Fix Me

It seemed like no one was alone that day. Everyone had their friends, boyfriends, girlfriends…no one was by themselves. Except, that is, for one girl with shimmering evergreen eyes. She sat all by her lonesome on a window seat, staring out at the front entrance of the high school. People came and went, always in twos, threes, or more. Yet there she was, completely alone again. She pulled her phone from her jean pocket, and her heart sank for the millionth time when there were no new notifications for her. Where was he? He was supposed to be her best friend. Lately it seemed like he just wanted nothing to do with her anymore.
Was it her fault? What had she done to make him leave her behind so much? She’d apologized for going on a “date” with Trace, hadn’t she? What more could Josh want from her? What words could she say to him to make everything better? She must’ve searched her mind a million times for the answer to these questions and every time she came up blank.
Maybe it wasn’t her fault at all. Come to think of it, Josh had been the one acting especially weird the past few days. He’d been M.I.A. too often, and he’d always been jumpy and distant when he was around Kali. He was even starting to look different. Kali couldn’t ignore his trembling hands, his constant new habit of chewing on his lips until they were bloody, and the continuously darkening circles that’d appeared beneath his eyes. Speaking of, even his usually sparkling blue eyes were faded. It was like they constantly had a shadowy film covering them. He always seemed to be thinking of something—or someone—else. Even so, whether it was her fault or not, Kali still hated it. Either she had screwed up somewhere along the way or Josh was hiding something from her. Best friends shouldn’t have to hide anything from each other. She felt betrayed, but did she even have a right to feel that way?
Someone came up and poked Kali’s shoulder, breaking her away from her thoughts. A flutter of hope tickled her stomach, only to die away when the eyes she met were brown and not blue.
“Kali! What are you doing over here all alone?” It was one of Kali’s female friends—she preferred to think of them as more of acquaintances—named Chelsea. She was a pretty girl, with shoulder-length curly auburn hair and a curvy body. She was high on the popularity list. “Where’s Josh? He’s usually circling around you.”
Kali tightened her arms around her midsection at the mention of Josh’s name. “I don’t know where he is.” She answered quietly.
“Oh, weird,” Chelsea’s brow furrowed for a moment before she was back to her usual bubbly self. “Do you want to help me and Alice plan for the upcoming winter dance? We need food and decorations still. It’s going to be so much fun. You are coming, right?”
“Okay, Chelsea, if you want me to get my mom to cater, you can just ask outright, you don’t have to try hinting.” Kali half-smiled. She’d known Chelsea long enough to know what she wanted.
“Oh, well then…great! Thanks!” Chelsea beamed.
“As for actually going to the dance, I don’t know…I’ll probably just serve punch or something…” sighed Kali.
“Oh, c’mon! You have to come! We can go dress shopping and you can bring a date! Why don’t you bring Josh? If you ever find him, that is.” Chelsea nodded enthusiastically.
Kali let out a shaky breath. “I—I don’t know if that’ll happen…”
Suddenly the two girls were interrupted by a boy with perfectly tousled brown hair and the kindest brown eyes. He smiled awkwardly at them, revealing white teeth. “Hi,” he said quietly in a deep voice, “sorry to, uh, interrupt…”
“Hey, Matt,” Kali smiled back at him weakly. Matt was a friend of Josh’s and played guitar exceptionally well. She’d come to be fairly close with the kid. “It’s fine.”
“Um, so your mom will cater?” Chelsea asked quickly to clarify. Her eyes kept darting from Kali to Matt. Kali nodded at her question. “Awesome. Come find Alice and I later, we’ll plan some more. See you!”
Kali sighed after Chelsea had left and moved over so Matt could sit next to her. “Sorry about that. What’s up?”
Graciously, Matt took the seat and looked at her with those milk chocolate eyes. “It’s all good. I’d forgotten about the annual winter hoe-down,” he said. “Literally, a hoe-down. There’s…a lot of dresses that aren’t really there at all…”
“Don’t fantasize now, Matty Boy,” Kali chuckled.
“Trust me, I wasn’t. Once you see Celine Pucker in a dress that barely covers her parts you kind of stop fantasizing.” Matt shuddered. Kali couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Anyway, I just came over to ask if you’d seen Ramsay lately? I haven’t been able to get a hold of him. We need to practice some new material and we can’t really do that without a vocalist.”
Kali’s smile faded. She looked down at the floor. “No, I haven’t seen him…”
“Really?” Matt’s brow furrowed. “That’s weird. I figured you of all people would know where he is.”
“Yeah, shocker, huh?”
“Kind of.”
The two sat in silence for a moment or two, thinking about their missing friend. Neither of them had any idea where he could be.
“Hey, retracing back to the winter dance,” Matt spoke up, scratching the back of his head, “are you going?”
“Oh, I’m not sure…if I do I’ll probably just be working at it or something…” Kali shrugged awkwardly.
“So you’re not going with anyone? Josh?” he asked, his eyes searching her face.
“No, no one. Josh hates school dances. Usually we just sit in his basement and he plays me some songs or something. I have a feeling this year will be different, though.” Kali shook unpleasantly.
“Well, I’m being forced to go. So…would you want to go together? Not as a date or anything, I mean, unless you want…I can help you pour drinks and stuff…maybe…” he mumbled. He really was like a puppy dog.
Kali couldn’t help smiling again. “Sure, I’ll go with you, Matt. I’d love the help.”
Matt looked at her and broke out into a smile. “Really? Cool. I’ll call you sometime. Thanks, Kali.”
“No problem.” She waved goodbye as Matt rushed off. This day was certainly taking a weird turn.
She felt sort of guilty about agreeing to go to the dance with Matt, knowing that if she were to go with anyone, people would be expecting Josh. However, Josh was nowhere to be found. With a set jaw, Kali realized that she could still have fun with or without her best friend, and that’s just what she was going to do.
Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket and the flutter of hope inside her returned. However, just like last time, it was Chelsea and not Josh.
I’m going to assume dress shopping is a go? Cute date, girlie! ;)
With a chuckle, Kali replied, Yes, it is. And he is pretty cute, isn’t he?