A/N: I couldn't get spell check to work so sorry if there's any mistakes


vivi199898: i do dis bc i can do dis lol ;)

DixieLovez- :*


"And with that story I officially gave her my friendship."


We made it back to our church about 5 hours later to be picked up by our parents. The vans and cars arrived first. We had to wait nearly another thirty minutes before the school bus showed up with my sister, Taylor and most importantly Demi. I was dying to speak to her. Demi hopped off the bus followed by Gracie and greeted me. Then they ran to the trailer that had hauled all our luggage to get their stuff. I followed them as they spoke to each other. I waited patiently until I could speak to Demi but my time seemed to never come. We went over to my mom after the two girls got my sister's things and loaded it into the trunk with my stuff. Justin had walked away from my mom as we approached. When we closed the trunk we started running back to the gym to get Demi's stuff. My mom yelled after me as the other two ran ahead.

"What's wrong with Justin he seems really sad!" She yelled to me.

"I dumped him!" I shouted across the parking lot. Most everyone probably heard me but i didn't really care.

"When did you do that?"

"I'll tell you later."

I quickly caught up with the other two girls.

"What was that about?" Demi asked as I jogged up behind them.

"Just told my mom I broke up with Justin."

"Oh my god, you did?!" Asked Gracie in shock.

"Yup."

"I'm so proud of you!" Demi exclaimed over her shoulder. By then we had started running again to the trailer. We seemed to have a lot of stored up energy. I guess from riding on buses for 9+ hours and from our natural highs from the weekend.

"I can't believe you broke up with him while on the beach trip." My mom said upon returning to the car.

"Well I wanted to do it in person."

"You couldn't have done it here?"

"Well I mean technically it wasn't "on the trip" it was in the chick-fil-a parking lot back in Alabama."

"Oh my god you did it there?!" Demi exclaimed. "I can't believe you did it on the trip?!"

"Well when did you want me to do it?! You didn't exactly specify!" I play shouted.

"Dude, I thought you did it here. You should have done it here!" She play shouted back.

"How was I gonna do that he was on the bus with you?!"

She playfully rolled her eyes at me. "I didn't know you'd do it at lunch besides Chick-fil-a is like his favorite place."

"Not anymore." My mom put in.

I didn't even try to hold back my laugh. "Oh well, what's done is done. It's all over with now. Can't go back and change it."

Gracie and I wanted Demi to come over and hang out that evening but she couldn't because there was a family issue that needed to be tended to plus my mom said we needed to spend this evening with them not friends. We had spent all weekend with her. She had added.

Pretty much from that point on, I had fallen into a friendship with the girl that just a month ago I had hated. Interesting what can change in just a month.

Demi and I spoke everyday after we added each other on Facebook. Almost a week after we got back, she had a favor to ask me.

I was playing around on Facebook when a message from her popped up.

"Hey." It read.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Not much, just hanging around the house. You?"

"Pretty much the same. Playing on Facebook, being bored."

"Fun. Listen, I have a favor to ask."

"Oh yeah? What's up?"

"My boyfriend is leaving this weekend to go out of town for the summer. I'm going to miss him a lot so I need someone to keep me distracted."

"You won't be able to stay in contact with him?"

"No, he's in trouble. He won't have a phone or computer."

"Well there's always writing letters..."

"It's complicated. I'll explain more later. Can you do this for me please?"

I thought about it but for only a second. For whatever reason my answer came pretty quickly. I didn't understand why she was asking me of all people to help her out. We still barely knew each other. Didn't she have other friends she could ask? I didn't ask her though. I just kept my answer simple.

"Yeah, I'll keep you busy."

"Thank you so much."

I then listed all the things that were coming up that summer that we could do together. First was Surge, though she already knew about that. Every Friday since returning from the trip, our youth group would have a small summer blow out type thing in the youth building. They'd have food, drinks, games and some Fridays they'd set up a tarp to use as a slippin'-slide. I also invited her to my sisters birthday party coming up the following week. I didn't think she'd mind. Then there was the Fourth of July firework extravaganza the church had every year. Then my own birthday. I told her after that anything else that happened I'd invite her right off the bat. She thanked me again and after we signed off. Nothing more was said after that until Friday rolled around.


