Strained

Chapter Seven

"Hey, we're still on for tonight, right?" Mir asked as we were leaving Forensic's. She was referring to our double date tonight. I walked with her to her locker.

"Yes! I'm looking forward to it. We're meeting at the restaurant at six?" Mir and I had picked the restaurant. It was a somewhat fancy place in Peabody. I had only been there once with my mom, sister, and Gellar. 

"That sounds perfect, I'm excited." She gushed as she adjusted the hem of her skirt. She was wearing a floor-length maroon skirt with a flowy white blouse. Her hair was in soft curls and her make up was subtle. 

"Me too! It'll be nice to hang out with you guys." She and Jack had already met Jamie when we celebrated Erik and Ivelyn's power boost. Although, everyone had been pretty intoxicated then, so I wasn't sure if they remembered him much.

"Do you think we should invite Erik and Sage? I know Ivelyn and Troy aren't dating right now, but you know how they are," she made a face. It was true, Ivelyn and Troy were constantly breaking up and getting back together. It had barely been two weeks at school and already they had broken up and got back together three times. Honestly, I had stopped keeping track of when they were together. It was too time-consuming.

"Uh, I guess we could?" My face said it all. I didn't really want to have a double date with Erik and Sage. It would be too awkward. Jamie didn't know about my past with Erik and I didn't want to explain that. Especially, if we were going to have to sit through dinner with them.

"We don't have to," she waved off, then offered me a smile. "I just don't want them to get upset, but they probably wouldn't really care." Mir always looked out for everyone's feelings. It was one of the many things that made her a great friend. 

"I don't think they would be upset," I assured her. She nodded and we talked a little bit longer, then I headed to Art and she headed to Spanish.

I was a little reluctant to go to Art class. It was the only time Addie talked to me and the past couple of days we had been really talking. During Art class, it felt like we were back to normal. Then, the next day she ignored me until our last class. I was trying to brush it off, but I couldn't help but feel hurt. Why was she only talking to me when we were alone?

Sighing, I pushed open the classroom door and walked inside. Addie was there and smiled when she saw me. How confusing was she? I slid into the spot next to her, slightly on edge. I never knew what to expect. Some days she was like the old Addie and we joked, laughed, and it felt normal. Then, like a switch had been flicked, she was cold and distant. Maybe there's something going on with her she doesn't want to talk about it.

She was wearing blue jeans a nude-colored sweater. Her hair was twisted into a messy bun in chestnut brown. When I looked at her I barely recognized her. She smiled in pink lipstick.

"Hey, I have great news!" She blurted out excitingly. I had a couple of guesses to what she was excited about: Cosplay, Acting, or Modeling. That was all she talked about. She was passionate about it -- more than ever. I couldn't help but miss our old conversations. 

"What is it?" I ask politely. I grabbed my art supplies and pretended to listen intently.

"I'm going to audition for this pretty big movie role. I'm so excited I can barely focus on anything else!" She squealed, her eyes filled with joy. I was proud of her -- I always would be. It felt like she would leave us soon. She kept getting bigger and bigger roles and more people were noticing her.

"That's awesome! When is it?" Honestly, I was just filling in the silence. I started working on my painting as she talked.

"Well, the audition is tomorrow. I'll be back on Monday, but if I get this I think I'll be gone for a while. I was talking with my friend Kelsey and she said bigger roles can take months of filming. My mom said I probably wouldn't be able to come back and forth from Salem and filming." I felt my face pinch in confusion. Was she saying she would leave Salem for months if she got this role? The longest she had been gone was a couple of weeks last year.