Rowdy Boy

“It’s been one day. Stop freaking out,” I reply.

“I can’t! I miss my best friend,” she says, doing some fake sniffles to make me feel guilty.

“I’m not dead,” I reply. “I’m just going to a different school.”

“Exactly, which means we can’t gossip during class or tell each other all the dirty shit we saw.”

“You can still tell me in text,” I say.

“That’s different,” she replies. “And I still miss you.”

I roll around on the bed again. “I miss you too.”

“How was it?” she asks.

“Ugh …” I groan, and she immediately laughs.

“Already regretting it, huh?”

“No, yes, but no. I mean, it’s better for me, in a way. No one’s staring at me, you know? And no one knows me there, so that’s good. Well, except Ariane of course. But she won’t tell anybody … I think.”

“She’d better not, or I’ll come sucker punch her myself.”

I snort. “Should we swap names? Because you’re acting like me now.”

“I gotta protect my girl,” she says. “I want them to treat you better.”

“I know, I know.” I sigh. “But it’s fine. I mean, the first day went … okay.”

“Okay? Oh, God.” I can almost hear her roll her eyes at me. “Spit it out.”

“What?”

“Everything,” she snarls. “I know when you’re lying, so don’t even try.”

“Fine. There’s this boy.”

“A boy?” she gasps. “NO! Monica, no fucking way, we talked about this.”

“Relax.” I go to sit up. “Nothing happened. He was just a jerk. That’s all. I’m not even ready for any boy stuff whatsoever.”

“Okay, good,” she says. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I know,” I reply.

She was there the night it happened. Even though she wasn’t there in time to prevent it, she did come to my rescue when I begged her to, and she’s been there for me through it all, even helping me get back to school and all. She’s the kind of best friend most people could only wish for. We’ve always got each other’s back.

“We should meet up soon. Maybe grab some ice cream too,” Sam says, and I can practically hear her drool. “What I wouldn’t give for a tub of chocolate ice cream right now.”

“Sure,” I reply. “And how’re things with Nate?”

“Oh, well, he’s doing great, I suppose. Finally got his dad to agree to let him enter some rap contests.”

“Really? That’s amazing,” I reply.

“Yeah, Nate really wants to try to see if he can score an agent. The whole college thing was never really for him, you know.”

“Right.” Nate’s got such a difficult history. With him being involved in a girl’s death last summer, I really didn’t expect his father to ease up on him, especially since he wanted Nate to get a football scholarship. But you can’t stop someone from living their dream.

“Anyway, we’re doing okay … despite the fact that you’re not here.”

“I still live in the same house, Sam. You can still come and visit me,” I reply.

“I know! It’s just not the same.”

I smile. It’s good to hear that I’m missed. Beats already having a bully on day one of school. “God, sometimes I wish I could just snap my fingers and get a whole tub of ice cream delivered to my door.”

“Girl, same,” Sam replies.

“No, but, I mean …” I sigh. “It’s really hard, going through school without your best friend by your side.” Shit’s getting real now, I can feel it in my bones. “I hate being the new girl. And I miss knowing where everything is, who everyone is.” I swallow to stop myself from tearing up. “It’s just hard, and sometimes I wonder … what if I hadn’t made this stupid decision?”

“It’s not stupid,” she says. “Don’t tell yourself that. There’s nothing to regret. You made the right decision for you. You needed this. So stick with it. It’ll get better, I promise. It’ll feel like you own the place in no time.”

I laugh. Even when I’m feeling down, she always manages to cheer me up. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, bitch,” she replies, making me laugh again. “Now stop crying and go get some ice cream for two. Promise me you’ll eat it all.”

“What?”

“I can’t come, I have homework to do,” she says.

“Ah, boo!” I yell.

“I know, but it is what it is. So we’ll talk soon, okay? And we gotta meet up ASAP.”

“I’ll text you some dates and times,” I reply.

“Great. Have fun eating all that ice cream without me!” she yells, and then hangs up.

Bitch. Always trying to make me miss her even more.

I get off the bed and pick up my wallet as well as my keys. Better make good on that promise.

Suddenly, my phone buzzes again, and when I check it out, I’m surprised it’s an unknown number.

Hey, it’s Melanie, from class, remember? I got your phone nr from Ariane. She said you were her cousin. Sorry about what Cole did. I didn’t wanna run off and leave you there by yourself, but I had to call my mom for something important.