FROZEN IN BETWEEN

UNFRIENDED FRIEND

JUSTINE'S P.O.V

"Good morning!"  My classmate waved at me this morning.  Oh no, it's Monday.

"Morning."  I smiled.

"Where's the Thing One?"  She asked again.

"Oh uhm...  I don't see him yet.  I don't know."  I raised my shoulders.  Not interested.

I soon blocked the world out by putting my headset on.  Not now, not later.  Toby is still off the topic.  I hate this moment actually but he seemed pay no attention to this, that we haven't been talking for 3 days since the last time I was in his house, until now.  It's odd, considering how close we were before.

The rest of half day gone plain.  Toby wasn't coming to school until lunch break.  And no, I didn't bother to call.  Be it.

"Excuse me...  Uhm, hi I'm Sheryl."  A girl came up toward me in cafetaria during the break.

"Hi.  Do I know you?"  I lifted my head.

"No, practically no, until just now."  She smiled convincing me to be nice.

"Alright.  Hi again, I'm Justine."  I nodded.  "Please."

"You mind?"  She sit in front of me.

"No."  I said in short.

"Okay...let's get straight to this.  I'm really curious since you're the closest to Toby.  Where..."  Sheryl has gone to the point.

"Wow.  If you really want to know, he's not here.  And I don't know where he is."  I shook my head.  "Anything else?"

"Is it bad to ask where he is?"  She spoke slowly.

"Not entirely though.  I'm just telling that I'm not with him,  I don't know where he is.  If that's the only thing you want to know, then sorry, I don't have the answer."  I smiled politely and walked away.

"Hey Justine, look!  Look.  Okay I'm sorry I was too rush about this.  I just want to be friends with you..."  She begged.  Yeah Sheryl literally held my hand right now.

"Sheryl, I'm happy about that.  And I'm excited!  But can we just talk about this later?"  I was about to continue my words, just so in time the principal rang the bell.  "Class is started."

"I understand."  Sheryl loosened her grip from me.  "Can I meet you later after school?"

I stopped answering her and instead, looking into her eyes.  There's something that I think she was hoping from me, more likely because I'm the Thing Two and she definitely liked Toby.  For some reasons, it didn't make sense at all, even rude, to come after me like that and asked for a friendship.  One, I'm not the cool girl.  There are so many other girls to hang out with rather than me.  Two, you can't be friends with me because you like my best friend.  Everything sounds rude in anyways we say it.  But after all, Toby's happiness is mine too.  Maybe.

"Okay."  I smiled.

"Oh thank you!  See you later!"  She jumped around.

I sit in the class, escaping myself again from the world til the last minute of school.  I packed my book perfectly so when the bell rang, I was the first to come out.  Decided to follow Sheryl's game today, I sit on the park bench waiting for her.

"Thank you for staying around."  She came out from the main building and met me.

"Let's go home."  I took my orange juice.

"So...how long have you known Toby?"  Sheryl still eager to know more about him so I let her.

"Pretty much a lifetime."  I drank.  "What's so important about it?"

"I don't know.  I just found your friendship is really cool.  Like real cool."  She excitedly claimed.

"Oh thank you then."  I kept walking straight.

"Do you know why he didn't come up today?"  Sheryl murmured.

"No.  I don't spend literally 24/7 to know about him, right?  I'm not his mother anyway."  I chuckled.

"Right..."  She left me confused.  "I'm serious about it, Justine.  I hope I can be your friend.  In my class, everybody ditches me for that one cool friendship they have.  I'm not into it at all."

"Well I'm not denying it.  You're Toby's friend so you're my friend too."  I smiled.  Enough with the argument, I'm tired.

"Thank you!  Oh we can actually go somewhere together, like sleepover or something, later?"  Sheryl stopped at my house.

"Maybe yeah.  Later!"  I waved and got inside the house.

I glanced from my window to Toby's room.  The light was off.  The whole McDonough family weren't home.  But who I am to ask.  Toby didn't want to tell me where he go so be it.  Toby's only 13 as I am but he's that busy.  You know what would happen at his age of 21?  Imagine it.  I'm just gonna sitting here pretend like I don't care.