Breaking Free

Chapter 10: Past

I texted Beth the next day to ask her to come over so we can talk. Two hours later, she was sitting on my bed with a smile that made her eyes twinkle like she had stars in her eyes.

"So, what do you need to talk about? Is it a boy? Ooh... Do I know him?"

"No... I mean... You know him... But, it's not..." I couldn't figure out how to explain it to her without assuming she thought I liked Joshua.

The twinkle in her eye dimmed just as the smile on her face did. "What is it, P?"

I almost didn't tell her as I stared at her face. I didn't want to tell her that her boyfriend might be stalking me.

Now I knew how Wendy felt when she tried to tell Beth about what happened between her and Joshua. I paced the room, trying to figure out what to say to her. What do I say without upsetting her?

"Okay. You're starting to scare me, Paige."

I take a deep breath and stop pacing to look at her.

"Beth." I walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. I grabbed her hands in mine and connected my eyes with hers. "Joshua... Joshua has been stalking me... He's scaring me... and I need you to talk to him."

Beth's face paled of all color, and her eyes were blank with no emotion in them.

She slowly slipped her hands from mine and got up off the bed to move away from me.

"Beth...?"

Why wasn't she saying anything?

She stood with her back to me for what seemed like forever.

"I have proof," I told her, reaching for my phone on the side table and searched my phone for the messages he sent me. "Here..."

I get off the bed to hand her the phone.

She turned around then with a smile. But the smile was fake, strained, and it seemed to not reach her eyes.

She took the phone and looked down at the screen.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she asked through the clenched teeth.

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't his phone number." She shoved the phone back in my hands, and she took a few steps towards my door, distancing herself from me.

"Don't worry, P. I'll talk to him." She walked out of my room without a backward glance. That was the last time I really talked to Beth.

The next day at school, I went to go sit at the lunch table, but nobody would move to free up space for me to sit. When I tried to talk to Beth, she never even acknowledged me.

I slowly backed up, looking around at everyone who sat at the table. Nobody would look at me. It was like I didn't even exist to them.

I turned away from the table and almost ran into Joshua, who was standing behind me.

He smirked and leaned down to my left ear. "You really thought she would believe you over me?" his smug voice washed over me.

I watched him go over to Beth, and she got up to hug him with a smile on her face.

For just a second, our eyes connected. Her showed fury. She hated me for telling her the truth.

I lost my best friend, and over something I thought she had the right to know about her boyfriend.

I walked away from the lunch table with tears in my eyes. Now I knew exactly how Wendy felt...