The Middle Child

Chapter 23

{Song in video: Good Charlotte - I Just Wanna Live}

I decided to invite Addison over. Since I didn't have her number, I messaged her on Facebook instead. Surprisingly, she agreed to come over so I could help her become friends with Clarissa and them again. If you were to tell me just a few weeks ago that I would be doing this for her, then I would have called you crazy.

I heard someone throwing tiny rocks at my window. I opened the window and saw Addison standing down below. "You know you can come through the front door," I said, chuckling.

"I would but...Clarissa..." Addison said, looking worried.

"She's not home right now. She's out somewhere with Jason so you're safe."

She nodded, came through the front door, and went into my room. An awkward silence fell between us. "So..." she started to say, while looking at the ground. "What's the plan?"

I actually still didn't know what the plan was but I was slowly figuring it out. "Well I'm going to convince Clarissa that you're a good friend and that you're not going to ruin me and Seth's relationship anymore. Basically, I'm going to be honest," I said.

"Oh okay." She sighed. "How come you're helping me anyways? I've been nothing but rude to you."

"I like things to be simple and no drama. I know you've been acting like that because I'm with Seth and even though it was annoying, I know you would have done that to any other girl that dated him. You were with Seth for so long and I know it must hurt to see him with someone else. I don't know what happened between you two or anything but that's none of my business anyway."

She sighed again. "I wish I was more like you actually. You're laidback and chill while I'm out there causing drama between people and being a bad person. I wasn't that great to Seth while I dated him. I still flirted with tons of guys and I even cheated on him at a party, mainly because I was drunk but that's still no excuse. He had a right to dump me and never want to get back with me. He was never really happy with me but I can tell he's genuinely happy with you. I don't want to keep ruining your relationship with him because now I realize how happy you make him and if he was with me, he would never be that happy." She looked down at the ground with an ashamed face expression.

I was stunned for a few moments. I never seen her look or act like this. I've never seen the nice and soft side of Addison. She always looked so confident and happy with herself. "You're not a bad person, Addison. As you might know, Cody is my ex-boyfriend and he had cheated on me. I never took him back after that but I can tell now he matured a bit. The truth is everyone makes mistakes. I know you feel really bad about treating Seth how you did and I know Cody feels really bad about treating me the same way. We just learn from our mistakes and move on. I know whenever you get in a relationship next time, you will try harder and treat the guy a lot better." I seriously can't believe I'm having a heart-to-heart conversation with Addison Rockwell.

She winced. "I'm also sorry about that Cody thing. I knew he was your ex; that was one of my weird tactics to try to get Seth back..."

Before I could say anything, I heard the front door open and close. I heard a few footsteps going up the stairs. I quickly peeked in the hallway and then went back to Addison. "That was Clarissa, Yasmin, and Melody. We'll be going in her room," I said.

Addison gulped and looked nervous. "Are you sure this will work? I know Clarissa's wrath and it isn't pretty..."

"...Sure." At least I hope so.

We walked into Clarissa's room and they stared at us. Clarissa and Yasmin glared at Addison, while Melody had her mouth open but then grinned at her. "What the hell is she doing in my room? Better yet, what is she doing in this house hanging out with you?" Clarissa barked, gritting her teeth.

"Look, Addison has been you all's friend for so long now. Well I know Melody only knew her for a short period of time but that's not the point. The point is, me and Seth are together and happy. I noticed Addison not having any friends and kept seeing her get bullied at school. It's not right and deep down you know it. Don't hate her because of what happened at the parties. Heck, I don't even hate her, so why should you?"

She squinted her eyes at Addison. "I still don't like what she did. She tried ruining you and Seth's relationship."

"I know and I'm really sorry for that," Addison said. "But I promise I won't try ruining their relationship anymore. What I did was really crappy and I regret it. Please, I miss you all."

Clarissa and Yasmin stared her down for the longest time. They quickly took out their notebooks and wrote some stuff down. What is this, American Idol?

After what felt like an eternity, Clarissa finally said, "Okay we'll accept you back-"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Addison exclaimed, going up to them.

She stopped Addison from hugging her. "Nuh-uh-uh, I wasn't finished."

"Oh...sorry."

"As I was saying, we'll accept you back as long as you don't cause drama between my family and their friends. If you do something like that ever again, then I have the ability to turn the whole school against you. Don't underestimate me." Clarissa can get scary when she wanted to but she can still be nice. It all depends how you treat her, her family, and her friends.

"Deal." She smiled. "I won't let you all down."

Melody grinned. "I'm so glad to have you back! I missed you so much, Addie!" She gave her a huge hug.

Clarissa looked at Yasmin and nudged her. "Welcome back," Yasmin said, filing her nails.

Addison gasped when she noticed their shoes. "Is that the new Jimmy Choo?" she asked.

"Yup," Clarissa said. "Don't worry, I'll order a pair for you."

"Thank you so much!" She gave Clarissa a hug. After she let go of her, she went over to Yasmin and hugged her.

Clarissa turned to me. "And Kyler," she said.

"Yeah?" I said.

She smiled. "Thanks for helping us get our friend back. If it wasn't for you, then who knows if we would ever be friends with her again."

I smiled back. "You're welcome. I just don't like pointless drama. Me and Seth are happy together so why should I still be mad at her? All it is is a waste of time and energy. It's just better if everyone can get along."

"I guess you're right." She paused. "By the way, if you ever need any makeup advice or just want to hang out with us, then you can."

Wow did she just say what I thought she said? I can hang out with her and her friends whenever I wanted to? "Oh okay...uh thanks. I'll be sure to take you up on that offer."

"How about right now?"

This was the first time I ever hung out with Clarissa, Yasmin, Addison, and Melody willingly. Even though they were very different from me, we still had a good time together. We talked, laughed, watched a few chick flicks (I can't believe I did that!), and made ourselves smoothies.

**********

A/N: Bet you weren't expecting that! :P This is what having siblings are supposed to be like, have each other's backs no matter what the circumstances are (very few exceptions of course.)

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