That Friday was the first surge of the summer. We all met up in the gym which as you know we used as the youth building. We all sat in a group in the corner of the room. Sam was there and Michael as well as Taylor and Gracie. Demi had invited her boyfriend since he was leaving the following morning. His name was Alex. He was real tall, had brown hair and brown eyes. He was kinda cute and seemed nice enough. He wasn't my taste though.

We all talked the whole time and even though there was water and stuff outside we never went out. Demi finally told us the story about why Alex was leaving for the summer. Turns out their last day of school, Demi and a group of their friends decided to skip. Their plan worked too up until they returned back to the school to load their buses. They went back to cover up that they skipped but got busted anyway. I don't remember the details but they all received two days of ISS for when they returned to school the following year. I laughed at this mainly because they were in middle school when they got into trouble and they'd be serving ISS upon entering High School. Isn't that a great impression to make on your new teachers? Demi then went on to say that her mom and Alex's mom also found out about what happened. Their punishment was they were grounded from each other. Of course do you think that stopped them from talking and sneaking around? No of course not. So because of that Alex's mom was sending him to stay with his grandparents in Michigan for the rest of the summer and him and Demi was to have no contact what's so ever. Now I understood why I was to keep Demi busy. I didn't mention that out loud though and neither did Demi. It was like our little secret though it really didn't need to be one.

Sometime during the story, the kids playing outside came running in because it started to pour down rain and storm. We listened to the rain patter on the tin roof of the gym. It sounded pretty cool. When the rain stopped, Demi, Sam, Alex and I ran outside to jump in puddles. Sam and I basically followed Demi and Alex because we knew they'd get into trouble if they were caught outside by themselves and Demi knew this so she didn't complain. The jumping of the puddles was just a nice bonus.

We took pictures, laughed and had a great time. Then it was time to go home. At that point, Sam and I left Alex and Demi alone to say goodbye. We thought they needed that time alone and by then most of the adults were outside so they weren't technically by themselves. Demi came running in after she said her goodbyes.

"You ok?" I asked her when she got to us."

"Yep, I'm good." I gave her a hug anyway just to be sure. Then she skipped off to be with Taylor and Gracie. I shook my head at her silliness. I knew she was covering up any sadness she felt but I let her be. I didn't want to annoy her especially if she didn't want to talk about it at the moment. I later found out she broke up with Alex after Sam and I left. She said they'd be going to different schools the next year anyway and didn't want to deal with the distance. I of course understood completely. She was only 14 anyway, just a baby. Even though often times I forgot her age.

Before I knew it, it was time for Gracie's party. It'd be the first time Demi came over and spent the night. I was really excited but also really nervous. I was wanting to share something important with Demi and I was slightly nervous on how she'd react.

The schedule for the day was the party guests would meet up at my house, then we'd go to the neighbors office to swim, followed by food, cake, socializing, then the girls would all go shower she we could catch the mid night premiere of 'Eclipse.' The guys weren't allowed to go because we'd be returning home right after and going to sleep. No guys could spend the night. Sometime after swimming and before cake was when I'd share with Demi what I wanted to.

Swimming was fun but the pool wasn't very big. It was one of those above ground circular pools that only went like 4 and a half feet or whatever. This time Demi didn't cling to me the whole time though it was brought up. She claimed she only did it because she couldn't touch. Of course I called her out on her bluff. Where we had been she could touch just as easily as I could. Se ignored me though. Typical.

We arrived back to my place a couple of hours later. I couldn't even tell you what started the conversation but we started talking about the night we did the camp fire at Awaken. I told Demi I wanted to elaborate more on the story I told that the only people that really knew the full story was Sam, Gracie and Taylor. I took her back to my room. This was what I had been wanting to share with her and what I was nervous about. I pulled a red folder out of the top of my closet and opened it. At that moment, I took her back to August 2007. The worst month of my school career.

