from the phone.
"Please." I whispered.
"Don't ever call me again. Get it?!" Then she hung up. I knew it was no use. Nothing I could say or do would change anything.
I didn't set my phone down and walk away like I should of. Instead I went back into my address book and clicked on the name that I knew would listen.
"Hello?" His voice came through the phone quick and quite. I forgot he was at work.
"Keith." I choked out.
"Halley, whats wrong?"
"I did it." I whispered.
"Did what?" He asked.
"I talked to her." I then started crying. Like I knew I would do eventually.
He was silent. He didn't say anything for what seemed like forever.
"What did she say-"
"What do you think?" I choked out again.
"…I'm sorry." He whispered back.
"Come see me when your out of work." I said holding back the next round of tears.
"I will." he said slowly.
"Bye." Then I hung up.
I felt like I was lost everyone even though I knew I didn't. I still had Keith. My best friend.