1, 2, 3, 4... 6?

Best Friend 2 of 2

                Cami Arnolds. We met junior year. Unlike Colin and Andrew, Cami was not popular. But unlike Nicole, Cami was not a nerd. Cami was just one of those middle-ground people. The kind of person who has some friends, but not too many. Cami was a junior like me, and we met in gym class (or the class of hell). She started spending afternoons at my house with me, since she lived within walking distance and needed help with schoolwork. I was still a freaky genius girl, so I was happy to help. I was pretty alone during junior year, and Cami was the friend I needed.

For some reason all the rumors about me died down in school. I faded again. And I was fine with that. I wore average clothes that didn’t draw attention. Just jeans and t-shirts and boots. I kept my head down during class. I still went to Spanish Club, but I didn’t participate much. That was mostly just to keep up a normal schedule for my parents. And then Cami and I would hang out. At first, I really was helping Cami with her school work. But little by little, it became me doing her school work. And if I protested, she’d say something like,

“My friends don’t get why I hang out with you. But you’re so smart, it’s hard not to want to be around you.”

                Cami was my only friend. So I did her work to keep her as my friend. Everyone knows junior year is the hardest. I was doing two junior years at the same time. Let’s just say I didn’t get a lot of sleep. Eventually, Cami stopped hanging out with me at all. But I had told her stuff. I had admitted secrets. I had shown her the cuts I’d made in my thighs sophomore year. I couldn’t let everyone find out about that. I couldn’t let Andrew knew how hard he’d broken me. I still was hoping he would take me back, strangely enough. So I did Cami’s work to keep her quiet. And then Cami got a few bad grades on her assignments. I couldn’t keep up. And she got mad, but just like Nicole and Andrew before her, she bided her time. She waited until school was almost over and she wouldn’t need me. And then she told everyone about my cuts. And the teasing started again.

                Did you enjoy crushing me, Cami? Was it fun for you to watch me gut pushed over in the hall? Did you like the signs people put up calling me a great butcher? The ones that said cuts would at least keep me from being a stripper? Did they make you feel good? Or did you put them up? Was it worth it? Was the revenge for a couple of bad grades on papers you didn’t even read the prompt for worth the sixth of my life that you killed? But actually, just like with Colin and Nicole and Andrew, it wasn’t just you that destroyed a piece of me. You had help. Everyone who laughed at those posters helped you. Everyone who called me names helped you. Does that make you feel any better? I wouldn’t want to make you feel bad. We can’t have that.