Don't You Ever Forget About Me

It was the first day of sixth grade, exactly two weeks from the day Christian told me he was going to move. Ever since he left I just moped around. My heart hurt when it beat and all I ever wanted to do was lay in my bed and cry and think about all of the sleepovers we had, all the conversations that we shared, all the times we'd watch and quote lines from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

But my parents wouldn't let me. They continued to wake me up at ten o'clock and have me in bed by eleven. They made me eat and continue to breathe. It was hard at times, since I had no idea how much I needed Christian's boyish personality until he had moved away. I had no idea I'd depended on him to keep me happy.

We talked once in the time that Christian had moved away and, by the sound of things, he sounded like I needed him way more than he needed me. He seemed a bit upset, but told me he had made three new friends already. Cody, Brandt, and Mike. He sounded like things were going great, and it only made things hurt more.

I managed to get my locker open and put my book-bag inside and place my five one-inch binders in my The Nightmare Before Christmas bag. I stacked all the supplies I needed and managed to get to my first class, math, without looking many people in the eye. When I arrived in the classroom I found a seat in the far corner that was vacated and didn't have people surrounding it.

I pulled out a binder from my pack as I sat and began to doodle in the blank loose-leaf paper. I ended up writing out the lyrics to the song at the end of The Nightmare Before Christmas where Jack and Sally finally learn they like each other and drawing their silhouettes against the moon.

"What'cha doin' there?" A girl asked me. I jumped but managed to not mess up the drawing.

"Doodling." I replied shortly.

"Cool. What'cha doodling?" She just wouldn't leave me alone, would she?

"One of my favorite scenes in a movie."

"What movie?"

"The Nightmare Before Christmas. Don't you have anyone you should be catching up with?" I asked her, looking up. I knew I was being rude but I didn't want to deal with anyone right now. I still wasn't over Christian leaving.

"Oh, sorry for bothering you. I just thought you wanted someone to talk to, you looked lonely. You're a good drawer. I guess I'll go now." She said, a look of hurt passing over her face before she moved off to talk to someone else.

I looked down at the paper again and saw that not only had I wrote the lyrics and drew their silhouettes but I had written "I miss Christian" across the bottom.

Just then the bell rang, and I looked up to see a tall, skinny woman walk in. She cleared her throat and everyone stopped talking and looked up.

"Hello, class! My name is Miss Jones. How are you all?" Her cheerful voice chirped throughout the medium-sized room.

The class droned out a "Good" but I mumbled "Terrible."

"That's great news! Now, as a way to get to know everyone's names we're going to go around the class, and when it comes to you say your name and something about your interests." She said, obviously oblivious to my sour mood.

I kept my eyes trained on her so I didn't make a fool out of myself. Soon enough my turn came.

"And who are you, dear?" Miss Jones asked me.

"Victoria Jasper, and I like Tim Burton movies." I said flatly, waiting for her to move on to the next kid. When she did I was grateful, and I continued doodling in my binder.

By the time class was over I had my supplies in their rightful place and I had covered two pages with doodling. I also couldn't stop thinking about what Christian's day was turning out to be.

I hoped it was good. If I knew he was doing fine maybe I'd feel better. I knew deep down that I was just telling myself a lie when I tried to be happy at the thought he was getting along fine.

The next class was about the same was the first. I picked a seat towards the back and avoided people's eyes. This time we did another activity about learning people's names and after my turn passed I ignored everything.

The rest of the day went by relatively the same. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my mind off of the brown-haired boy that left for Boston a mere two Mondays ago.

When I finally arrived home I asked my parents if Christian had called. The answer was the same as it was the previous week. He hadn't called even though he swore he would. I didn't know a six year friendship was that easy to leave behind.

"He's probably too busy to call." My parents tried to justify. "They had a lot of furniture, and maybe they had to do a few renovations."

"What's their number? Maybe I should try to call them." I weakly suggested.

My mom gave me the number and I hit send as I walked up to my room.

To my surprise I heard Christian answer.

"Hello, Novelli residence."

"Christian, it's me." I said, fighting to keep my voice strong.

"Victoria! How have you been?" He asked, excited.

"Not too bad." I gave a weak laugh. "You?"

"It's been pretty crazy. We had to fix a few things and Cody, Brandt, Mike, and I have been out almost everyday walking to the park down the street and just hanging out."

"What's up? You seem out of breath." I stated, the void in my chest that was once Christian's friendship was hurting.

"Oh! We just got back from playing football." I could hear the smile in his voice. He had no idea that I was in pain.

"Do you think we could web-cam sometime? I miss talking face-to-face. Well it'd be considered face-to-computer screen with your face on it but its close enough to the same." I hoped he'd say we could. It didn't seem right to tell him how much I hurt without seeing his reaction.

"Uh, one sec. I'll ask my mom. Mom, do you think me and Vicky can talk on the webcam sometime?" Then silence for a while as his mom most likely answered him. "Oh, okay. She said she'll set up the webcam tomorrow and that we can by the time you get out of school tomorrow. It's kinda weird, y'know? I mean, your time is three hours behind my time."

"Yeah. It's odd having to ask if you'd called when I'm used to getting home at the same time." I placed a subtle hint that I was hurt that he didn't call. If he caught it then he didn't make it clear he did.

"Hey, I gotta go. Sorry. I'll talk to you tomorrow over webcam?"

"Sure. Bye." I said, hanging up. I sat on my bed staring at the wall as I let waves of what I could only describe as the beginnings of depression crash over me.
*~*~*~*~*
The next day passed with an agonizingly slow pace. It was as if some force were trying to delay my conversation with Christian as much as possible.

The girl that came up to me the first day came up to me again, but in my third period class.

"Hey! Remember me?" He chirped happily.

"Uh, yeah. You complimented me on my doodles." I replied quietly, looking up from my new doodles.

"You do! My name's Olivia." She said, flashing me a large smile.

"Victoria."

"Want to be friends, Victoria?" She asked, hopefulness dripping from her words and showing on her face.

"Um.. I'd actually rather be alone..." I told her. I felt guilt fill me as her face fell. I told myself that it was for the best, though. That if I wanted to heal I shouldn't put myself in a place to be hurt again. If I let her in then she could pick at all my insecurities. She could betray me. She could do anything. I wouldn't put myself up to that. At least that's what I got myself to believe.

The rest of the day passed at the same if not a slower pace. By the time I stepped inside my house I almost cried out in joy. I asked my mom if they had the webcams set up and she confirmed that they had. She also told me to call them on the phone before I did on the webcam because their program might not be open.

I took the phone and walked into the office, sitting in the chair that was placed in front of the computer. As I dialed the Novellis number I twirled in the seat.

"Hello?" Christian's brother's voice came through the phone.

"Hey, it's Vicky. Is Christian there?"

"Uh, no. He left after he did his homework with his friends."

"Oh." I said, feeling let down.

"I'll tell him you called." His brother offered, obviously hearing the way my voice caught on the word.

"Thanks. Bye." I choked out, feeling worse than I had before. I couldn't believe that Christian could forget something like that so easily.