Loving My Best Friend ✔️

{t h i r t y t w o}

Addy

I glanced around the table, seeing all the smiles and hearing the small talk taking place.

"Addy, how is your grandfather?" Sal's mother asks me.

"He's slowly getting back into his own rhythm. He is walking a lot more now." I explain, a warm grin stretching across her face.

"That's great dear." She replies, at one end of the table.

Sal's parents were each at one end of the table. The five of us girls sat on one side, while the boys sat on the other. Convenient? Yes.

"How is everyone?" Sal's father asks, a chorus of 'goods' following right after. "What colleges are everyone going to?"

"Amelia, Addy, Sal, and I are going to the same one. Gabriella and Johnny don't go to college, they run a tattoo shop. Tiffany and Max are working together. Cameron and Ben go to the same college." Sofia quickly explains, taking a deep breath afterward.

"So it seems like everyone has a buddy!" He exclaims, and we all happily nod.

------

We ate in silence until everyone was finished with their meal. Once we finished, everyone pitched in to help with the dishes.

As I was collecting my set of dishes the bell rang. "I'll get it!" I call out and gently place the dishes back down.

I open the door, a slight smile on my face. It quickly falls, and a look of surprise takes over. "Claire?"

"Hello, Adelyn." Her voice is smooth but holds an unusual tone.

"May I ask what you're doing here?" I ask, my hands starting to sweat.

"I came to talk to you." She stated, raising an eyebrow.

"O-okay. Let me go let them know." I stammer out, softly shutting the door behind me. "Everyone, I'm going outside to make a call!"

"Hurry back!" Sofia calls to me, and I head back.

"What did you want to talk about?" I cautiously ask, avoiding eye contact.

"I came to tell you something." She pauses and stops walking. We had gotten a good distance from Sal's home. I turned back to it and spun back to her.

"Yes?" I slowly drag out, and her eyes flicker up to mine. She raises her hand and swung at my cheek. The slap echoes and the stinging feeling appears quickly. "Claire!"

"That was for stealing him from me." She says, her hand slapping me once more. "That was for you and someone else, for not acknowledging me."

The tears from the impact threaten to fall, but I push them back. The right side of my face, becoming numb. It was no longer cold, so I wasn't freezing. Another slap hits me harder than the other two, and I roll my lips together.

"That was for fun." She evilly states, turning and walking off.

The tears finally fall, and my cheek stings so badly. I turn around, my vision blurry, and start to jog back to Sal's house. As I reached the end of the driveway, Sofia walked out the door.

"Addy?" She calls out, her eyes widening at me. "What happened?!"

She ran over to me, leaving the door open. Another figure appeared at the door, quickly coming out after her.

I looked at the ground, letting the tears fall freely. "I-I-" I felt Sofia reach up to my face, causing me to flinch away.

"Addy?" The voice behind her speaks, and I wipe away the tears. I look up, hearing Sofia's gasp, and seeing Cam's shocked expression. "What happened?"