Suzy

Chloe.

ok so this story isn't by me, it's by my friend who doesn't have wattpad. She's an amazing author, so I hope you like it!

Opening my eyes I saw beige - beige, beige and nothing but beige.

At first I didn't know what I was looking at. Something furry, something fluffy, something soft. Moving my head and blinking slowly, I realized I was looking at my gerbil, Squeaky, who lives in her cage in my room.

I'd had her a while now. I got her from Chloe, my best friend. Well, when she was a friend. But since then, things have changed. Chloe bought me Squeaky for my tenth birthday. I remember my party, when she'd arrived at my house carrying a large cage. Everyone had loved it, and started crowing round, although my mum had to take it into my room because my little sister Hannah ad started squealing at it excitedly. A bit too excitedly, I think!

When my party had ended, Chloe asked me if she could stay for a while longer. She took me aside and said,

"Suzy, please go ask your mum if I can stay."

I didn't want to, but it didn't seem fair, I suppose, if I told her to go away back home. I hesitated.

"Please best friend?" Chloe gave me these big eyes, the sort you'd expect from a puppy demanding walkies.

"Best friend," I repeated automatically. Chloe took my hand and wound her little finger tightly around mine. I winced in pain but tried not to show it.

"Pinky promise?"

Those unblinking eyes seemed to read my thoughts, because she then gave me a face that meant 'say yes or you'll be for it'.

"Yes," I said plainly, "Pinky promise. You can stay."

"Good!" Chloe smiled. "Now let's have some fun, eh?"

I knew all too well what Chloe's idea of 'fun' was.

The thing is, that was what she was like at school too. She'd always demand to walk to school with me, and when she did she set off pretty late. In fact, she nearly made me late for school once.She's got a habit of coming up to my front door in the mornings and asking me to walk to school with her. Before I could tell her she'd be late, and I was getting a lift anyway, she'd be grabbing my books for me, shoving them into my bag, snapping pens and pencils and rulers "accidentally" on purpose, ripping worksheets and homework. She'd then grab the bag's handles and forced it on my back, she'd call to my parents that we were setting off now and the practically shoving me outside the front door. Then when I feared I'd be late for school, she'd start dragging her feet, scuffing her shoes, and moan that I walked as fast as a cheetah and she couldn't keep up with me. I wouldn't slow down, no matter what, and then she'd end up grabbing my bag and forcing me to walk slower.

Thankfully, I wasn't late that day or any other day either.

When we got to school, I'd usually have a virtual checklist in my head about what I needed to do for the day - check I had some lunch money, hand anything to my teachers, change a book from the school library, buy a bottle of water from the school canteen. but as you'd imagine, Chloe would be there, waiting to pounce on me like a predator on its prey. She'd lurk behind a wall, in a classroom, in the canteen , outside, round a corner, in the library, even halfway up the stairs once or twice. My job was to avoid her, which was never easy. I'd never know where she'd be hiding next. And when we did meet up somewhere after a while, she'd always beg me to come with her somewhere else, like if she knew I needed to return an overdue library book, she'd want me to come into the canteen instead. Or if she knew I wanted to see a teacher about something or other, she'd take me outside. It was always like that, because that was Chloe. If I had to list everything negative about Chloe behind her back, my page would be very full.

There was lots of little irritating problems about Chloe.

But, there was one main problem.

Me and Chloe were as different as chalk and cheese.

She was bossy, I was quiet. She was confident, I was shy. She was popular, I wasn't. She had lots of friends, and - yes, you guessed it.

I only had one friend. Chloe.

And that friend was the biggest mistake I've made.