Everyone See's Her, But Nobody Knows

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I was sprawled out along Callies enormous bed, a Seventeen magazine opened before me and a small bowl of skittles to my right. I had been in this position for a grueling forty-five minutes, hearing Callie throw a complete bitch fit from in the bathroom about how her hair wouldn’t cooperate the way she wanted, or her make-up wasn’t looking how she planned it to. Why she wanted me to stay here was beyond me, I had already done my job of picking out a perfect outfit for her. All I really wanted to be doing was to go home and watch my favorite movie while packing for my ideal summer.

Was that too hard to ask for?

Yet here I was, reading an article about how many ways you can make your outfit look different by using colored ribbons and multicolored tights. The clock was ticking unbearably slow as well, showing it was only 7:14, when Tommy Edward wouldn’t be here to pick Callie up until eight.

"I look absolutely ridiculous!" Callie shouted, slamming open the bathroom door and standing before me. My eyes scanned her body, seeing her hair was straightened to perfection and clipped back, her makeup applied perfectly to make her eyes look more blue and her tan really pop, and adorning her body was a breathtaking ocean blue strapless dress, with a bow around the bust and a flaring folded bottom. The moment I had seen the new dress in Callies closet I was dying for her to wear it, it was too beautiful to go to waste.

"I look horrid." She replied, clearly aggravated by her reflection as she twisted and turned in front of the mirror.

"Callie, what on earth are you talking about? The dress is absolutely gorgeous, and perfect for the occasion! He's taking you to the beachside dance, and I can guarantee you'll be the prettiest one there!" I insisted, wondering how she could possibly think she looked bad, when she clearly looked so amazing.

"No, it fits me all wrong! What was I thinking when I bought this thing?" I stood up beside and turned her to face me, my hands on wither one of her shoulders.

"You were thinking it looks amazing on you, which it does. The only reason your doubting it is because your nervous, but you shouldn’t be! You'll have so much fun, just please trust me." I said, attempting to calm her down.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house. Callie's eyes widened and she shrieked, rushing towards her closet and pulling out random things trying to find something to change into.

"Just wear the dress, it looks amazing." I restated, knowing there was not enough time for her to change. She nodded quickly, obviously thinking what I was, and quickly put in some pearl earring while slipping on some white pumps.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it. See you later tonight, wish me luck!" She said, rushing out of her room and down the stairs to greet her date. I barely had enough time to wave before I heard the sound of an engine revving outside, and the unmistakable squeal of burning rubber as the car dashed out of her driveway.

After I was completely sure she had left, I made my way over to her closet where the piles of beautiful clothes have been carelessly thrown. Treating each one with care, I hung them back onto their original hangers and cleaned up the rest of the mess she had made in her little freak out, a typical thing for Callie to do. I was pretty much used to it by now.

After cleaning everything up, I went home to pack. I only had two suitcases and tons of clothes, so I knew that I had long hours of grueling work ahead of me, trying to figure out what to take and what to leave.

My parents had middle class jobs, both of them being teachers in the middle school, so throughout my life I was never used to getting expensive things, like Callie was used to. All my clothes were mostly from Wet Seal and Charlotte Russe.

As I began to pack, I popped in my favorite movie, letting the story unfold before me. I was without a doubt addicted to 'The Notebook', something about the romance between Allie and Noah made me smile. I just thought it was beautiful, and after watching it for the millionth time I still wasn’t sick of it.

"Why didn’t you write me?!" Allie demanded, standing on the dock soaking wet, waiting for Noah to respond. I sat on my bed, sighing from the pure romance of it all, knowing what was about to happen. Before me I had a pile of sundresses, and knowing there was no room for all of them I had to choose which ones to bring with me. Making decisions was never my forte; I was too indecisive for my own good. I stood in front of the mirror holding each one up to me, seeing which one could possibly look best.

As I dropped a familiar blue dress onto my bed, a definite no, I caught my eyes in the mirror and stopped for a moment. I was dressed in a pair of red sweatpants, a white tank top, and my long hair had been carelessly braided so that it hung from my shoulder. My light blonde side bangs hung in front of my eyes, revealing my barely tan and makeup less face. After examining myself so closely, I looked away with tears in my eyes.

How could Callie ever look in the mirror and be disappointed? How could she even fathom, that she didn’t look good in that dress? She was like a supermodel; she was so breathtakingly beautiful to me that it hurt to look at her sometimes. Yet she looks at herself, and doesn’t see perfection?

The tears fell from my eyes before I could stop them, knowing I was nothing in comparison. I may be pretty, but I wasn’t beautiful. I knew things would never change, but sometimes it would come back out of know where and hit me like a slap in the face.

