Best friend or more?

Best friends or more?

Chloie sat there in the dark corner huddled all alone with tear-filled eyes. She felt her head pounding in pain. Her muscular body was shaking uncontrollable. She hated them. She hated herself. But there was one she loved. Would she dare to tell? Chloie thought back to what she was like when she was young. She was an ordinary, innocent little girl, sweet, blonde and free. The child had no idea what the dark future would be like, nor what she would face out there in the great ignorant world. Chloie had just started high school and she wondered if she could have done something different as a child to avoid the lonely and dark situation she now were in.

It was the first week in seventh grade when everything collapsed. Sofie and Elisabeth who had been her childhood friends for as long as she could remember had changed. The playful and happy Sofie had become mean, insecure and manipulative. She seemed to have something against Chloie and had got Elisabeth with her. The songbird Elisabeth had become cocky and rude. One day when Chloie had a long break, she met Elisabeth in the noisy schoolyard. Elisabeth dragged her to the swings on the other side of the school. There sat Sofie, swinging, with her long black hair flowing in the wind. She saw Chloie and stared right into her eyes with a dark look. Chloie shivered a little and felt small. Sofie and Elisabeth whispered someyhing to each other. Chloie felt like she was getting a cold lump in her stomach. She could not hear a single word they said, but she immediately knew that something was wrong. Then Sofie turned to her and asked in a scornful voice if she could not afford to go to a hairdresser.

Chloie would never forget the feeling of being let down and mocked. The biting comments continued to hail day in and day out until Chloie was completely empty inside. She had the wrong religion, the wrong clothes, the wrong taste in music and everything was just wrong. Bullied by her best friends. Chloie felt anger and frustration towards Sofie and Elisabeth. "How could this happen? What have I done wrong?" Eventually Chloie began to think that something was wrong with her.

Sofie got more and more of the classmates with her, but one she did not get was Olivia. Olivia had a lot in common with Chloie. Both were tech and math nerds. Olivia had come to class at the end of the eighth grade because she had been bullied in her previous class. Chloie and Olivia found each other within a few weeks. Then life felt a little more meaningful in the middle of all the hardships, but of course Olivia became a target for the bullying.

One day when Chloie and Olivia sat with their heads together and giggled over an easy math problem, Sofie and Elisabeth came by. Sofie raised her eyebrows teasingly.

"So, are you guys girlfriends now? You are sooo cute together!"

"Olivia is not my girlfriend. She is the best friend in the world", Chloie replied in an angry voice.

"Of course!" Sofie snorted and turned on her heel.

Chloie ran away trying to hold back her burning tears. Finally, she sat down, crushed, in a corner of the scary big school. She hated herself for letting Sofie see her feelings. She felt bad, useless and like she was not a real person.

Olivia followed carefully and saw how broken Chloie was and how bad she felt. She asked Chloie if she wanted to talk about it, but Chloie said it was nothing. She did not want to admit how much she hurt. She was ashamed of her dark thoughts and low self-esteem. But Olivia forced the feelings out of Chloie, because she could not bear to see her feel so bad.

"Chloie, you're not feeling well, I see that. I want to help you. You can tell me everything." Then everything erupted and words and tears flooded out of Chloie. When Olivia heard the dark thoughts, she too started to cry because she felt so much empathy for Chloie. Suddenly Chloie began laughing with tears in her eyes because Olivia was so cute when she showed the love she felt for her. For the first time in a long time, she felt that everything might not be her fault.

One day after school, Chloie took courage and asked Olivia if she wanted to sleep over. Olivia was happy. It was the first time anyone had asked her that. Chloie and Olivia went together by bus to Chloie's home. On the bus they giggled and pretended to fight. At Chloie's house, they went up to her room and played the piano. Then they lay down in Chloie's big soft and embracing bed and watched Chloie's TV for songs that they could sing. Finally, they found their favorite song "Trust fund baby" and immediately started singing it. Chloie felt warm from Olivia's closeness. Chloie took a picture of their feet with the song as a background. She sent it to all her contacts, including Sofie and Elisabeth.

"Oooh you have slept together, ooo you are so sweet. You are probably already married." Sofie immediately commented. Chloie threw her mobile and ran into the bathroom crying. She felt black inside. "Why does everyone hate me? Does noone see me? It would be better if I did not exist." Desperate thoughts whirled in Chloie's chaotic head. "Is it only Olivia who cares about me? Does she care just because no one else cares about her?"

Olivia knocked gently on the door. "What happened? Are you alright, sweetie?"

"Go your way! Go home, you do not want to be here! ", Chloie cries.

Then Olivia says something that makes everything change. She says that no matter how Chloie feels, Olivia will always be by her side. Chloie opens the door and they hug for a long time.

Today Chloie wakes up with joy in her heart. Her feet are light. It is a warm and sunny spring day. Chloie eats her daily breakfast, which consists of far too sweet oatmeal and a glass of milk. Chloie gets a ride to school from her mother. She feels the wind whizzing past her silky cheek as she rides in the dark blue car.

"Good morning sweetie, when are you coming?" Chloie writes to her sweetheart Olivia on Snapchat, which she always does on the way to school. Sofie and Elisabeth are still mean but most of the others have stopped. Chloie doesn't let it affect her anymore. She feels like she has a superpower.

Chloie and Olivia are such wonderful friends. They know that the love they have for each other is more than friendship. When Chloie hugs Olivia, she feels how her whole body gets hot and she feels that she is safe and alive in Olivia's embracing arms. They are connected. Chloie feels like she could merge with Olivia. Chloie is in love, so much in love, when she is with her beloved friend Olivia. Chloie remembers the time she opened up to Olivia for the first time, the relief she felt when she finally got to be who she is and didn't have to put up a false facade anymore. Chloie had done that for months, not showing her real feelings and the real Chloie. But now she finally had teared down the high wall and could show everyone who the real Chloie is. Chloie thinks of parents who have been married for several years but lie to each other and keep secrets. She could never do such a thing to Olivia. Even if Chloie and Olivia sometimes quarrel, they always become friends again. Their love is not easily provoked and will endure everything.