The Ugly Friend

Chapter 1

"Can I have it?"

"Hmm?" I look up from my cup of hot-chocolate.

"I said, can I have your cookie?"

"Oh, yeah sure." I hand her the peanut butter-flavored cookie and study her mascara-stained face. "Maddie, you need to get over him. Stuffing your face with cookies and hot-chocolate is not going to make you feel any better."

"Are you sure? Because I feel GREAT right now." She doesn't. Maddie is getting over her ex-boyfriend Jack, who broke up with her two hours prior.

"He's a jerk; in fact, he's just like the rest of them." Maddie has had her fair share of boyfriends in the past and Jack just added to a long list of boys that dated her this year alone. Maddie's longest relationship was two months, but she never fails to find another one the very next week.

"Jack's an idiot for breaking up with you. Any boy would be happy to have you as a girlfriend. I mean look at you; you're gorgeous." And she was. She has silky, long blond hair, shimmery gray-blue eyes, long legs to accommodate her slim figure, and a face that could make it onto the cover of any magazine. To say the least, I'm jealous. What girl wouldn't be? She could take your man with a flicker of her eyelashes. Maddie Winters will always be perfect in my eyes.

She grumbles, "I'm pathetic aren't I? Crying over a boy who didn't even love me." A small puddle of tears formed in her eyes, glistening and reflecting the bright, florescent lights on the food court ceiling, ready to drip down her flawless cheeks at any second.

"Do you love him?"

"Of course I do!" I roll my eyes. She dated him for a month. How does one fall in love that fast?

That's the thing about Maddie: she gets attached too easily and falls too hard.

"Okay... well if you do love him, then let him go and if it's meant to be, then it will all work out in the end." Maddie scoffs. Yah. I wouldn't believe me either.

"That might just be the cheesiest thing ever. But thanks, I needed that." She gave me a sincere smile and finished off her cookie. We get up from our seats at the food court and get ready to leave, but not before Maddie runs to the counter and orders another bag of cookies.

As Maddie and I stroll up the stairs, her black ankle boots softly click against the marble floor. "You really need to stop eating those cookies. It means that you still care about him and you shouldn't." Granted, I know it's only been two hours since the break-up but it's still hard to see my best friend like this. Whenever Maddie gets upset, she eats peanut butter cookies.

"I know. I know, but it's not like you are any better. When you get upset all you eat is ice-cream." I have to give her that one. I do eat ice-cream whenever I get upset. I've been eating ice-cream quite often these days. All because of him. Him and his stupid beautiful fa-

"Ahhh," Maddie screeches. "There's a sale at Barneys'. We have to go." She drags me through the thick glass doors of the store, nearly making me trip.

Maddie dashes across the floors, happily collecting bundles of clothing on her way to the dressing room. I guess someone cheered up.

I drag my feet, scanning the room for a place to sit. There's none.

"Claire! Come over here. I need your opinion on something."

I groan, making an over-exaggerated annoyed face, while marching over to the dressing room. Maddie pops out from behind one of the dull, gray curtains, posing in a shiny, gold sequin dress.

"It's...uh...something?" I manage to spit out. The dress was hideous. With its blinding glitter lace and turtle neck top, the dress did not deserve to be anywhere except in a trash can.