The Hooded Figure

THIRTY EIGHT

My parents were gone by the time I woke up in the morning, no surprise there. However, I realized that Layla hasn't taken the bus in ages. I'm going to assume that she gets rides to school from her new boyfriend. When I arrived, Jade was waiting for me at my locker, fuming.

Here we go, I thought to myself.

"What did you say to her?" She snapped, jabbing a finger into my chest which was still sore from when Mia did it.

"I just told her to forgive you," I told her honestly, wondering what she was so riled up about.

"Well newsflash, she didn't," she replied in a bitter tone. After last night, I was so not in the mood for this bullshit.

"Look, you want to sort shit out? Do it yourself!" I exclaimed, feeling my anger rise. I was trying to control it, but when I saw Layla walking down the hall, latched onto Damian, I lost it. "That's it, we're going to do exactly that. Sort shit out."

I grabbed Jade's arms and she hissed as I pulled her down the hallway. "Hi Damian, I'm going to borrow Layla for a couple minutes, thanks," I didn't even wait for a response as I grabbed Layla's arm with my other hand and dragged them both along.

"Amy!" Layla whined, pouting. I ignored both of their commentaries as I pulled them into the nearest bathroom. Thankfully, it was empty.

"What is this about?" Layla asked, eyeing Jade with distaste for whatever reason.

"You're joking right?" I asked with a maniacal laugh. "What happened to us? Jade, why did you start using? And Layla, who are you?"

They both paused, almost as if they were thinking over their replies. "I don't know what you mean," Layla lied, I could tell. She was clenching her jaw, trying her best to smile.

"If Layla's going to lie, can I lie too?" Jade asked, looking over at Layla with a sarcastic smirk.

"Oh, fuck off," Layla snapped, turning to Jade with a sneer.

"I'm the one who should fuck off?" Jade asked incredulously. "You're the one who ditched us for Damian the minute he showed you an ounce of attention."

"Says you! You were never around even when we were close," Layla retorted. I didn't know what to say, or if I should say anything at all.

"I was busy!" She exclaimed, waving her hands in the air.

"Bullshit! As if we weren't busy too, and yet, somehow we managed to make time for each other," Layla motioned to me. I figured it was my turn to cut in.

"So what happened? Did you just stop making time?" I turned to Layla, quirking an eyebrow. Layla's mouth opened and closed.

"Don't act like you're innocent in all this," Jade snapped, turning her venomous glare to me. "Ever since you started talking to blanket boy, you've been distant."

As I thought about it, she was right. I hadn't even bothered to repair our friendship until now, but then again, neither had they. "Fine, so it's all our faults, why can't we just try to fix it?"

Neither of them said anything. "Great, I'll start. I met Trey Hollands," I didn't know if I could trust them with his secret yet so I left that detail out, "and I went out with him, twice. I also met someone at my new job and they have been taking up a lot of my time. Additionally, my parents and I have been in a rough place recently. I'm really sorry that I cast you guys aside, I didn't mean to, I just got so caught up..." I trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

"I'll go next," Layla suggested just as a girl entered the bathroom. We all looked at her and she backed out slowly. "After Amy suggested that I use Damian to get back at Sam, I thought Damian's friends were the ones harassing me. However, it turned out to be Sam's friends the entire time. Damian is actually really nice and he made them stop. I guess I kind of neglected you guys and I'm really sorry for blaming you, Amy."

"I guess that makes it my turn?" Jade asked before chuckling cynically. "My dad got back from the army last month. All that trauma and shit fucked him up. He treats us like shit, especially my mother, so I started using. Then I met Mia and she helped me stop, but I fucked it up and started using again. That's why I wanted you to help me get her back."

We were all silent for a moment while we thought it all over. "Fuck, how were we all so oblivious?" I wondered aloud, sighing.

"Guys I'm really sorry, I should've reached out more," Jade said, looking down at the floor.

"Me too, I was too selfish to realize, I'm so sorry guys," I apologized, sincerity clear in my voice. Jade and I both looked to Layla who now had tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm so glad we did this, thank you Amy," she cried, grabbing us with both of her arms and enveloping us. Jade made a squished sound while I melted into her embrace. "I'm so sorry," she whispered just as the bell rang. We Rome apart and Layla laughed a little as she wiped her tears away, trying not to ruin her makeup.

"I promise I'll try to be there for you guys and make up for when I wasn't," I said, smiling at them. I took a deep breath and realized how heavily this had been weighing on me. It felt like the world was off my shoulders.

"Me too," Jade and Layla said at the same time. We all laughed before looking at each other.

"I missed you guys," Jade confesses, smiling sadly.

"We missed you too," I replied, going in for one more group hug before heading to Mr. Bacinski's social class of torture.