Wattpad Block Party - Summer Edition III (August 2017)

believeincats Presents: You Think You Know Someone

I am very pleased to say that this is my fourth time being featured in this spectacular event, and for this post I have decided to contribute a short story that I may turn into a full fledged story, who knows? Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

Kara always had been different. There was something about her that set her apart from all the other children, even when they were small. It wasn't a bad different, but we all knew that Kara wasn't like the rest of us. Never in our wildest dreams could we realize how drastic the difference was.

As Kara's best friend and arguably her only friend, I was the one who knew her the best. Although, whether or not we were truly friends has been called into question due to recent revelations, but that isn't too important right now. I first met Kara at a movie night organized by the neighborhood parents, hoping to encourage friendships. They were showing Bambi, which turned out to be a horrendous mistake due to the traumatizing death of Bambi's mother. Kara had arrived with her mild-mannered looking mother and was looking around with big blue eyes. Even at the tender age of five, Kara didn't fit in. All of us were dressed in ragged jeans and t-shirts, as during the summer months nobody really cared how their children dressed. Kara however, was dressed very neatly in a powder blue sundress and black flats, hair done up in plaits with matching bows tied on the ends. All the girls began to envy her, all the boys wanted to be near her. Such began a pattern in Kara's life. We weren't friends at first sight, and I more or less ignored the quiet girl sitting in the back. However, I did notice one more detail about her. When Bambi's mother died, Kara was the only child who didn't cry.

Our friendship began out of necessity. When we both started first grade we were always the ones without partners, and this began to bother Kara. So, one day when we were asked to pair up, Kara immediately called me over, and that was the beginning. Soon I never did anything without Kara. We had our first sleepover a week later, spending a night giggling and watching movies. We remained close friends all through elementary school and middle school. While our friendship was very easy-going and happy, I sometimes got the feeling that Kara didn't really like me, but needed me to be her partner and so she wasn't known as a loser with no friends. For instance, Kara and I never really talked about our deepest problems. Sure, I would come to Kara for boy help and superficial issues like that, but Kara never breathed a word of her mother leaving her father when she was twelve, or of the constant absence of her father throughout her life, or even of the blatant emotional and physical abuse she suffered at his hands when he was home. Those facts came out at the trial.

Even if Kara only kept me around out of necessity, I was alright with it. Truth is, I needed Kara too. Despite being a fairly outgoing child, I grew very quiet and reserved once I started school. Social situations were always painfully awkward, and became terrifying once middle school rolled around, eventually transitioning to panic-inducing in high school. Kara never struggled with that. She was always my voice, ordering food for me, taking the speaking parts in presentations, doing her best to insert herself into every social situation possible so I wouldn't have to speak. Not to mention, Kara was smart. Actually, she was bordering on genius levels of intelligence. At best, I was of average intelligence, and with Kara as my partner, my grades hovered around the 70's to mid-80's, grades that pleased me and my parents, so I was happy with them. Kara of course, was always in the high-90's, getting perfect marks on tests and projects. Everyone thought that she would be valedictorian. She would not end up being valedictorian.

As we all grew older, Kara began to emerge as a true leader of our grade. She was magnetic, charismatic, beautiful, talented, smart, and to top it all off, funny. However, she was not conventionally popular by any means. No, the most popular girls in our grade were the ones who could get the most guys to sleep with them and do the highest kick. Kara never cared for any of that. That's not to say that she couldn't do all that. Kara had been dancing since she was three, and I had seen her acrobatic skills. None of the cheerleaders could compare to her. Plus, as previously mentioned, Kara was beautiful, and there was no denying it. With her deep blue eyes, winning smile, flawless skin, good body, and lavish brown locks, there were many a guy interested in her. They flirted, she insulted them, they flirted, she insulted them, they gave up. Rinse and repeat. She never wanted a relationship, not even kissing a boy. At least, that is what I thought. Turns out, Kara had a lot of secrets that would only emerge when it was too late.