The perfect storm in a quiet room

Chapter 63

CASY

May

Hey girl! How are you? I haven't seen you in ages! The text message reads. I roll my eyes and sigh. A text message from Dilara is the last thing I need in my life right now.

I text her back a quick True. I'm fine, you? And put my phone on the bedside table as I sit on the bed and grab my laptop.

I've been so relieved these months not hearing anything from Dilara and Valentina. So relieved, but I knew that feeling wasn't gonna last because we're kind of "friends". And I use the word 'kind of' and quotation marks since I haven't called them 'friends' in ages... I don't even consider them my friends since Leo came to this town... Oh and that's such a long story.

I met them when I came to Argentina after my parents and my brother passed away... I was just an eleven-year-old girl then, who had lost her entire family in a tragic car accident and was coming to live with her aunt in a brand new country. I was so hurt, so devastated... and the last thing on my mind was excitement for going to live in a new country, so you can imagine my mood when I got off the plane.

As soon as I left the airport and got into the car with my aunt everything seemed strange. A few days ago I was a girl preparing for exams, who had never been out of Edinburgh, and at that moment I was an orphan who was going to live with an aunt I barely talked to and in a country I never set foot in. Everything was changing very fast and my mind couldn't catch up. It was a lot to take in for an eleven-year-old girl.

We drove all the way to San Pedro and the following days I was simply trying to settle in and learn a little bit more about this new country I would soon call home. I remember I tried to stay busy not to think about... how sad my life was. But, come to think of it, I believe having gone through so much at such a young age forced me to mature quickly and maybe that's why now I'm a thirty-year-old girl trapped in the body of a sixteen-year-old teenager who is about to turn seventeen.

Then the first day of school arrived and I was totally lost. My aunt walked me to the door, but when I was alone in the halls, I was scared and disoriented. For the first month, when I was struggling to adjust, no one would talk to me. Everyone laughed at me, pointed at me and called me names like stupid English girl and made fun of my accent. Others called me garbage and some just made fun of my name. Kids were so mean to me... and this was a strange thing for me, as I had never been bullied before. In Edinburgh I had a beautiful group of friends and we always hung out together, but in Argentina people were rude to me. That destroyed me and made me sadder than I already was. Those days I longed for the times I had spent with my friends in the city I was born in... I missed them a lot, as well as my parents. Hell, I still miss them.

Anyway, it wasn't until the second month that Dilara and Valentina approached me. They were the first ones to talk to me and we immediately hit it off. A few days later they introduced me to two other boys—Sebastian and Max. The fourth of them were a group and they welcomed me with open arms and big smiles. I was already feeling way better—I had finally made friends in my new home.

The days went by and I grew very comfortable there. We would spend hours talking, laughing, telling anecdotes and making jokes. We all got along great and felt as if we knew each other from ages. Things even got better when I found out that Dilara was actually from Germany because I felt understood. We would talk about how hard it was to settle into a new country, make friends, adjust to a new culture and learn new rules!

Unfortunately, over the years the group split up. When we were thirteen, and about to start high school, Sebastian and Max moved to Buenos Aires and we never heard from them again. I still remember the day they left. They promised to send messages, gifts, photos and to call us often yet none of that happened. Months later the girls and I, annoyed by their attitude, completely forgot about them.

Then, that same year Leonardo arrived. He had repeated sixth and seventh grade, so he was two years older than us. His arrival immediately was scandalous and in less than two days he had all the high school girls at his feet. All the girls were fighting over him including... Valentina, Dilara and me.

From the moment he walked into the school, his emerald green eyes, his messy brown hair and his full lips... hypnotized us. All we thought about was him, all we talked about was him and all we wanted was him. However, we didn't expect his arrival to destroy our friendship...

I remember that a few months after his arrival, Dilara, Valentina and I were having lunch at Dilara's house. We were barely thirteen at the time, but we felt like mature women ready to go out into the world, so our conversations were usually about makeup, boys, clothes, bras and panties. So we were talking about that silly stuff and at one point in the conversation, Dilara said the following, "Girls, I know all three of us like Leo, well, the whole school likes Leo, but let's make a promise, a best-friends promise." And then added, "Let's promise to never go after Leo because that's just going to bring a lot of trouble between us and I don't want that. If all three of us like him, then none of us can have him. Promise?"

At that moment Valentina and I looked at each other and we both thought it was a great idea. I mean, not great as in a terrific-good-enjoyable-fantastic idea, but it was fair and would save us a lot of trouble, so we accepted and vowed not to go near Leonardo or try anything with him. The deal lasted a few weeks, until one day, walking through the halls to go to class, I saw Dilara talking to Leo. They were both chatting casually and laughing. They seemed like they were having a good time.

As I watched the whole scene, I felt hatred and jealousy. Hatred towards Dilara for breaking the promise she had made herself and jealousy because all I wanted at that moment was to be her. I wanted to be the one talking to Leonardo and I wanted to be the one laughing at the stupid things he would say.

I stayed a few more minutes watching them and then went to my class, sad and hurt by my friend's betrayal. I couldn't believe that Dilara had betrayed her two best friends for a boy. I couldn't understand why she had decided to throw away years of friendship for a guy she barely knew. But now that I am sixteen and not a girl anymore, I have come to learn that this is just how Dilara is. She's self-centered and doesn't take into consideration other people's feelings, even if those feelings are her friend's.

Later that day, I told Valentina. She was surprised and confused, but I later found out that her reaction had been an act—she knew Dilara's plan all along.

Valentina and Dilara tricked me because they knew I was going to keep the promise and stay away from Leo. However, it backfired on them because Leo's girlfriend ended up being me. Anyway, I'm not proud of that. I'm not proud of being part of this stupid group either, but...

My phone rings again and I startle.

It's a message, but not from Dilara—this time it's from Leo. Are you coming tonight? We're hanging out at my place.

Oh God!

I don't want to hang out with these people—they're bad news and I certainly don't wanna see Leo. But, what can I do? What choice do I have? If I don't go, they will suspect something's wrong and I bet Leonardo will come to my house and force me to go with them. So, I have to go... Besides, maybe going to a get-together will take my mind off things. And when I mean things, I mean Hannah. We haven't spoken since the day we had sex. We've seen each other at school, but that was it. No words, no kisses, no hugs...

I reply Yep to Leo's message and tap into his profile photo. I don't know why I did that, I just felt like it.

I zoom in on his photo and notice something that shocks me... This photo was taken by me. When we were together. Two years ago. Wow... I didn't expect him to keep this, let alone use it as his profile photo... Wow. This photo brings so many memories...