Look Me in the Eyes, and Promise Me Friendship

The next day started out awful already, she woke up late which caused her to miss the bus; so she jogged three miles to school. She made it in the nick of time for homeroom. After homeroom she couldn’t get her locker unlocked, and last but not least, people were pointing and laughing at her for a reason that she soon realized. She rushed around too much in the morning that she forgot to brush her hair and she looked like a girl from some 1980’s music video. This day was officially the worst day of her life, school wise.

Aubrey arrived to her 2nd period with a few seconds to spare and sunk down into her chair. She covered her eyes with her hands and took deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating. Her friend Adrianne walked up and sat down in the desk beside her.

“Bad Day?” Adrianne asked her sweetly, reaching into her extremely large Louis Vuitton purse.

“It’s officially the worst day of my life. Can you tell?” Aubrey asked sarcastically, knowing that it was visible. She kept her hand over her eyes, until she realized that she was being tapped on the arm with a solid object. Adrianne had offered her brush. Aubrey accepted and was a little relieved.

“Thanks, now I won’t go around looking like Madonna in the ‘80’s,” Aubrey added some humor into her totally horrible day. She brushed the knots out of her hair, and accepted the hair tie that Adrianne had now offered. Now she looked somewhat presentable.

“Miss Aubrey Adele, Come up here please,” her teacher Mrs. Smith had requested. Aubrey slowly walked up to Mrs. Smith’s desk not knowing why she had been called upon.

“Yes, Mrs. Smith?” she asked quite confused.

“Miss Adele, You’re grades have been pretty low lately. From what your former teachers have told me, this is not like you. Is there anything going on that you need to discuss?” Mrs. Smith asked concerned, and pulled up a chair for Aubrey to be able to sit down. Aubrey sat down and quickly started making excuses. Except they weren’t excuses, it was all the truth. Mrs. Smith used to be a guidence councelor so her students were comfortable talking to her about personal situations.

“Mrs. Smith, I am so sorry. This is the toughest part of my life so far, and I am trying my hardest to get through. My mom is Dead, My Dad is an Alcoholic, and he has forbidden me to talk to my best friend. It kills me to not be able to talk to my best friend. Most of my time at home is spent crying or getting my feelings out in Poetry. I try to do my homework, and I try to work in class, but I am having a really tough time,” she told Mrs. Smith her whole life story as she was trying to keep back tears. Surprisingly Mrs. Smith listened to every word that she said, and understood her.

“Well then how about I get one of your classmates to help you with your work?” Mrs. Smith asked sympathetically, wanting to help Aubrey with her problems.

“Okay,” Aubrey agreed hoping that the person that her helpful teacher picked out would be a friend of hers, and someone that she could trust. She wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

She called her best student up to her desk, “Joseph, can you please come here.”

A cold feeling started to spread throughout Aubrey’s body, and she started to really shake. She had to get help from the one person that she was banned from seeing. She wanted to say something so badly to Joe, but she looked down at her feet nervously. A part of her wanted to say something to him, but a part of her didn't want to disobey her father. Mrs. Smith talked to Joe in private; even Aubrey couldn’t hear what she was telling him.

She saw him nod his head. Even he looked and felt a little uncomfortable about the situation, but he agreed to it anyway.

They were both secretly screaming inside, especially Aubrey, but she didn’t know what to do.

Mrs. Smith placed Joe next to Aubrey in the classroom. Through the whole period there was this awkward silence that was occurring. They both still had not said one word to another. Having Joe right next to her, she wanted to reach out to him and apologize, and just jump up into his arms and give him the biggest hug she has ever given, but she just couldn’t do it. There was still a boulder that separated them. That boulder held secrets, and lies, and the biggest problem of all, Aubrey’s father.

Aubrey paid more attention and understood more in class when Joe was on the other side of the room. Having Joe sitting next to her didn’t help her any. Aubrey just thought. Her mind wandered, and a memory popped into her head. The memory was not the best, but explained the awkwardness between the two that she hadn’t understood.

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“Guys, I need to talk to you,” Aubrey pulled Kevin, Joe and Nick off to the side because she needed to tell them something really important. She looked back at her house and noticed that her father was watching her from the window. She was going to perform a task that she thought was impossible to do without crying. One lonely tear streamed down her cheek and they guys started to get worried. Joe especially.

“Okay. What is it?” Kevin responded confused and worried. He reached up and wiped away the tear from her face sweetly.

The pain on Aubrey’s heart was excruciating. It shattered her heart to know that she had to do what she was about to do.

“I never want to talk to you guys again,” she replied. Her eyes were getting red, and her jaw tightened, but then started to tremble. She saw a look of horror and confusion extending upon their faces. They didn’t know what they did to make her feel this way, and they didn’t know what they could do to make it all better.

Joe was torn to shreds. His best friend in the whole world said that they didn’t want to talk to him again, what was he supposed to do?

“Ree, what….” Joe started to say, but Aubrey turned around and ran into her house without looking back at them once.

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The loud ringing of the bell made her snap out of her flashback, causing her to jump slightly out of her blue school chair. With the rush of everyone getting out of the class, she waited till the classroom was just about cleared to get up. She felt dizzy, and if she tried to get up with everyone else, she was afraid that she was going to lose balance. Everyone in the crowded hallways headed to their next miscellaneous periods of the day.

As Aubrey walked down the hall to English, she heard her name being called behind her. It was a guy who was calling her name, a guy with a newly developed deep voice. Aubrey turned around quickly to see who had called upon her, and was surprised to see the familiar face that stood three feet from her.

“Aubrey, " he paused and I looked down. "I know we haven’t talked in over a year, but Mrs. Smith asked me to help you, and I will NOT back down on a word,” Joe informed Aubrey, indicating that he wasn't only talking about the school work. He was referring to their promise too. These words were the first words that Aubrey has heard from Joe in the longest time. Aubrey smiled but cried at the same time. She missed Joe more than anyone could understand.

“Joe, I have missed you so much!” she jumped up into his arms, un-embarrassed, and hugged him. He was hesitant to hug her back, but he did after a while, uncomfortably. It was awkward for him.

“Yeah, whatever; we would probably still be best friends right now if you hadn’t told me that you never wanted to talk to me again,” Joe said with an attitude and walked away from Aubrey.

“Joe, you have no idea why I had to do that. I didn’t mean it!” she screamed down the hall after Joe, and he stopped in his tracks. He stood where he was, he knees slightly bent ready for another step, and Aubrey ran up behind him. He turned to her, inches from her face.

“If you didn’t mean it, then why did you say it? That doesn’t make any sense at all Aubrey,” Joe was angry at this point. He wished that Mrs. Smith would have never chosen HIM to help Aubrey. He started to walk again, but in a pace that Aubrey could keep up with him.

“Listen Joe, meet me in my tree house after school, and I will explain, okay?” Aubrey told Joe, hoping that he would agree. Joe thought about it for a second, and then started to speak.

“This doesn’t mean that we are automatically friends again. You broke my heart that day. You completely shattered it," he paused looking down at his moving feet. "You better have a good explanation,” he warned her and walked into his classroom.

Aubrey jumped for joy inside all day long, and was happy that she finally talked to Joe after year plus or minus a few weeks or so. She also hoped and prayed that everything would work out as she wished they would. She knew she would have to be careful about it though, because if her dad found out that Joe was going to be meeting her in the Tree House, he would do something unexplainable to her. She might not ever get the chance to even see Joe again.