In The Background

The Best Friend

"I love him."

My eyes lifted to find a certain brunette. She looked frantic and fell into the chair across from me. As she slammed her books on the table- spilling the milk on my tray- the contents of my lunch became spoiled. Her chipped nails tapped frantically. Her hair was unruly. You'd think she just came from one of her soccer matches- and lost.

But this did not make my annoyance go away.

"Please, answer me this one question, what is today?" I inquired with a twitch of my right eye.

The 5 foot 8 inch soccer captain, Courtney Lysander, frowned at me. "Wednesday. It's Wednesday."

My professional smile made it's way onto my face. "That's right. Office hours are closed. So, please," I pointed to the library exit, "leave my domain."

You are probably wondering why I was kicking out a girl in need of moral support. Or why I was eating lunch in the library. At this point, you probably think I'm a librarian. I am not. So let me introduce myself.

Hi, my name is Emelline Pickett. I'm a junior at the wonderful Helenwood High School, which is home of the mighty wolves. I spend most of my time in the library. I don't have any friends. My life is very mundane. It literally consists of reading and school and home. But there is one part of every day (except weekends and Wednesdays) that sets my life apart from the rest. Lunch time. During lunch I somehow become some counselor or whatever. I listen to problems. I console people. Etc. But most of all, I give advice. No, I don't know how this came to be. Yes, it can be very unnerving.

Courtney groaned loudly, which would have attracted a lot of attention. Of course it didn't, though, because I usually am the only occupant of the library. She grabbed me by the shoulders with a wild look in her eyes. "Did you not hear what I just said? I'm in love." This did not sway me.

"Great. This is like the ninth time? And how many times do I have to say-"

"'You don't need someone to complete you. You only need someone to accept you completely.' I know, I know. This time, though, I've finally found true love," she said dreamily. And I've got to admit that something was different.

Usually when I had a session with Courtney, she'd be babbling about some guy that she'd been talking to. She would say that it's love. The word would be thrown around so casually. Anyone could tell that she desperately hoped it really was. Courtney had always wished for a romance that was just like a fairytale (something you wouldn't expect from a tomboy like herself). She hid that side in front of everyone else because she liked being one of the guys, and set apart from other girls. Of course, though, her fantasy caused her to cling to any chance of love that passed by.

Even though I wanted my off day, I was intrigued. "Is this time for real?"

She nodded vigorously and fumbled through her backpack. Then she pulled out a paper. "Look! You said the next time I claimed to be in love, I had to bring a quote about it," she exclaimed and shoved it into my hands.

Startled, I pushed up my glasses. The quote was scribbled on rosy pink construction paper in messy cursive. It read, A blindfold is not a barrier- it is a gateway to a different set of senses.

"Beautiful. But confusing. I mean, what does this have to do with love?" My eyebrow raised as I held up the paper. The conversation was starting to feel like a waste of time. Time that could be used on reading about my ship in my book.

Courtney rolled her eyes like I was a child who couldn't understand. "I've been blind. And you know what? Now I feel it. I've been feeling this for so long and I couldn't put my finger on it. I went to so many guys to try and find the same feeling. Maybe even find something better. But I couldn't. Because what I felt was what love truly is. He accepts me completely."

"Okay, stop with these riddles. What the hell are you talking about. Who is the guy? Because I've never seen you like this before." I hadn't and it was freaky. She looked like she was high and ready to jump around the room throwing flowers everywhere.

"I'm in love with Christopher, Emmeline."

And I froze. Like, in a daze, type of freeze. Then, through a tense smile, I managed to get out, "Your best friend?"

I almost died when she jumped up and down in her seat in happiness.

You are probably thinking that I should be happy for her. And that I should be glad that she could get that cliche best friend love story. To hell with happy for her, though. Her best friend is one of my clients and it definitely was not going to work out.

I laughed nervously and loudly. It sounded like a donkey having intercourse with a cow. My hand slapped on the table repeatedly and tears leaked from my eyes. They were not tears of joy.

"I'm... so happy... for you..." I said while still laughing and crying. My heart was breaking for her. It truly was. You could tell by my standard reaction for bad news.

"Really?" Her eyes lit up and she hugged me. "I really couldn't have found out without you. You helped me realize that it's always been him. You helped me find my prince charming." With that, she grabbed her stuff and danced out of the library.

I let out a sad "Yay," and laid my head on the table. Her story had just began, in which she was the main character. I had no idea whether she would get a happy ending, though.

It was going to be a long week.