Dividing by Zero

It was Friday, Erin’s favorite day of the week. It was the day (or night, rather) of Erin, Brooke, Lara, and Danielle’s weekly sleepover. Tonight it was going to be at Lara’s house, which was Erin’s favorite because she had a huge, kick-ass basement with a wii and a giant flat screen.

Ninth period, and Erin was getting antsy. AP Statistics was her least favorite class, and it was going the slowest.

She had half an hour until the final 3:00 bell, and with a sigh, she dropped her head on to her desk, hoping to be lulled into sleep by the drone of numbers.

“Erin?” Brooke’s voice pushed it’s way into Erin’s dream.

The two of them stood in a giant, white, fluffy room, almost as if they were in the middle of a cloud.

Erin felt uncomfortable, but she didn’t know why. This was Brooke, her best friend for years.

“Hi, Brooke,” Erin said cautiously, stepping towards her.

Brooke ran forward, quickly closing the gap between her and Erin. “I have to tell you something,” she said breathlessly.

“What is it?”

“I… I…”

“Erin?”

Erin’s head snapped up, and she locked eyes with those of her irritated teacher.

“I’m sorry you find my class boring, Erin, but I’d hope that you’d have enough respect to stay awake during it.”

The rest of the class gave little snickers, and Erin felt her face turning a bright red while she mumbled, “Sorry.”

Erin spent the rest of class staring into space and thinking about her dream. What was Brooke going to tell her? As much as it bothered her, Erin shook her head and pushed it to the back of her mind, dismissing it as a dream and nothing more.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang, releasing Erin from statistics hell. She hurried out of the classroom, breathing in the lovely feel of the hallway as soon as she hit it.

Everyone was stopping to talk to and dance with and hug one another with a careless easiness that could only really be found on a Friday afternoon, and Erin was no exception.

She bounced through the hallway, smiling and waving at fleeting faces, keeping the smile etched on to her face until she got up to her locker to greet Brooke.

“Hey Erin.”

“Brooke! Hi!” Erin squealed, hugging her tightly. Brooke wriggled in her grasp, breaking free after a few moments, panting.

“Jesus. What’s with you?”

“It’s Friday! I’m not in statistics! And we have a sleepover with Lara and Danielle tonight! Why aren’t you excited?”

Brooke laughed. “I am, I am! Just not as excited as you, clearly.”

Erin shrugged, still smiling. She bent down, reaching over Brooke to get her books. “Want to come over?”

“Sorry, I can’t. My mom needs my help cleaning the house since my grandma’s coming. Plus, I need to get my stuff for Lara’s house,” Brooke replied.

Erin deflated just a little. “Oh. Well, okay. What time are you going to Lara’s?”

“Probably around seven. You?”

“Yeah, same. Anyway, my mom’s waiting outside, so I guess I’ll see you later,” Erin said, waving and turning to walk away.

“Wait!” Brooke called out. Erin turned, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Yes?”

Brooke flung her arms out. “Not even a hug before you leave me?”

Erin rolled her eyes, but walked in to Brooke’s open arms. Brooke’s sweet, honey, sugar cookie smell hit Erin immediately, and she smiled, breathing her in. Finally, Brooke pulled away (sooner than Erin would have liked) and waved. “See you at Lara’s!”

“See ya,” Erin replied, turning and strolling down the hall, trying to doge students dragging out goodbyes as if they won’t see each other for months, let alone a weekend.

Erin hurried downstairs and out to the side gym parking lot where her mom was waiting for her. She hopped in the car, flashed a quick smile, and then sat down, leaning her head against the window.

“What’s wrong? Bad day at school?” her mom prodded, trying to make light conversation.

“No, no. It’s just that…” Erin trailed off, wondering what it was, because she herself didn’t know. She had a weird anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach, which was not normal. She had nothing to feel anxious about.

“Just what?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just not feeling great, is all.”

“Okay hun. Maybe you should lie down a little while before your sleepover tonight. You don’t want to miss that,” her mom advised.

“Yeah, I’ll probably do that,” Erin replied softly, her mind whirring.

When she got home, she did as her mother had suggested, and went upstairs to lie down. She stared at the ceiling for a while, just thinking.

What if we play Just Dance? She wondered.

So? Another part of her asked back.

I don’t want to embarrass myself!

In front of who? These are your best friends! You love Just Dance!

Erin shook her head, willing her brain to stop arguing with itself. But why was she worried about embarrassing herself? She was afraid Brooke would think she looked stupid, she realized slowly.

Brooke? She’s seen you play Just Dance! Why would she think that? And more importantly, why do you care?

Why did she care? Brooke had seen Erin do some pretty embarrassing stuff, and what else were friends for?

And what if we eat pizza and the cheese gets pulled off when I bite into it and then it keeps dragging out and it gets stuck all over my face and Brooke is watching and she starts laughing at me and thinks I’m a disgusting pig?

This time, Erin just smashed her head against the wall. In retrospect, it was probably a dumb idea, because she had a roaring headache only seconds later. She got up and trudged to her bathroom, downing two Advil before heading back to bed. She didn’t know why she was feeling weird and shy about Brooke. She just knew that it had to stop.

Brooke was her best friend.

And nothing more.