On the Other Side

Chapter 4

When I got home, I gave my mom all of the teacher letters that come with the first day of school. She signed them and I put them back in my book bag. I went to my room and read my book. It was a book I had read a billion times. It was called Golden by Jessi Kirby. It was about a high school senior whose town had witnessed a great tragedy 10 years before the events in the book took place. There was a teacher at her school that gave seniors a composition book to write their thoughts in. Then, when ten years had passed, he mailed the notebooks back to the students. The girl helped her teacher send out the notebooks her senior year. She finds the journal of the girl that had died in the terrible tragedy. She decided to read it, and when she did, she fpund evidence that the girl may still be alive. So she snuck out with her best friend to see if they could find the mysterious girl. I loved the book because it also had a little romance entwined in the story, and I love a little romance. So I read and took a shower and went to bed early.

The next day, I went through my schedule again. At lunch, a friend of my friend Alyssa sat with us. I recognized her from my history and science classes. Her name was Raine. She was so pretty. I asked Alyssa how she knew her.

"We go to church together," she replied.

"That's cool!"

"Yep"

We just kind of sat in silence the rest of lunch. I know that as for Alyssa, Colton, Octavia, and I, we were trying not to scare her with our weirdness. I went home and watched some Netflix, ate food, and went to bed.

The next day at lunch, Raine talked a little more. We got more comfortable with each other every day. I went on with my normal routine; wake up, get ready, go to school, go home, do homework, read or watch Netflix, go to bed, repeat. It was months before I saw Daniel again. Well, I guess that's not entirely true. I saw him coming and going every once in a while, but we never talked. I longed to have that day at the pool again. A few weeks after Christmas break, the first semester ended. I talked to my friend in Kentucky, where I used to live. Her name was Baylie. I told her all about Daniel, and she decided to stalk him on Instagram. Then she sent him a DM. I yelled "nooooooo!!" and prayed he didn't hear me.

"He could be in his room!" I hissed.

"It's fine!" she assured me.

"He'd better not be home or I'm gonna drive to your house and kill you!"

I bet he heard me. I bet he knows.

"You're so dramatic!" she laughed. "Should I tell him I sent it to the wrong person?"

He knows! He knows!

"I don't really care. If he heard, my life is over anyway!"

He'll never speak to me again!!!!

"Okay I said 'sorry wrong person'," she claimed.

"Thanks. Not that it matters. He probably knows all about this and me and ahhhhhhhh!"

"What's wrong? Why is that so bad?" inquired Baylie.

"Have you met me? I can't just tell a guy I like him!!! Last time I did that...well, you know how it goes," I responded plainly.

When I was in eighth grade, there was this guy in my science class named Brett. He was really smart and kinda cute. I don't know, I just liked him a lot. So I decided to be bold for once and actually tell him. So I asked him to go to the school dance with me. He replied with six simple words that burned my heart to the ground. "Oh, sorry, but I'm not going." I was crushed. I remember calling Alyssa that night and just crying over it. She was so comforting and she told me that she would go with me to the dance, but that's a whole other story.

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Baylie said.

"It's not your fault. Don't be sorry. Listen, Baylie, it was so good to talk to you, but I have to go," I said.

"Okay. It was so nice to talk to you too. I really miss you,"

"I miss you too. Bye!"

"Bye,"

She acted like nothing had happened. Maybe she really did miss me.

My history with Baylie was really weird. She really seemed like she wanted to be my friend at first. We had a lot in common. But as time went on, she became controlling. She would tell me who I could and couldn't hang out with, and I let her. She was one of my only friends and I was afraid I would lose her if I stood up for myself. Then everything changed. Baylie went out of town for a week and unfortunately broke her leg while she was there. It was really bad. She had to have surgery and recovery took a lot longer than usual. She was out of school for like 4 or 5 weeks. So I made some new friends. I was amazed at how many people were like me at that small school. I got to the point where I opened up to one of them, Marley. Marley was really sweet. I told her everything about my relationship with Baylie. She then told the other three girls I had gotten close to, Bridgette, Kendall, and Noelle, about Baylie's controlling behavior. They decided to stand up for me. I thought it was a bad idea, but I went along with it. There was a big confrontation between us the day Baylie got back. We were sent to the guidance counselor. She wanted to know the whole story. We talked it out, and we weren't punished. It was just a warning. Baylie and I didn't talk for awhile. And then one day, my new friends decided that they didn't like me anymore, and I wasn't worth their time. I knew I couldn't go back to Baylie, so I just sat alone at lunch and in class. I was surprised when she came to sit with me. She still seemed mad, but she couldn't stand to see me all alone. We didn't say a word to each other for days. We gradually started talking again, and just when we had, my family was urgently relocated for my dad's job. We talked a little over the phone, but never officially apologized or made up. But I thought we were on the right track.