On the Brinks

She smiled down at a huge bowl of vanilla ice cream, as she smothered it in golden caramel sauce. Bethany gave out a little sigh when she remembered that her small pantry was fresh out of walnuts. Without a second thought, a spoonful of the dulcet delight was shoved into her mouth. This was what it had come to; David out being a loser and bowling with his friends and Faith never answering her phone. Bethany was worried; she missed the bubbling enthusiasm that the two used to have when they were together. With another sigh she smiled a tad bit at the freezing delicacy that sat in a plastic blue bowl on her kitchen counter.

The silence in her petty apartment seemed not peaceful, but dull. Throwing the bowl in the sink, Bethany tried Faith’s phone one last time before grabbing her jingling keys and leaving her home. It was quite early in the morning and the cool air was misty. She took a deep breath and jumped in the stolen car once again. The whole interior of the car was sprinkled with Twizzler wrappers, Bethany was proud to say she was the girl keeping them in business. It was a long drive to the Woodgrove Mall but that was just what she needed. In all honesty, Beth had no idea why she was heading in the direction of that mall. It wasn’t as if she would actually be able to afford anything, other than a refreshing liquid of the smoothie sort. The mall was a chic white and she was likely to collide with a frustrated business employee of some sort.

After pulling up in a wet parking lot and partially running to the entry, Beth was wandering down the main hall. A poetic sound rang from a coffee shop to her right and on her left was a group of slender girls, standing around in a spacious boutique. “Is that you Bethany?” With no awareness of whom she was replying to, she nodded. “Oh my gosh, do you remember me? I’m a dear old friend after all.”

Beth shook her head shyly, “Sorry, but I’m afraid not.” Her brown eyes swept silently over the girl. She wore a green cashmere sweater and her skin was a spotless china-white. She smiled and gave a little giggle, before grabbing Beth’s tensed hand and dragging her back to the coffee shop, where they were greeted by a cloud of cinnamon scented air.

“Amanda?” The girl asked, raising her eyebrow and pushing Beth into a brown suede booth. With a flip of her blonde hair it all came rushing back to her. The day of the pounce; her first day here in California. Beth felt her eyes widen and brushed it off quickly, quietly motioning to the waitress that she wasn’t ready for anything. “Well anyways, I gotta say you look fabulous!”

Bethany picked up a piece of her limp brown hair, “I do?” She could distinctly remember Amanda and her friends pulling her braid, poking the freckles across her nose and writing comments about her boots on the bathroom stalls. The blonde girl gave a willing nod and called the waitress back over, ordering two Kona Cappuccinos with whole beans and some other crazy direction that Bethany didn’t catch. Hiding a lightly disgusted face, Bethany smiled at the girl who used to be her worst nightmare. She could practically hear Faith telling her off and dragging an intimidated Beth happily away, to their swings.

“Trust me, you have definitely changed,” claimed Amanda, pulling Bethany out of the simplicity of the old days. The barista called the waitress over and soon her nostrils were filled with the strong scent of coffee. There was certitude to what Amanda had said, but Beth had to contemplate if it was a good thing. It must mean that she had become prettier because only the beautiful, true Cali girls hung around with Amanda but of course she was now only liked for her looks. Bethany knew in her mind that she was being pulled back into the childish world of popularity and looks but this time there was no one there to protect her or take her away to the serenity of those two little swings.

All that was said was, “Thank-you.” And a sip of the distinct coffee was swallowed by a girl who had never been happier in losing her dull, brown braids.