Stand Up

Chapter 3: Hacked

I was sobbing all night. I cleaned out almost two tissue boxes. Sadness was surrounding me. It was taking over me. I was crawling up my shoulders, ready to grab me. How could I have let Aaron go? Just the thought of him made me gush out more tears. But something else happened that night. Something unexpected.

The phone rang. Who would be calling me now? I reached for my cellphone and flipped it open. I tried to sound like I wasn't crying as I said hello.

"uh .  . . hi Isabel." The voice on the other end sounded uncomfortable. It was the voice of a girl. A voice that I somewhat recognized/

"um . . .hi again," I said awkwardly. I didn't know what else to say. The awkward silence was a long moment of confusion. No one knew what so say to the other.

"Sorry, it's me Kate. I'm so sorry I didn't tell. I only told you in that card I sent you, but I wanted to call you. I moved to Minnesota. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm just not good with goodbyes. Can we still be friends?" I was silent. Kate was calling me? All the thoughts in my head were swirling around. I couldn't find the words to speak. I felt like everything was a dream. I wished it was a dream. I would still have a boyfriend and a best friend. I pinched myself. This was really happening.

"Yeah Kate, it's okay." I managed to say through all the thoughts.

"Thanks. I couldn't live with the guilt of not telling you. Sorry." Soon after she said that she hung up without even saying goodbye. After all, she wasn't good with goodbyes.

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The next day at lunch I sat with the geeks. I plopped myself down right next to Greg, the computer genius. Across from me was Haley and to my left was Mark. It felt weird not sitting where I normally sit, with the nobodies. It felt kind of awkward.

"Come to join the chess club? Sign ups end tomorrow." Haley pushed up her blue glasses that were constantly sliding down her little nose. She wore her unruly red hair in a pony tail. She smiled still waiting for my response.

"Sorry Haley, I think I'll stick with checkers." Chess was just confusing to me. She nodded her head in understanding. I looked at everyone around me. Mark was eating something. I glanced at Greg to find that he was staring at me.

"Hi Greg." He jumped a little when I said that. That snapped him out of his trance. He seemed memorized by me.

"Uh . . .hi?" He gave me a confused look. We don't usually talk a lot so it was pretty awkward.

"I have a deal I want to make with you." I tried to sound convincing and I think it worked.

"What is it?" He said immediately interested. Everyone leaned in so since I didn't want them to hear, I just told him to meet me at the stop sign in our neighborhood. Yeah, we live in the same neighborhood. That makes it even more awkward that we never talk.

A couple strut into the lunchroom holding hands. The girl had straight blond hair and was wearing a shiny lip gloss. She had a purse over her shoulder. She used her long, fake nails to pull a strand of hair out of her face. The guy had fair brown hair and freckles across his face. His eyes sparkled and he walked so perfectly. His angelic smile lit the whole room. I wanted to scream when I saw them together.

"Aaron and Ashley?" I muttered to myself. Anger bubbled up in my stomach. Jealousy built up inside me. If it were possible, smoke would be coming out of my ears.

"Yeah," Mark said. "They're dating now, everybody knows that. And by the way, did you and Aaron have some romantic past?"

I ignored his last question and continued watching Aaron walk holding hands with Ashley. How could he get over me so fast? Was he ever truly in love with me? I refused to eat any more lunch. I had lost my appetite.