Abby Childress is my best friend.
She’s amazing at everything, soccer especially. It feels like she’s always got one letter grade higher than me. Plus, I’m an A or B student, it’s not like I get terrible grades. We’re in all the same classes, and most of the time we work together. She’s absolutely gorgeous, and I love her to pieces for not being one of those girls.
You know what I mean. One of those girls.
She likes to be different, not in the “I’m acting out and trying to get attention” kind of way. For her, it’s more like “I don’t really care what other people think, so I’m going to do whatever the heck I want to.”
Let me tell you, Abby can rock it. She played on the boys’ soccer team last year, because there weren’t any rules against it and because she could. She could beat any guy on the team in a foot race, and no one can match her in skills. It’s great to watch. She bleached her hair so blonde once it was nearly white, just to have an unnatural color that wasn’t against school rules. She does stuff like that.
People just adore Abby. She doesn’t try to be popular. She doesn’t even try to be fashionable, but whatever she wears looks awesome on her. She just wears whatever she thought felt right that day, and most importantly, it would be comfortable. Get one thing straight, though. Abby isn’t major anorexic skinny. It’s not like she’s fat or anything, either. She’s actually perfectly on the average for her age and height. She doesn’t have that amazing tan either, she just doesn’t tan. People don’t seem to notice that.
It’s hard to feel pretty standing next to Abby.
Hey, don’t get me wrong. I’m not some girl who stands in the mirror wishing they were somebody else. No, people tell me I’m pretty, and I don’t have a problem with how I look. Most of the time. Sometimes, I just feel like awkward when I’m with Abby. Like I’m made out of twigs or something. You go somewhere with Abby and then tell me how self-confident you feel.
It probably also doesn’t help that she was dating the guy I’ve had a crush on since seventh grade.
Connor Montgomery. He’s the most amazing guy I’ve ever met. He’s an artsy kind of guy, kind of musical, but not the “I’m going to join a band” kind or the “I’m going to write sappy romantic love songs” kind. He just likes to hear how notes go together, how F sharp makes the key of G sound so different. Stuff like that. He’s not super smart, but not stupid. He’s nice. He’s average. Maybe that’s why I like him, it’s like he could be the stereotypical romantic interest in any young adult novel. Well, besides the ones about vampires or werewolves and stuff, but you know what I meant.
He’s also amazing at soccer. He and Abby played together when she played for the boys’ team. They worked well together on the field. I mean, I don’t quite understand the details, I do track, and I’m not very good. The thing is, even I could tell they had...well, chemistry.
Of course, Abby doesn’t know I had a crush on him. At least, I never told her. But she wouldn’t date him if she knew. Well, I like to think she wouldn’t. I don’t think she would...
They were like the super teen girl’s dream power couple. People say they’re adorable together. People said they would never break up.
Everything about Abby and Connor was perfect.
That is, until they actually did break up.
It was a Saturday, and I was still in the clothes I had slept in, reading a book I had bought the day before. I was on the last chapter when Abby called me.
“Yes?”
“Hey. Are you home?” was the first thing she said to me. I could hear that she was angry. It wasn’t just any kind of angry, it was an “I’m about to punch someone’s lights out” angry. Or an “I’m going to beat someone with a palm tree and then take their heart out and show it to them before they die” kind of angry. Furious might be the better word, actually.
“Yeah, what’s up? Are you okay?” I heard her radio blaring in the background, playing some scream-o song with a really awful guitar part, but I wasn’t planning to point that out.
“No, I’m about to kill someone and I hope it’s doesn’t end up being you. Is it alright if I come over?”
“Depends on if you’re actually going to try and murder me.” I said, trying to get a laugh from her.
No response.
I sighed. “Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Good, because I’m pulling onto your street.” She said, and hung up.
I ran downstairs, still in my PJs, and threw open the front door just in time to see Abby rocket down my driveway. When she got out and slammed the door, I worried for a moment just how serious she was about murdering someone. It all melted away when she got to me.
“Sid, I broke up with him.” She said as the tears began to fall. “He was dating another girl. He was cheating on me, Sidney!”
I hugged her for a long time, there on my front porch. Eventually, we went inside, and I tried to distract her with anything. We talked about my book, TV, music, anything but the fact that Connor was a cheater. Everything that didn’t have to do with relationships.
It was hours before she left to go back home.
The next person at my door was Connor Montgomery.
“What do you want?” I asked, crossing my arms. I couldn’t help but be mad at him, I mean, he had broken my best friend’s heart earlier today.
“I was looking for Abby; I was told she was here.” He said, looking all sorts of distressed and somehow still attractive. No, not attractive, liars aren’t attractive.
“She left. Thirty minutes ago.”
The corner of his mouth lifted into a little grin. “I thought you would say that.”
Hundreds of thoughts were rushing through my head. Primarily, “What does he mean ‘I thought you would say that?’” and “Oh my gosh, I’m standing on my front porch with a guy wearing pajama pants and an oversized T-shirt.”
Thankfully, I only voiced the former.
“Breaking up with Abby...well, it made me realize why I went out with her in the first place.”
“What?”
“How do I put this without seeming like a jerk?” Connor said, running his fingers through his hair. It wasn’t fair how he could do that and still look cute afterwards. If I did that, I’d end up looking like I had some nasty bed head.
“A jerk?” I forced a laugh. “Connor, you were cheating on my best friend.”
He shook his head and sighed. “I wasn’t cheating on her. I wouldn’t do that. Abby wouldn’t listen to the whole story. You know how she is...”
“Whatever. Sorry, Connor, if I choose to believe Abby before I believe you.”
“I didn’t cheat on her, Sidney! You know I wouldn’t!” He was pacing, now, back and forth in front of my front door. “I wouldn’t cheat on her, because I only dated her to get to know you! I only wanted to get close to you!”
He stopped pacing, now, and turned to face me. The expression of surprise he wore, mirrored mine. We stared at each other for a moment, not quite knowing what to say.
“I finally said it.” Connor said.
“That is an awful thing to do, Connor. Do you think I’d want to know you, now? Now that I know everything you and Abby had was a lie? She adored you, Connor!”
“It wasn’t, no...That’s not what I meant, Sidney. Just hear me out. The whole thing, and not just what Abby told you.”
“I’m listening.”
He started pacing again. “The girl Abby saw me with was my cousin. My cousin, Sid! I tried to explain it to her, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She started shouting at me, and finally she broke it off, and left.”
“Well, if you never really wanted to date her, I guess that wasn’t a big problem, was it?”
I was shaking. I didn’t know who to believe at this point. What if Connor was telling me the truth? Abby really was prone to get mad and not listen to the whole story. It sounded like something she would do. But she was my best friend; I would believe her any day over some dumb boy. Best friends. I’d never lie to her.
But she had lied to me. It was never anything this important, and it wasn’t ever a really big deal. She had ditched me before, for cooler friends. She may be my best friend, but to her, I was expendable.
What if I chose to believe Connor? I could be wrong, and he could really be a two-timer. In the end, everything would fall apart the same way it did for Abby. But unlike Abby, I wouldn’t have a best friend to go to when it really did.
What if I was right? Abby would hate me forever, but her life would be in pieces. I mean, I have had a crush on Connor since seventh grade. If he was telling the truth, he was with his cousin, and he likes me. He wanted to get to know me. Abby may not be happy, but I could find someone else to be friends with. I’d be happy.
But I’m not one of those girls.
Am I?
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