Chasing Charming ✔️

10 - People Move On

1. Make some friends

2. Start back up my business online

3. Stand up for myself

4. Help my dad make his store a SUCCESS

5. Have my first kiss

I wasn't sure if it would be overdramatic to throw out my list. I did not stand up for myself, and after Friday, I was not sure if I actually had any new friends anymore. Or if I had friends in the first place.

But they did keep texting me all weekend, so I ended up leaving the list up. However, I ignored the texts and messages on Saturday, and I did not tell my parents what had happened at the party. They might force me to move schools if they heard about the third incident in two weeks. I wouldn't even blame them if they did, but I wanted to go back on Monday. I did not want to be weak and leave. I had never been so spineless before.

I wasn't exactly the strongest, and I don't usually stand up to people that often, but I had never really needed to before. I had a cushioned life back in Arizona. I was happily known as the girl with a style who had a delightful Instagram. I think people liked me, and I prided myself on being nice to people. Now I wasn't so sure how I fit in. I feel like I have a target painted on my back, and I am not even sure how it got there.

Was it really because of Eli? However, it kind of seemed he might have a target painted on his back too.

Maybe I should have left Eli alone the moment he walked away from me the first day, or at least when people warned me away. But I have a stupid crush on the boy with bright blue eyes, and I was stubborn and hurting that my childhood best friend had gotten the boy I had been pining over for years.

I wanted to fall in love again, and it was so comfortable with Eli. Even without being my boyfriend, he had made me feel special, but I didn't feel that way today. I didn't feel that way when he made it clear he only wanted me for one thing.

I think my parents thought I was hungover because it took me a long time to even make it out of my room on Saturday. I only came downstairs when my stomach was rumbling too loud to ignore.

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On Sunday, Taylor texted me again, and I felt wrong ignoring her another day. Maybe she didn't know why Eli had been hanging out with me either.

She had heard what had happened from one of her friends, and she was worried about me. I explained to Taylor that it wasn't that bad and sent her a Snapchat proving that. I did love the job that Amber did on my hair, but I had not shown my parents yet; they would ask too many questions. So I kept my hair up in a ponytail all weekend.

Neither of them questioned it.

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On Monday, Taylor found me during the first break and asked me where Eli had taken me after the party. I felt guilty when I said that he had just taken me home. It felt wrong lying to my new friend, but I wasn't sure how much longer we could be friends. Not if Eli didn't want anything to do with me.

I begged Taylor not to go off on the girls when they laughed at me in the hallway, but she didn't listen and chased them away.

While it was kind of Taylor for caring, my face got redder the more I heard, so I slipped away into my Spanish class, and I just hoped that no one else would say anything.

Spanish class was a nice break from my misery. Ms. Rosie was cheerful, especially for a Monday. When she told us in Spanish that she had been on a date this weekend, most of the class looked at her, confused. I guess that most people didn't care about the Spanish course at this school. Georgie, who had an obvious crush on Ms. Rosie and therefore tried hard in the class, looked devastated.