Bad Boy Gone Shy

T W E N T Y F O U R - Completely Irrelevant

"First of all, everything about her is fake; her face, boobs and her big fat ass!" 

Patricia was steaming with fury. Although Jasmine knew Elaine had a fake, stuck up attitude and was probably made of plastic, she could sense that she was not being told the entire truth. She waited for her friend to continue ranting, but Pat said nothing more as she patted her dress down and pushed her hair behind her shoulders, as if she hadn't been trying to murder a girl five seconds ago. 

"Pat! Is that all? Is that why you hate her so much?" Jasmine stared hard into Patricia's eyes, the way she did whenever she got serious. Patricia hesitated for a few moments, avoiding her gaze, shifting back uncomfortably. Her heels clicked on the ground as she turned the other way, as though she needed a few minutes to contemplate whether she would tell Jasmine or not.

  "She's the bitchiest bitch I've ever met. She's plastic and nothing but plastic. Her attitude is bad enough to make Barbie jealous." 

Jasmine sighed in exasperation.  

"Also, I was friends with her in middle school." She froze. 

Patricia was still looking the other way, but she was still technically facing her. For the second time in the evening, Jasmine felt a cold wave of uneasiness washing over her, and a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. How come she'd never been told about this? She'd known Patricia for a couple years, and Elaine Dora Santiago was one of the people Pat disliked the most. She wasn't sure how she should react.

"When Elaine first moved here, she was in some of my classes. You wouldn't be able to recognise her if you saw her back then. She was an even bigger nerd than you, Jasmine," Pat muttered, slowly turning back to face her friend. "I looked out for her, helped her settle in the school. She didn't have that many friends. I became her first." Jasmine was still rooted to the spot. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words escaped from her mouth. Pat looked at her questioningly. 

"Go...go on," she croaked. 

"But then, she would start to cancel on the plans we'd made together. She began hanging out with the people she knew I disliked. When she rode all the way to the top on my shoulders, she got off at her stop and left everything behind her," Patricia spat. "You know how it turns out after that. Rumours, parties, a complete change of personality - she crept up to the people I knew best and spread us apart. Distanced us by hissing lies behind our backs. And here she is now." 

Patricia's voice was bitter. Jasmine was still shocked, but she understood. Why Patricia had never wanted to blend with the popular crowd. Why she'd chosen to stick with the plain and ordinary kids, like Jasmine. Of course, she'd had her golden time once. Now she was never going to trust another 'plastic' again. And though she was still considered to be popular, and the rumours from middle school had long since died down, she didn't want to climb up to the top even if someone payed her.  

Jasmine tried to think of something comforting to say, but nothing registered in her brain. After a minute of sombre silence, she remarked,

"...do you want to get coffee?"

Pat stared. She'd been expecting some sort of inspirational speech about friendship and whatnot, but knowing Jasmine, she shouldn't have been expecting anything at all. 

"It's past 10 pm," she said pointedly. 

"Yeah, I know. But there's nothing like a good warm cup to calm yourself down," Jasmine said awkwardly.

They ended up getting tea at a small, cosy shop, once Jasmine had dragged Patricia to Mr and Mrs Ho to ask if they could stay behind for a while to talk about their very-important-project-for-school-which-counted-as-half-of-their-entire-grade. Jasmine had improvised the lie as she went along, mostly because she knew there was a higher chance of parents relenting if studying was involved, and Patricia's well respected parents left without suspecting a thing.