-Flashback-

My best friend Lidia and I were riding back home on the bus. She wasn't saying a whole lot to me. Which was odd. Usually we were among the loudest kids on the bus in the afternoons and sometimes in the mornings we were the loudest. I wondered if there was something going on she wasn't telling me. In fact if I really thought about it, she had been acting weird all week and it was only the first full week of school. Yeah whoever thought it was a good idea to start school on a Thursday is mental. It was Wednesday now, and since the beginning of the week, Lidia has been acting odd. She barely spoke to me and when she did it never lasted long. She seemed more interested in her friend Hannah, who actually was once also my friend but had called off our friendship for no reason back in May. But that's another story for another time. She also made me stop calling her by her nickname. I called her Bubba often because of an inside joke no one would ever understand but us. I had been calling her that for nearly a year now. So her making me stop out of the blue seemed odd. She also said she didn't want to act silly on the bus with me anymore. She wanted to be more serious like Jesus was or something like that. I didn't understand at all. We had had a lot of fun together so why did we have to all of a sudden stop? Since we had to stop though, there wasn't much for us to do on the bus together except talk but she was barely acknowledging my existence.

We said goodbye as she got off the bus that afternoon, well I said goodbye she barely nodded in my direction. It was like she had been dying to get away from me that whole time. Once again I was confused as to what the hell was going on. Was I not going to get clued in?

I soon got my answer. I'd like to say it was something we could have worked out but it wasn't. Here's why. About 5:30 that afternoon, I was instant messaging Megan about the last weeks events when got a phone call. It was Lidia.

"Check your email. I've got some bad news"

"Uh oh. Everything ok?"

"Just check it."

She hung up. I suddenly got nervous. My mind raced, was she moving and couldn't tell me in person, was something going on with her parents? I didn't get it. I told Megan to hang on a moment so I could see what Lidia needed me to read. I clicked on her email titled 'bad news:(' and I immediately wished I hadn't.

It read:

i hate to break it to u hun, but i'm not sure i can be u'r friend for much longer. reason is, some of the things u do freak me out a little and they're things u wouldn't even let my sister do. for example, stealing my water bottle, that made me mad last year but i didn't want to yell at u, b/c i'm a calm and polite person, also, the other day when i sed i was feeling sick i didn't like it too much when you hugged me, it was for too long and usaully ppl just say, "well don't get sick on me" or they ask if there's anything they can do to help. and proppinp ur elbow up on me, yeah i just plain hate it when pple touch me period! i can't stand pple touching me at all. but like i sed i didn't want to say something to u b/c i'm trying to be a nice person. oh and just so u know, from the very beginning when i first met u, i didn't think i was going to get along w/ u very well, and truth is i've forcing myself to get along w/ u all this time. the truth is u'r worse than my sister, in the annoying department, and if i would have been able to say this to u b4 i would've done it when hannah did it, but b/c i didn't want u to feel bad, i didn't say anything. i just don't think its a good idea for us to be friends anymore, b/c its gonna end up really bad and one day i'm just gonna explode u'r gonna end crying in public, and i hate to have to do this over the computer but i can't stand do it in person b/c i'm feel guilty, so tomorrow on the bus i don't think i'm gonna sit w/ u. and i don't want this to be a fight or anything b/c i don't fight but if it does turn out that way, i'm warning u, don't try to get in my way, b/c i always win. so just a n b/c i'm feel guilty, so tomorrow on the bus i don't think i'm gonna sit w/ u. and i don't want this to be a fight or anything b/c i don't fight but if it does turn out that way, i'm warning u, don't try to make this a fight, well i've sed enuf.

Goodbye.

