June 24, 2009
3:00 p.m.
Kristy's House


I sat at Kristy's kitchen table with Cole right next to me. "So, why'd you call me to come over here?" I asked him.

"No reason, I was just bored." he replied. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure," I accepted his offer.

He stood up and walked over to the refrigerator, grabbing two cans of Coke. Then he sat back down at the table, handing me one. "So what's up?"

"Nothing, really. How about you?"

He shrugged, "I'm just starting to pack my stuff for this weekend. I still can't believe I have to leave in six days."

"Yeah, me either." I agreed. I heard the front door open and close and then Kristy, Julianne, and Kelly traipsed into the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" Kristy demanded, scowling at me.

"I invited her over." Cole returned matter-of-factly.

She glared at him, "Even after her boyfriend punched you?"

"I broke up with Ash." I told her evenly.

"It's about time," Julianne uttered.

"Don't be stupid, Cole." Kristy said. "We both know that sooner or later she's going to dump you for Ash. Besides, you're leaving in six days."

"So? We can still have a long-distance relationship." he remarked.

"Yeah, like that's going to last," Julianne scoffed. I noticed that Kelly stayed silent, just like the other day at Sadie's. Then I remembered that day a long time ago when she came over to my house to talk about Julianne. Kelly actually wasn't so bad.

"Why do you even care whether or not it lasts?" Cole snapped.

"I don't." Julianne replied. "I'm just telling you that it's not going to last."

"Thanks, but I didn't ask for your input." Cole said sarcastically.

"Well I didn't as for you to invite her over." Kristy hissed, saying the word "her" with complete and utter distaste.

I felt a pang of hurt at her disgust with me. "How could you hate me?" I asked softly. I didn't mean to say it aloud, but it was already out of my mouth before I could do anything about it.

She looked over at me and for a moment I thought I saw a hint of guilt in her eyes, but it was gone in a flash. "You ignored me and you used me for advice about Ash. Why shouldn't I hate you?"

"I guess you're right." I murmured. "You have every reason in the world to hate me. But I thought that you would understand because we're best friends and we're supposed to be there for each other even when we make huge mistakes. I trusted you to be there for me, not to blow me off. But I guess my trust doesn't mean anything to you, does it?"

She stared at me for a moment, speechless. "Of course it means something to me, Evalynne." she finally responded. "But what about me? What about my trust? I trusted you to stick by my side even though you had Ash as your boyfriend. But you blew me off. So don't try to turn things around and make me feel guilty. That's exactly what Ash was doing to you and obviously, it worked. But I'm not that naive."

I felt so foolish. Even Kristy noticed how Ash deceived me and tricked me back into his arms even when he broke my heart.

"Well I'm sorry that I fell for him, Kristy, ok? I'm sorry that I was stupid enough to fall for all of his tricks, and I'm sorry for falling in love with him. But if you ever fell in love with someone who had you wrapped around his finger and you ignored me for him, I would at least try talking to you about it. I wouldn't just completely forget about you just to get even."

"Yeah right," she scoffed. "You don't know what it's liked to be avoided by your best friend."

"Actually, I do." I remarked, glancing at Julianne and Kelly.

She bit her lip, looking away from me. "Sorry, ok?" she snapped. "Sorry that I found some friends who actually acknowledge me."

"I did acknowledge you, Kristy. But you weren't letting me. And you lied to me purposely, just to hurt me. How could you do that?"

"You've always been my best friend, Evalynne. And then all of the sudden, Ash comes into the picture and you're spending all of your time with him. I was jealous, ok? I'll admit it." She sighed, looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry I did that to you, and believe me, I wasn't trying to. But Ash was my first real boyfriend and I was just going through so much with him. It was hard not to spend all of my time with him."

"So I am supposed to forgive you now? Because I'm not sure that willing to." she said.

"Well I hope that you at least consider it." I told her softly. "Because I really miss you." I looked up at her and she smiled sadly.

"I miss you too." she replied.

"So does this mean I'm forgiven?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Now her smile wasn't a sad one, it was jubilant and elated. I held out my arms and hugged her, so relieved to have her back in my life.

"You've got to be kidding me," Julianne snickered. "You're forgiving her?"

"Yeah, I am." Kristy returned. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Well, yeah! There's no way I'm going to hang out with you anymore if you're friends with her."

"Well that works out pretty well, considering that I wouldn't hang out with you even if my life depended on it." she retorted.

I smiled, glad that I wouldn't have to pretend to be nice to Julianne for Kristy's sake. Although, being friends with Kelly wouldn't be that bad. As a matter of fact, I kind of liked Kelly. And now I felt bad about spraying her my gardening hose earlier this month.

"Fine, then we're leaving." Julianne declared, turning around on her heel and storming out of the house. Kelly sighed and followed behind her obediently. The front door slammed shut and I flinched at the sound.

"So, you two are friends again." Cole stated. "Good, now I won't feel so awkward about dating you, Evalynne."

"Aw, you guys are going out?" Kristy oozed.

"Shut up," I told her jokingly. And the best part of that moment was that I didn't think of Ash. Not once.