The most evil ranger

Chapter 3 Ariel realizes that Virginia wants to be friends again

I went to class with Kira but John wasn't in class. I thought that he was probably sick today and that he doesn't want to get anyone else sick, including me. During class Virginia walked up to me. "Ariel? Can I borrow a pencil? I forgot to bring mine." Virginia said. "Uh, sure." I said as I opened my pencil bag and took one of my spare pencils out and put it on my desk. "Thanks." Virginia said as she took the pencil and went back to her desk. "What... just... happened?" I asked myself. That thirty second interaction with Virginia over a pencil felt so surreal. Later that day during lunch I got a text from Brianna. "Hey Kira, Bri is too busy to join us for lunch today. She's studying for midterms in the library." I said. "Well, that's Bri for you. This isn't anything new." Kira said. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah. I've known her longer than you and I still can't figure out why she pushes herself so hard." Kira said. Then she decided to go throw her trash out. "You're not going to finish your salad?" I asked. "I lost my appetite. Besides, I don't want to overdo it with my stomach bug." Kira said. "I guess you're right. I hope you feel better soon." I said. "Thanks Ariel. You're so kind." Kira said before leaving. I was lost in my thoughts when Virginia came up to me. "Ariel, is it okay if I sit here?" Virginia asked. "Sure, no problem. I was just leaving anyway. Don't want to be late for class now do I?" I said before leaving. "Ariel, wait!" Virginia said as I ran out into the hallway. I went behind a vending machine in the hallway. "Just ignore her. Don't look back. You don't need her anymore. It's over. But I don't get it. Everytime she's in the room, everytime I hear her voice, it happens again. After all the progress I've been making, my anxiety over our history together gets the better of me. And why would Virginia of all people want to talk to me? I thought I made it pretty clear that she is no longer part of my life, unless..." I said to myself. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. "She wants to be friends again." I said to myself. After school I decided to drop off some chicken noodle soup at Kira's house. I knocked on the door and Kira's mom came to the door. "Hello Ariel, what a surprise." Mrs. Ford said. "Hi Mrs. Ford. Is Kira here? I made some chicken noodle soup for her." I said. "How thoughtful of you. I'm sorry but Kira's not here right now." Mrs. Ford said. "Oh, okay. Could you still save it for her anyway?" I asked. "Of course. What's the occasion?" Mrs. Ford said. "Nothing special. I just figured that a homemade soup will help with her nausea, with having a stomach bug and all." I said. "What? Kira has a stomach bug?" Mrs. Ford said. "She didn't tell you?" I asked. "I assumed she would have told me something. I know when my daughter is sick. She seemed fine this morning." Mrs. Ford said. "She fell ill in the girls bathroom today and told me that it was food poisoning at first but then when I pointed it out to her that she wouldn't be able to move if it was food poisoning she said that it was a stomach bug." I said. "It's not like Kira to keep secrets about her health from me, unless it was on purpose. Well, thanks for stopping by Ariel, but you should probably run along now. I have some important phone calls to make. I'll be sure to let her know about your visit and say hi to her for you." Mrs. Ford said. "Okay, bye." I said as she closed the door. Then I went back home. "What's been going on with my friends? They've been acting so weird around me lately. Either they are really busy or..." I said before the thought of Virginia spreading rumors about me comes into my head.

"No, not again." I said. Later that night in my dream I heard my voice. "Could you quit screaming already?" My voice said. "Who's there?" I asked. "No no, not like that. What's the point? Why don't you talk the more people watching and pointing and staring incessantly." My voice said. "Who are you?" I asked. "Now it's too quiet. Face it, your no valedictorian and you never will be. So frustrating." My voice said. "Look, whoever you are, I don't want to be a bother." I said. Then I heard Virginia's voice. "Sorry. I wasn't enough. I'll never be enough. I don't deserve any friends at all. It's all my fault that she broke off the friendship. It makes no sense. Nothing makes sense anymore. I can't do this." Virginia's voice said. Then the embodiment shows up. "Excuse me but who do you think you are you clumsy bitch?" The embodiment said. "You again. Would you guys quit messing with me?" I asked. "Just look at you. Someone should stamp a big red X on your forehead just for wasting my time." The embodiment said. "Excuse me?" I said. "You heard me." The embodiment said. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry." I said. "Sorry is just a meaningless word. A pathetic attempt to right your wrongs. Nobody deserves your trust." The embodiment said. "No, you're lying. That's not true." I said. "What makes you so sure? You offered somebody your trust and she betrayed it. Do you really want to risk the chances of falling for the same trap again after she made a fool out of you?" The embodiment said. "She was one out of a thousand girls I'll meet in my lifetime. Besides, John, Kira and Bri..." I said before getting cut off by the embodiment. "Could be gone at any moment. Just you wait, it's the same awful cycle. They act like they care and they act like they'll be there for you. But then soon they will come when they've had enough and suddenly double-cross you." The embodiment said before turning into Virginia. "Virginia!" I said. I started to make my way away from her when some fire started. The place was filling up with fire and smoke but I could breathe just fine. Virginia walked towards me. The minute she was about to jump on me to finish me off I jumped on top of her, scratching her across her face. I woke up and was hyperventilating. "I must be more anxious about this audition than I thought." I said to myself as I slowed my breathing down. "With this big step up I won't go back to square one. I can't go back. I'll not only disappoint my parents, but myself too. It'll be okay. Just keep doing what you're doing. And don't look back. The only thing that really matters is making a complete recovery." I thought to myself. The next morning Brianna was acting kinda weird around me. She left right after I got to our usual meetup spot. Then Kira texted me telling me to delete her number and to not talk to her anymore. That's when I thought that Virginia was spreading a rumor about me but I have no proof of that. Then I saw John. I got closer and heard him talking to Virginia. "Promise you won't say anything?" John asked. "You have my word." Virginia said. "Good, because it would be terrible if Ariel found out about this." John said. "No problem. I'm always happy to help." Virginia said before hugging him. I got pissed off by that. I couldn't believe that I just saw them hugging each other. "I'll text you later, okay?" Virginia asked. "Thanks." John said. Then Virginia walked away. Then John left. "That stupid little bitchy jagoff!" I said. Later that day at lunch I wasn't saying anything. "Okay, you didn't say a word during science class today. Something must be bothering you." John said. "That obvious, huh?" I asked. "Hey, you know you can tell me anything." John said. "Funny. I thought you could too." I said. "Is this about something that happened the other day?" John asked. "No, it's something different. You're hiding something from me." I said. "That's not true. You know I wouldn't lie to you and I wouldn't hide anything from you, right?" John asked. "I have to go." I said before walking out. John came after me. "Leave me alone!" I shouted. "Ariel, hold on. I think I understand now. This is about your audition, right? Look, I understand you're feeling anxious. But like you said, you know all the songs by heart." John said. "The audition? Are you serious right now?" I asked.