Take Me to the Stars

Chapter 8

~ 8 ~

I wasn't sure if this was the best idea. I had been obsessed with Rico for years and I had never really considered just giving up on him, but what had he ever done for me? We had been communicating for a while, but then he just stopped. Maybe he just lost interest, or gotten a girlfriend. Whatever the reason was, he had obviously moved on. And now it was for me to do the same. Besides, what was better? Having no friends and no support because your in love with a guy who lives across the world, or having all my friends back and having a boyfriend because I finally opened my eyes?

The next day at school, I went straight for Justin. I had to apologize to him and make things right. Today, I was determined to convince everyone that I am not a lunatic and that my “imaginary” boyfriend doesn't exist. It wasn't hard to spot him, he may as well be wearing a giant flashing sign that says, Look at me! I'm popular! Him and all of his popular friends were in a big circle at the end of the hallway, talking and laughing and having a blast. A wave of panic suddenly came over me. How was I supposed to do this? I realized that I didn't really plan this part out. What was I supposed to say? What was I even going to tell him, that I want him back? I laughed at the foolishness of my own plan. How could I be so stupid? I should have thought this over more.

Lily would know what to do, I thought to myself. Lily is an expert on boys. I guess I’ll have to talk to my ex-friends before I talk to Justin. This was going to tougher than I thought.

At lunch, I found Lily, Grace, and Jenna in their usual hangout spot, at the back of the cafeteria. My hands were shaking as I approached them, I hadn't realized how nervous I was before. But then I saw them laughing and having a grand old time without me, and jealousy replaced the nervousness I had before. I marched straight up to Lily and tapped her shoulder.

“Hey, Lily, can I talk to you for a minute?” I got silence as as an answer. I'm sure that I spoke loud enough, there's no way she cant hear me. “Lily, come on. Just for a minute.” silence. I shook her shoulder harder. “Lily seriously! I -”

Lily spun around in her chair and glared at me. “Look, you had your chance a long time ago to talk things through with me, Jenna, and Grace. But it is way past that now, you need some serious help Lindsey.” She turned back around and continued her conversation like nothing just happened. Jenna and Grace became silent and looked down at their hands. I could feel tears starting to well up in my eyes. No, not here. Not in front of everybody. I will not cry, they should be the ones feeling sorry for what they've done. I walked over to where Grace was sitting and tried to get her to listen to me.

“Grace, please can I just talk to you for a minute?” I begged. I was so desperate for this to work, I need my friends back.

Just as I thought, she gave in. Grace hates to let people down or make them upset. She stood up and looked at me, “Fine, but just for a minute, got it?”

I sighed with relief. “Thanks Grace, I promise it will just be for a minute. Follow me.” I walked out of the cafeteria and Grace reluctantly followed, ignoring the confused looks she got from Jenna and Lily. I decided to talk to her in the bathroom, since no one was ever in there at lunch. I looked in all the stalls to make sure we weren't being over heard, and turned around to look at Grace.

She crossed her arms. “Alright Lindsey, what do you want.”

I froze. What was I going to say? I hadn't really planned this out. I mean, all I was thinking about was how I was going to get their attention, I didn't even think I would get that far.

“Uh, Grace, I just wanted to say that you were right.”

“Huh? Right about what? What are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about the whole Rico, invisible boy-friend thing.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Lindsey, if that's all you wanted to talk to me about, then i'm leaving. We already went over this.” She turned around and started to walk towards to the door.

“Wait, Grace wait!” I grabbed her arm and turned her around. “Just hear me out, please.”

She wrenched her arm out of my grasp and looked at me. “Fine, but you have exactly 30 seconds before I walk out of here.”

I took a deep breath. I knew what I had to do to convince her. “Okay. Grace, all of you were right. You, Jenna, and Lily. I lied. I was pretending to have a boyfriend to get more attention from you. I'm sorry, it was wrong of me to do something like that.”

Grace just stared at me. “W-why would you do that? You already got plenty of attention as it is. Are you sure your not just telling me this because you have no friends and you miss being popular?”

I paused. That's exactly why i'm doing this. “Uh, no, of course not. And I know, it was stupid of me to think that you guys didn't care about me. Grace, me, you , Jenna, and Lily have all been best friends since kindergarten. Don't you think you can give me a second chance?”

Now Grace looked sad. “Look, I agree that we have been through a lot together. All of us. But I feel like lying to us just to get attention is crossing the line.”

“I know Grace, I realize that now. I realize that what I did was wrong and I swear that I will never do anything like that again.”

Silence.

“Grace, what do you think? Can the four of us start over?” I asked quietly.

She slowly lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. “I guess we give a try.” she smiled and wrapped me in a friendly hug. “I'm sorry we were so hard on you Lindsey. She released me from the hug, still smiling. “To be honest, it's been hard not having you there. Making fun of the popular kids and going to the movies isn't nearly as fun without you.” she winked and linked her arm in mine. “Come on, lets go tell the others of the good news, shall we?”

I looked at her. “What news?”

She smiled. “That your back! Your one of us again!” she laughed as she pulled me out the bathroom door. I honestly didn't know how to take that. “Oh and just so you know, there's a lot we will have to get you caught up on. You missed a lot while you were out.”

Out? Like, out of my mind? I didn't bother asking. I laughed along with Grace as we strolled back to the cafeteria. It worked, my plan worked. My friends love me again. I'll be accepted, cared about, just like it was was before. Sure, I’ll never forget about Rico, but I'll also never think about him the same way. I wont obsess over him, I’ll learn to open up my mind to the people around me and stop shutting the world out. I’ll be normal again. The thought made me so happy I was laughing for no reason the whole way back to the cafeteria, with Grace laughing right along with me. People were looking at us like we were crazy, but I didn't care. It was good to have my life back.