Forever Sweet

Chapter 3

Standing in front of the girl’s bathroom, Keira quickly realized it was one thing to say she was going to do something; it was a whole other thing to actually do it. Her arm was raised and poised to open the door, but for some reason she couldn’t go through with it. Was fear holding her back? Was she afraid Megan would straight-out reject her apology? 

“This is just sad,” Jenny muttered from behind her.

Keira tensed. “You try and do this—”

But Keira didn’t have time to finish her sentence because Jenny placed her hands on her shoulder blades and gave her a giant push. Keira stumbled into the bathroom, tripping over her feet and nearly falling face first into the floor.

“Whoa there,” Anna yelled, grabbing Keira’s arm and steadying her.

“You’re welcome!” Jenny called from behind the door.

“You okay?” Anna whispered.

Keira nodded, but her attention was on Megan who was huddled in a corner. She looked absolutely miserable. Her eyes were puffy, her nose bright red, and mascara ran down her cheeks in odd little formations. A mound of tissues was piled in her lap and she held three more in her hand.

“G-Go a-away,” Megan ordered, looking anywhere else but Keira.

“Can we talk?”

She blew into a tissue. “N-No. I have n-nothing to say to y-you.”

“That’s fine. You don’t have to speak. Just hear me out.”

Megan let out a brittle laugh that made Keira’s heart hurt. “No, t-thank you. I’ve heard enough. I-I really don’t want another lecture on how h-horrible of a friend I am. Once was more than enough.

Keira took a step toward her. “I get that, but I’m not here to—”

“Didn’t you hear me?” Megan interjected, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to see you. Leave. Me. Alone!” Her angry shout reverberated off the walls, making her declaration that much more potent.

Crestfallen, Keira allowed Anna to gently tug her back and guide her to the exit. “I wanted to apologize,” she whispered as they stood off to the side.

Anna rubbed her arm and said in a soothing voice, “I know, but she’s hurt and lashing out. I think you need to give her a little time to settle down. I’m going to go back in there and talk to her. Are you going to be okay out here by yourself?”

“Of course. Go, please,” she said and watched her big sister leave. What if Megan was never ready to talk? Was this the end of the road for them?

“Guess it didn’t go too well, huh?”

The question wrenched her out of her bleak thoughts. “You,” she accused, her eyes shooting darts at Jenny. “Why did you push me like that?”

“Because you weren’t going in.” Jenny clasped her hands and rocked back on her heels. “So, what happened? Tell me everything.”

“I’m not telling you. I don’t want this to end up as the next big story at school.”

“I won’t tell, I promise.” She pretended to zip her mouth shut.

Keira ignored her and marched toward the concession stand again. She had to do something about Megan. She couldn’t just stand aside and watch their friendship crumble.

The blonde employee turned wary when she stepped up to the counter. “What do you want?” he asked when she plopped her hands down and gave him a serious look.