Lonely Together

'I've never noticed you at all.'

  'Edie, do you think we could go now? I am so done with cramming for this test, my head is too full with words and I need ice cream.'

  'You always need ice cream.'

  'Who doesn't, ice cream is a gift from the gods.'

  'True.'

My friend, Jodie and I had been studying in the library for a few hours. We had a huge test on Monday and this was our only chance to get together and help each other study, although it was more like me helping Jodie. We probably could have just met up anywhere really but there was just something about studying at the local library that I liked, maybe it was all the old books all in one place. I loved books. I'm sort of a nerd, I work hard at school, I'm the big brain as Jodie puts it, I've had to be, I only managed to get into our school due to a well earned scholarship so I had to keep my grades up or I would lose it, and my Mother would never be able to afford for me to go to my school without it. Jodie and I both go to one of the best private schools in our area and it doesn't come cheap.

  'Do you think we should have been doing something a bit more sociable on a Saturday night?' Jodie asked while she tried to balance a pencil on her upper lip, her brow furrowed in complete concentration as her eyes crossed.

She had also managed to fill her red hair with several too in the space of time we had been there; it was that curly they just comfortably balanced there among the curls. Clearly my best friend's attention span had reached its quota for one night and she was no longer interested in studying. Jodie's family were quite wealthy so she didn't have to worry about scholarships but she did have to consider parents who put a lot of pressure on her to do well. They believed in hard work getting you somewhere and although they were strict I'd always found them to be very pleasant people, they always treated me as if I was part of the family. Jodie tried not to depend on her parent's money too much. She enjoyed shopping at thrift stores rather than wearing the designer clothes half the girls at our school wore.

  'We're being sociable with each other.' I declared, shrugging my shoulders.

  'Yes but I mean perhaps we should have been going to a party or hanging out at the burger bar.' Jodie suggested.

I stopped flicking through the book I was trying to read and looked at Jodie. She had given up on her upper lip and was attempting her chin. To anyone else this would have looked strange but after years of friendship I was well aware that this was downright normal for Jodie.

  'Since when do we go to parties?' I questioned.

  'I don't know, I just think sometimes what it would be like to go to one you know?'

  'Full of drunken idiots doing drunken things with drunk people.'

  'That sounds fun!' Jodie insisted, her eyes gleaming with thoughts of partying the weekend away.

I looked at her like she had grown a new head. Although Jodie liked to fantasise about what it would be like to party with the cool kids at our school, I never really had. Don't get me wrong, we weren't at the bottom of the social scale by any means but we weren't exactly friends with the cool kids either. We just sort of blended into school life and that's the way I liked it. I liked walking the halls going completely unnoticed; it was just easier that way. Our school was very elite, full of kids who came from wealthy families; I had never necessarily fit into that world. I didn't come from money like the other kids, my Mother and I worked hard for what we had.

  'Can we go now?' Jodie blurted, interrupting my thoughts.

  'You go if you want. I just want to finish up these last few chapters.'