They're Playing Our Song

A couple hours later Mary and I were upstairs in my room. She was slowly helping me unpack the boxes full of my junk. When we first moved here, I assumed this would be a painful experience, which is why I refused to do it. Putting things away in drawers and getting rid of boxes only made it seem too clear that we were going to stay here. But now, staying here didn't really seem like a bad idea.

"So where does this go?" Mary would ask, holding up a piece of clothing or one of the many odds and ends that had been artfully displayed in my old room. She even helped me find thumbtacks to hang up my old "Back to the Future" movie poster. I sat on my bed and looked around for a minute, once we were nearly finished.

"Damn Mary. This looks great! Thanks," I smiled at her. She plopped down on the bed next to me.

"Welcome. It does look cool;" she smiled back.

"Mhm," I nodded. "So what do you want to do now?" I asked her.

"I dunno," she said dreamily, looking up at my ceiling fan. "Whatever you want. I'm cool with anything. I haven't been to a sleepover ever since..."

"Stella?" I asked, looking her in her eye. She sighed.

"Yeah," she muttered, crossing her arms and staring at the hardwood floor.

"It seems like you have a lot of issues with this girl," I said sympathetically. "What did she do to mess you up like this?"

"What do you mean 'mess me up like this'?" she defended. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, don't take it like that," I said gently.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," she shook her head. I could tell she was as stubborn as I was.

"Come on Mary," I said, "Talk to me," I put my hand on her shoulder. She sighed.

"Okay. Well...it went like this..." she started. "Stella and I were best friends. We were always together. It never seemed like anything could tear us apart. That was when we were still in junior high. And then we came here and...I don't know. She took art class, and I took band, and everything fell apart. Once she met Mr. Way...she was head over heels, just like all the other girls. He is handsome, I guess. Funny too. But what stopped all the other girls was the age difference," Mary laughed dryly and laid back on my bed before continuing.

"But Stella was never one to let something as simple as that come in her way. I'd seen her swoop in on other girls before, just to get the man she wanted. But I never, ever thought she's do that to me. This other girl named Beth got really close to Mr. Way in her senior year. They used to hang out together all the time. Sooner or later, people started jumping to conclusions and starting rumors. Everyone said they had slept together more than once. The worst part was that Beth never denied a single one of them. She liked the sudden popularity she got. All these girls thought that if they stuck to Beth like glue, Mr. Way would go with them too. And that's exactly what Stella did. She dropped me like dead weight and went straight for Mr. Way," she sighed.

"Oh," I muttered.

"Yeah. That's why I had trouble believing you when you said you wanted to be Mr. Way's friend. It was just too familiar I guess. But you don't have to worry, I don't think. Once Beth left the school everyone assumed if Mr. Way didn't want Beth, he wouldn't want anyone else. Everything went back to normal;"

"Mary, I'm so sorry," I said sadly.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled, sitting up. "I've got you now," I nodded and hugged her. Then I could hear the slamming of the front door, and I knew mom was home.

"Come on Mary," I grinned, "Let's get some food!"