XO

Chapter 4

"That was so rude!", Chantelle exclaimed as I sat down across from her. "Yeah", I muttered to myself as I looked over at Salina. Roxy and her were now sitting with Blaine and some guy I had never seen before. He looked dark, mysterious, and attractive. Although, he wasn't really my type. "I doubt she was trying to be mean", I said as I watched Salina talk to Blaine and his friend. I awaited a response from Chantelle, but she never said anything back. I looked over at her and in a confused tone asked,"What?" Chantelle sighed before saying,"Angel, you always see the best in people, even when they continuously let you down". I looked over at Jason, Sasha, and Violet, who were both quietly eating their ice cream and then back at Chantelle. "That's not true", I retorted,"Sal's my friend, and although she's not perfect, she's still an amazing person". Chantelle looked at me as if I didn't know what was going on. "Listen, high school isn't going to be like middle school, and Sal will probably find new friends moving forward through the high school years". I just responded with a sigh and continued to talk to Violet, Sasha, Jason, and Chantelle. Although I knew it was true, and yes, I became popular in middle school through Britney and Brooke, I still feel as though I'm always seen as this innocent little girl and I'm tired of it. I looked at Jason, who has light long blonde hair, pale skin and dark blue eyes with a huge smile. Britt, Brooke, and Sal usually pick on the fact that I have never had a boyfriend before, and I really want to prove them wrong. Guys tend to talk to me, but then they'll eventually be attracted to go over to either Brooke or Britt and make some lame-ass excuse on why they left me. As I got out of my mind spiraling with thoughts, my ice cream was already melted. I turned to Sasha, "Hey, you guys want to maybe go on the boardwalk, and Jason can join us if he wants as well?" "Wait, are you sure? I mean we did come all together, we were supposed to-" until I cut Chantelle off by saying they seemed as if they forgot about us anyway. I really thought about the conversation I had with Chantelle, and thought it was best to spend the night with the people who actually want to take the time and spend it with me. So, after paying for our ice cream Chantelle, Sasha, Jason, Violet, and I left the parlor. Although it was getting later, people were still crowding the streets. We weaved our way throughout crowds of tourists and Californians until we had finally returned to the boardwalk. "So, what should we do now?", Jason asked, his beautiful eyes shinning in the sunlight. "Well, the boardwalk is pretty crowded so we could just go back into the beach", Chantelle suggested as she looked around at the packed boardwalk. "Good idea", Violet replied. After hearing her voice, I realized I had basically forgotten she was here. She had been so quiet the whole time we had been hanging out. "Sure sounds fun, Vi", I agreed as I smiled at Violet. We have been close friends ever since elementary school. I love Violet, she's kind, chill, and very carefree. The thing is, she does not get along with Brooke, Brittney, and many of my other friends. Violet is extremely bohemian while Brooke and Brittney are the type of girls who would wear Gucci or Prada even if they're sleeping. As much as I try to get them to include Violet when we hang out, they rarely acknowledge her existence. And when they do, it's usually just to mock her outfit or her hair. "Oh my God!", I heard Chantelle exclaim as we walked onto the hot sand. When I asked her what was wrong, Chantelle handed me her phone. Hesitantly, I read a series of texts sent to Chantelle from Brooke and Brittney. The one sided conversations consisted of texts asking us where the hell went, why we thought it was okay to ditch everyone else, and how we were a bunch of lame ass bitches anyway. "Angel, what's wrong?", Jason asked as he put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. As much as I tried to contain my feelings, I couldn't. "They're mad that we left them", I said as I pulled away from Jason and raised my voice,"But they probably would have just left us anyway!" Everyone was silent for a second before Violet calmly asked,"What do you mean?" I took a deep breath before explaining myself in a bitter tone,"They're such hypocrites! Don't you see, Chantelle was right this whole time! Maybe they just don't care about us!" Suddenly I realized my friends were staring at me, I realized I had been yelling. Violet tried to calm me down and reassure me by going on about some hippie karma stuff. I didn't listen though, I couldn't. My head was spinning. Violet was talking about the different motives people have when Chantelle interrupted her,"It seems like the only motive Brooke and Brittney have is popularity. They act like they care about us, but when it comes down to it, they really don't give a shit about us!" Hearing those words come out of Chantelle's mouth was like a painful slap in the face. I didn't want to hear the words she spoke, but I knew they were true. They didn't really care that we weren't with them, they cared that we defied their rules, their plans. I realized that it was just all part of the games they play, and I was sick of it.
* * *
"Oh no you didn't!", Sasha yelled after a big splash of water left her soaking wet. After that, a war broke out between us. Sasha kicked up sand at Chantelle who then splashed both Sasha and Violet. I was happy to stay out of it until Jason splashed me when my back was turned. "Did you just splash me?", I asked with an amused voice. Jason started to back away, but I was too quick. I threw a handful of sand at him. "You're gonna regret that!", Jason shouted jokingly as he ran towards me. I was about to throw more sand at him when he wrapped his arms around me and put me over his shoulder. I immediately started laughing and pretended to struggle by flailing my arms. After running around the beach for awhile with me on his back, Jason finally put me down. I laid on my back and looked up at the beautiful sky. I was admiring the beautiful sunset when Jason laid down next to me. He turned towards me and looked me in the eyes as he wrapped an arm around me. He smiled at me with his big happy smile, causing me to smile back. "You're beautiful", Jason said as he leaned in towards me. A second later, our lips met. I was a bit nervous since I had never kissed anyone before, but I had no reason to be. The kiss was perfect. And it was totally romantic with the beautiful view of the ocean and sunset. After we kissed, we talked to each other nonstop until it started to get dark and Chantelle, Violet, and Sasha approached us. "Want to go out sometime?", Jason whispered in my ear. "Of course Jason", I responded happily. Since the rest of my friends were standing nearby I decided to check my phone. I grabbed my phone to see a bunch of notifications on my lock screen. I tapped on one to see a picture of Brooke and Brittney having a great time with Cody and Ashton. They looked so happy and perfect. Underneath the picture was a message from Brooke reading 'sorry girls, we didn't mean to send this to you xoxo'. I showed Chantelle and Sasha the message and they were just as annoyed as I was. "What the fuck!?" Sasha exclaimed after seeing the message,"Do they actually think we believe they sent it to us accidentally?" Chantelle sighed before looking in my direction,"See Angel, I told you people change". Sasha agreed while Jason just rolled his eyes as usual. "They're such bitches!", I mumbled to myself,"They think they won their stupid little game! Too bad it's not the end!" I exchanged glances with Sasha and Chantelle before looking back at the text message. As I stood there on the beach with Jason, Chantelle, Sasha, and Violet, I realized they were my real friends. The rest of them, like Chantelle had said earlier, didn't give a shit about us. Part of me was heartbroken, I had actually believed that Brooke and Brittney were my friends. The other part of me was angry, how could they be so rude to us? And did they actually think we are that stupid that we wouldn't realize their motives? The games they play are hurtful and almost always one sided. I realized that a good game needs a little competition. So, I opened up the message they had previously sent and convinced my friends to get ready for a picture. I was in the middle with Jason who had put me on his shoulders. Sasha stood on our left side while Violet stood towards the right of us. On the sand, Chantelle sat with a arm on her hip, and her body posed. The finished result was a masterpiece. All of us looked great and behind us was a beautiful sunset and the ocean. After observing the picture I 'accidentally' sent it to the chat while looking at my friends with a sly smile. "Game on", I whispered as I closed the chat and looked up at the blazing sunset which was a rosy and amethyst blend.

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