My mouth dropped open sometime while I read the email. As I finished, my hand covered my mouth in shock and hurt as my eyes filled with tears. I signed off with Megan saying something happened and I had to go. I wouldn't tell her what, i just left. Poor girl I left her hanging. I was filled with anger, pain, betrayal. I ran to my room and ripped up the picture Lidia had given me the year before. For whatever reason, we had given each other our year book pictures. My mom wasn't home at the time so in tears, I ran to my neighbors house. She did what she could with me but not understanding really what had gone on there wasn't much she could do. I was crying to hard for her to understand me as well.

A week later things got worse. I started getting anonymous notes in my locker. There were only ever two but it was enough to hurt me. LOSER was written in all capital letters with marker on both notes. One said it's fun to torture people while the other called me a lesbian. While I wasn't and didn't really matter to me that I was called one because I knew it wasn't, it was still being used as an insult and it still hurt. I knew exactly who left the letters too. I recognized the hand writing right off the bat and our once mutual friend Viktoriya was my locker neighbor. I nearly confronted Viktoriya one of the days but I ended up walking past her instead. I was extremely angry but I was able to get a clear head enough to remember that getting into a fight wouldn't help anything.

In the end, I ended up winning. I guess Lidia never expected for my mom to get involved but every time something happened I told her. She confronted Lidia in front of the girl's mom and threatened to press charges for threats and harassment. Lidia' mom called Viktoriya's to tell her what was going on. The four of them met up at my house to beg us not to press charges. They both came from families where if charges had been pressed they would have been shamed by their family and church. Both girls apologized. Viktoriya was crying but I knew she was only crying because she got caught and was in a lot of trouble. Lidia denied the notes claiming it was all Viktoriya though I knew better. I had kept her notes she had given me over the past year. It wasn't that hard to compare the hand writing but we went with her story anyway. I'll never forget the look in Lidia's eyes that day. They were dark, darker than they normally were, cold, unforgiving and it was hard looking into them as they bore into mine. I had several issues with Viktoriya after everything happened as you already know. I ended wishing I had pressed charges at least on Viktoriya. Lidia and I on the other hand got over ourselves and we spoke again senior year. Nothing came of it though which was perfectly fine with me and I knew the same went for her as well.

-end flashback-

When I finished my story, I looked up to see the expression on Demi's face. As I recounted everything I had kept my eyes downward mostly staring at my bed. When I looked up to see her face, I was surprised to see both shock and disgust on her face.

"Wow, what a coward." She finally said in a hateful tone.

I nodded my agreement. "There was a lot I never understood and still don't. She never complained to me when there was a problem. She just kept to herself until finally she exploded in this email."

"Yeah I can see that. If I ever see her I swear I'll kick her ass."

I snickered. "That's what Taylor and Gracie used to say. She lives up the road but we never see her. She may as well live on the other side of town." I paused a moment. "One thing I never really understood though. The part where she said I hugged her too long. Have you ever not hugged anyone that said they felt sick?"

"Yeah I didn't get that either. If someone feels sick of course I'll hug them. That's stupid not to. Saying 'don't get sick on me' just sounds mean.

I nodded my agreement. "Exactly!" Another pause. "Anyway, I told you all this because I don't want you to walk into my life if your just going to walk out. I wouldn't be able to handle it. I have attachment issues. It just wouldn't be good." I had looked down again as I explained. This was the part I was most nervous about. I was basically telling her to get out of my life if she had any intension of hurting me. I was silently pleading with her to never do what Lidia did. I had lost too many best friends over the years and losing another would just kill me. I didn't tell just anyone this story and I had chosen tell Demi because I knew deep down as the summer weeks went on we'd just get closer and closer. I was going to spend the summer inviting her to everything so our closeness was immeniant and I hope she knew that. Demi seemed to pick up on my fear quickly. She placed her hands on my shoulders as she spoke.

"I would never ever do that to you. I promise."

I nodded believing her. Deep down though I knew I never could believe her, not 100% anyways. They always say to listen to your gut feelings, right?