The Switch

chapter 12

Aria

Irritated and annoyed, I walk down stairs, leaving Bentley and Emory in my room. I told them I was going to the kitchen to get a snack but really I just wanted to get away from them, and they didn't even notice when I took my homework with me. Pulling a pop tart out of the cabinet, I slammed the door back shut, before  putting it in the toaster and sitting down at the kitchen island to finish my homework. I'm not sure how much time had passed, but I was slightly startled when my mother sat my poptart down in front of me on a napkin.  "Did Bentley go home?"

I shake my head, "no she's still here," I finish writing an equation down. "She's in my room with Emory." The annoyance in my voice very clear.

"Oh, how come your down here and not with them?" She sits down on the stool next to me.

"Because I wanted to do home work and they want to watch stupid videos on YouTube." I grumble, feeling like a small child upset over a stolen toy. I honestly feel a lot like Georgie at this moment and how he felt about his broken dinosaur. "It's not fair, Bentleys my friend not hers."

My mom laughs, "you used to do the same thing when you were little."

I look at her confused, "what do you mean?"

"You'd get jealous if your friends played with your sister, and throw tantrums. Remember Rose?" She looks amused by this.

"Yeah, she was my friend from kindergarten, but we stopped being friends because every time she'd come over Ej wouldn't leave us alone. Then she started having playdates with Angelica instead." I think back to my first school friend.

"Close, except the reason she stopped coming over was because Evelyn wanted to play with you guys and you would throw a tantrum. Her mom called us and said she didn't want to play with you anymore because you scared her." When my mother says this I think back to the incident with the block tower when I was five. Rose and EJ  had been building it but I wanted to play house. I remember throwing things, and that being the last time Rose came over. How could I have forgotten that?

"Okay, well I was a  little kid then, and this is different." I tell her stubbornly.

She raises her eyebrows, "how so?"

"Because it just is," I cross my arms, wishing she'd take my word for it. I didn't want to tell her that the reason it was different was because Bentley had a crush on Emory. Weather Emory reciprocated her feelings or not, I knew it would be a lot like her other relationships. I would get her less, and I wasn't ready to share my friend.

She nods, "okay, I believe you," I can tell she doesn't. "Still, Bentley is her own person, and she's going to be friends with who ever she wants, so unless there's something else going on. I think you'll have to just accept that her and Emory might be friends too."

"But what if she's stops wanting to be my friend, Because shes too busy being friends with Emory?" Sure I have other friends, but Bentley is my best friend, I'd feel lost without her.

"Has that ever happened before? Don't the two of you have other friends besides each other." She says, and I think about it. Bentley had lots of friends, she was nice and people genuinely liked her.  Then I think about her previous relationships, when she had dated  Kaylee Huggs for six months before she moved. I remember I did see her a bit less then normal. Instead of hanging out every weekend, half those nights were reserved for her girlfriend.