Falling For Mr. Perfect

2O Something I Can't Live Without

"SOMETHING I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT"

I sat on my bed working on perfecting the lyrics of my new song when my bedroom door opened.

Cherry stood in my doorway. Conflicting emotions filled my chest. I missed my best friend, but I couldn't get over her lying to me for weeks. Yet, I wanted to ask her about Tristan and tell her about Bea Lopez and the summer showcase. I also wanted to throw things at her head.

It was all very confusing.

I opted for a quiet glare as she ventured further into my room. She made the very bold move to sit next to me on the bed. Her pink sundress, popping against her brown skin.

"I gave you a few days to calm down--"

I huffed a humorless laugh. "I didn't know there was a time limit on feeling betrayed by your friend of eleven years."

"I have a really good explanation--"

"And I have really good aim so I suggest you leave," I shot back. "How did you even get in here?"

"I've warned you about leaving the side garage door unlocked."

"Trespassing is illegal, last time I checked."

Her dark eyes narrowed at me. "Can I tell you why I stole your song book or are you going to keep threatening me with violence and jail time?"

I shut my new song book. Holding it close to my chest just incase she got any ideas. "I'm listening."

She let out a breath moving her braids over to her left shoulder. "Remember the last day if school when you asked me to check if the comment left by Bea Lopez was legit?" I nodded. "Well, it was really from her."

"Wow. Another lie from Angela Whitaker. I'm not even surprised." I leaned back against my headboard, arms crossed.

She flinched like I slapped her. "You haven't called me Angela in years."

"Well, that's who you are now," I told her. "Cherry would never lie to me."

I could practically see her brain instructing her to breathe in and breathe out. "When I saw it was the real Bea Lopez, I thought 'This is it. My best friend is going to be a world famous pop star like she Googled years ago'.

"Then why steal my songs? The very reason Bea Lopez reached out to me in the first place?"

"Because..." she said, twirling a purple braid around her finger. "This was a really big opportunity for you. You were still so hung up on Daniel that he was all you ever wrote about. I didn't want this amazing thing you made happen to be credited to some jackass who broke your heart."

She had a point. I pretty much came to the same revelation myself yesterday.

"That day," she continued. "I went to the detention room to tell you the comment was real. You were on the phone with your back turned and Mr. Johnston was practically asleep. Then I saw your notebook on the desk and you were writing yet another song about Daniel. I didn't think about it, I just grabbed the notebook and ran."

She looked down at her lap. "I thought you'd get a new notebook and start writing new songs, forgetting about your old one. Honestly, Faye, I didn't steal it to hurt you."