The school was nearly empty as was expected considering I was almost forty minutes early. I walked through the seventh grade hallway praying to God that Asli was there. The minute I turned the corner into the locker section I was greeted with a high pitched squeal. I smiled and laughed at Asli's positive attitude. She ran at me yelling at me to catch her-she knew I wouldn't so she didn't actually jump into my arms.
"What's wrong Clarissa? You don't seem your usual happy jolly self." Asli asked looking at me, her once care free attitude replaced with the true worry of a best friend.
"I'll tell everyone when they get here." I walked away from her then toward my locker. She followed not wanting to pressure me, her excessive happiness returned.
"Hey girls!" I looked and saw Leiha, my semi- thick headed friend. She ran up to us hooking her arms around my neck and hugging me. I laughed. "Whats up? You seem depressed. Who do I need to kill?" She put her hand on her cocked hip.
"No one that you're willing to kill." I said. Not allowing my face to give away the fact that who I was referring to was Halsey. She looked at me puzzled but shrugged, her brick wall syndrome kicking in. She turned Asli and told her, some how without noticing how uninterested Asli was, about her weekend. While I listened to Leiha's boring weekend exkipades, I noticed out the corner of my eye Cole walking into the hallway. I flinched, moving some of my hair to cover my blushing cheeks as he walked by. Asli looked over at me and furrowed her brow in confusion, I just shook my head.
The butterflies in my stomach were there to cause damage, their razor like wings beating so furiously the prospect of throwing up was rather appealing. Then to top it off, the sickeningly sweet voice of the person I had no desire to see, began ringing in my ears. It seemed as if her meer presence made even the unforgiving butterflies retreat to the pits of my stomach with disgust.
"How are my three favorite females," Halsey asked. I had to admit she was a magician, she somehow managed to convey her voice with a mask of innocence and only those who spent enough time around her could here that the innocence was only a mirage, a false wall to hide the arrogance behind it. She hugged Leiha first, allowing her doting minion to feel the "Most Love". Then continuing to hug Asli, only letting it last a second or two. She then turned to me, she looked me up and down. "Clarissa you look awful."
"Good to see you too." I looked away and rolled my eyes. She looked at me much like a suspected my mother to when I was being a whiny teenager. I wanted desperately to tell her I wasn't her unborn child, and I didn't hang out with her so she could critique me on 'my mistakes.'
"Don't take your anger out on me." She pulled me rather forcefully into a hug. "Now whats wrong?"
"I got a call this weekend." I said as they began leading me down the hallway, listening intently. As if any of them except Asli even cared. " From Cole." I saw Halsey's eyes light up at the sound of his name. I looked at her, holding back as much as my resentment as I could. "He asked me if you liked him." I choked on my words, my eyes were burning. Deceitful tears trying as hard as they could to force their way out.
"What did you tell him." She stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at me excitedly. Of course no sympathy, no second thought of how I would feel about this.
"I told him I didn't know." I looked down at my feet.
"You lied to him? You should have said I did! Clarissa, why didn't you tell him!!" She was ignorant, except she didn't have the excuse of saying she never learned. She knew very well how I felt, she just didn't care. How desperately I wanted to slap her right then and there. " I can't believe you would ruin that opportunity for me."
I looked at her with the calmest face I could muster, " Halsey, This is war. And I'm not willing to help you." I walked back to my locker with Asli following close behind.
