Something Ends, Another Begins

"You're really not going?" Christie asked as we sat in my room. She decided to come to my house earlier so we can look at some Homecoming dresses, considering Homecoming was only a couple weeks away. However, that was before I told her I have no intentions of going.

"No, I think I'll be more comfortable staying at home," I replied, even though that was just one of the reasons I didn't want to go.

"This is because of Josh, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

I sighed and nodded my head. "You know, I've always pictured us going to our last Homecoming and Senior Prom together. It would just be way too weird and uncomfortable going with someone else. And besides all of that, I don't even know who would want to go with me."

Christie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Ali. I'm sure there are tons of guys who would kill to go with you." I stayed quiet. "But," she continued, "I completely understand if you're not comfortable going. I just don't really feel right talking about all of this Homecoming stuff and gushing about the guy I'm going with to someone who's not going. I don't want to make you feel left out or anything."

I laughed and shook my head. "Chris, don't worry about. You can talk and gush all you want to, it doesn't bother me." Christie just smirked and shrugged her shoulders before looking back at my laptop.

I started to wonder why Christie wasn't doing all of this Homecoming stuff with her other friends. The other girls who were on the dance team. When I asked her about this, she told me she wasn't even friends with most of the dance team members and the ones she did talk to, she wasn't even close with. Apparently, she doesn't have a lot in common with any of them.

"There's a big difference between my close friends and the people I converse with. To be honest, I only have a few close friends at school. By close friends, I mean people I can really trust. Not people who talk to me and try to be my friend just in hopes to be popular. That's why I don't talk about my little brother to a lot of people. Only to my close friends like you, Ali."

I was a little shocked to hear that Christie considered me as one of her close friends. Last year, I just considered her as one of those typical popular girls who loved attention and could get any guy she wanted. Then again, that was all before I found out about her brother Jared and the tragedy of her and her family losing him to cancer. It was also before I knew that she only dated Cameron to help distract from the pain of losing Jared and how neither of them had strong feelings for one another. I guess that just proves you can never judge someone just by their popularity.

Several minutes passed of looking at beautiful yet (of course) expensive dresses before we heard footsteps coming toward my room.

"Knock, knock," Jenny said as she appeared at the door. She was smiling widely, but once she saw Christie, however, that smile started to fade.

"Hey, Jen. What's up?" I asked, surprised to see her since she hasn't been here since school started again.

"Hi, Jenny," Christie said.

Jenny crossed her arms over her chest, still standing in the same spot. "Your mom let me in. What's going on here?"

"Oh, Christie and I were just looking at some Homecoming dresses. Come and look with us." I gestured for her to sit next to us but she stayed standing.

"Ali, can I talk to you for a second in private, please?"Jenny backed into the hallway a bit.

Confused, I slowly walked out of the room, telling Christie I would be back in a few seconds. After I closed the door behind me, I faced Jenny.

"What the hell are you doing hanging out with her?" Jenny asked quietly.

"I'm sorry, is that against the rules or something?" I replied, half-joking.

"Come on, Ali. You know how she is. She's another one of those stuck up chicks that only cares about her appearance and popularity."

I stopped her before she could say more. "Whoa, Jenny, slow down. You don't even know her."

"Since when did you start hanging out with her and how come you've never told me."

I tried to stay calm. "Okay, first of all, I don't need your permission on who I want to hang out with. Second of all, you would've known that we started hanging out if weren't with that Zachary guy all the time."

"Just so you know, that Zachary happened to ask me to Homecoming and I really like him. Don't blame us not talking as much on me."

"Well, I'm not the one who flirts with some guy almost all day, every day even though I haven't talked that much with my best friend for the past few months. I really need my best friend more than ever right now, Jenny but, apparently, you have more important priorities on your mind such as getting a boyfriend."

"You're acting as if I've abandoned you in some way. It's not like you need me all day and night."

"No, I don't. But, it would be nice to just have a nice long talk with someone, especially since I've been going through so much lately. And Christie understands that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that she knows what I'm going through and she knows how I'm feeling. That's one of the main reasons we're becoming better friends. Ever since Josh died, the only time you've ever mentioned him was the first day of school when you apologized for not making it to the funeral. Not once after that did you ask if I was okay or if I needed to talk."

"How the hell was I supposed to know if you wanted to talk about it or not. I've never gone through anything like you have so I don't know how to deal with these types of situations."

"I understand that, Jenny. I'm just saying that I need my best friend to talk to right now and it seems that you've just been focused on Zachary."

"My life does not revolve around you, Ali. It seems to me that I'm not the best friend you need to talk to anymore. Just go back and continue to talk to your new best friend, Christie. Apparently, she's a better friend." Right after Jenny said that, she turned around and stomped out of the door.

***

I was walking out of the bathroom, on my way to the cafeteria for lunch when I started to hear footsteps behind me.

"Hi, Ali," Cameron said, walking next to me.

"Hey, Cam," I replied.

"Whoa," Cameron said, chucking.

"What?"

"You just called me Cam. You never call me that."

"I thought that's what you want people to call you."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, that's true, I guess. I'm just so used to you calling me by my whole name. I don't know. It just sounds weird when you call me 'Cam'." He smirked.

"Oh, okay, then. What's up Cameron?"

He smiled and laughed. "Better. Anyway, Christie tells me you're not going to Homecoming."

"Yeah, I'm just not up for it this year. It won't be too much fun standing alone in a corner watching all of the couples dance together and being reminded that I went to some dance without someone."

"Well, what if someone were to ask you?" Cameron looked at me.

"I think I would probably say no. Right now, I just can't picture me going out with someone who's not Josh, you know?"

Cameron nodded and looked ahead. "Yeah, I know."

As we entered the cafeteria, the first thing I saw was Jenny holding hands with Zachary as they made their way to a table. She was laughing at something he said.

Once Jenny saw me, her smile immediately dropped and she rolled her eyes before focusing her attention back on Zachary.

"What's up with her?" Cameron asked, having seen what just happened.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Oh, we just got into some stupid fight. It's complicated. Anyway, I guess I'll see you around," I said.

"Unless," Cameron said, making me stop and turn to face him, "You want to eat lunch with me today."

"You want me to eat lunch with you?"

"Why not? You, Josh, and I would sit at the same table most of the time before. The guys at the table aren't complete jerks, anyway, I promise."

I thought about it for a few seconds before nodding and saying, "Okay."

He smiled and I followed him as he led the way to the table.