Standing here in tears over something that you cant change, won't help you. It will only make you feel depressed, just move on, I told myself. I nodded, moving away from the mirror and laying down on my bed, abandoning the packing thing altogether. Slowly, I let my eyes droop, and my dreams take over all previous thoughts.

_ _ _ _

"Oh Adrienne, wake upppp!" Someone sang into my ear, causing me to sit up quickly looking around the room in alarm. Callie sat next to me, on the edge of my bed laughing hysterically.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" She said, leaning over in giggles. I wiped the sleep from my eyes, slowly getting off the bed and making my way towards the DVD player to take out the movie.

"You would think that after all these years of us being friends, that I would be used to that by now." I said slowly shaking my head as I slipped the silver disc into the movie case.

"Yet you freak every time, total classic." She said smiling at me as she flopped across my bed, the blue dress fanning out all around her. "Anyways, the date was a complete flop; I can't believe I ever gave that guy a chance!" I made my way over to her, sitting on the bad and leaning back onto my pillows.

"Really? What happened?" I questioned.

"Well we went to that beach side dance down in the harbor, and the entire time all he wanted to do was stand on the side with his friends. I barely even got to dance! He just kept his arm around my waist and smiled to all the other guys passing by, it was mortifying." Typical, he was using her as arm candy..

"Well at least you got to go; none of the other girls in our school got invites." I said trying to brighten up the mood. I feared that if I didn’t she would complain all freaking night.

Callie got off the bed, making her way to my dresser and pulling out a pair of my pajamas, walking towards my bathroom to change. I could still hear her talking from inside.

"Well yeah, but if I knew it would be that boring I wouldn’t have accepted it. It's like 'Hello Tommy, you invited me and all your friends keep asking for my number. Make a move!' He just stood there, it was agony." I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the comment.

"Why are you rolling your eyes?" She questioned, opening the door to catch me in the act and looking at me quizzically. Shit.

"Well, I just think your making a big deal out of nothing. A cute guy asked you out, and it wasn’t a great time. At least you got to go, at least you know that you'll have a date waiting for you next week, which will no doubt be way better. A lot of girls don’t even have that to fall back on." I said quickly, hoping she wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Clearly, I was wrong.

"I can't believe you, I'm telling you about something wrong and you're criticizing it. A guy was rude to me! Why are you acting like it's not a big deal?" By the way she was glaring at me, I knew it may be best to keep my mouth shut, but of course I didn’t, and everything began getting worse.

"You can't believe me? You’re the one who has everything a person could want, yet you always find something to complain about! Can't you ever just be happy with the little things?"

"Oh, I get it. Your jealous of me." She stated, smirking at me as though it was amusing. I felt my jaw drop and the anger build inside me.

"Of course not! I'm just saying, maybe you should start looking at the great things in your life rather than the horrible stuff."

"No, you're jealous of me. I knew it, is that why you can't be happy for me? Because I go out with boys on weekends and you stay home watching some pathetic romance movie since you have no romance in your life at all?" Ouch, that was low, even for her.

"What exactly are you trying to say?' I blurted out.

"I'm saying is that your acting pathetic. You have no life and you live through me, and when I need an actual friend to talk about my problems with you can't even be happy for me. Everyone at school can see it Adrienne, your pathetic." A silence filled the room as tears began flowing down my cheeks. How dare she say that, in my house, in my room! After everything I do for her, she thinks she'd going to treat me like this? I needed to respond, to defend myself. Yet no words came from my lips.

She was right. I had no life; I stayed home and watched romantic movies while my best friend lived them. I was nothing without Callie, and as much as people would kill to trade places with me, they could also see that it was a bit pathetic. That's the part that hurt worst of all.

"Well I'm going home, there's no point in me hanging around to watch you cry." She eventually said, rolling her eyes at me and storming out, in MY pajamas might I add.

The minute she left my house I slammed my bedroom door shut, feeling slightly suffocated. I was feeling insecure, as my previous thoughts invaded my mind. I was nothing without Callie.

I needed to get as far way from here as possible, as soon as possible. I'm suffocating here, I need freedom; a change. I need to find myself, I need to get away.

Before I could even register what I was doing, I found myself in front of my computer clicking away profusely. Then, with one final click, it was done. My printer began hurriedly printing and I stared at the screen, blood coursing through my veins in excitement, as my eyes read the words over and over.

Thank you for rescheduling your flight. We're here to help you! Your new flight to California leaves June 30, 2009 at 10:00 AM. Your ticket is currently printing.

I immediately thought back and grinned, only eleven more hours and I'm on my way.

To Freedom