I trudge into the school building, sighing at the thought of having to be here for seven hours. I walk over to my usual meeting spot with Katie. My smile turns to a frown, the corner of my lips dropping, as I spot her standing next to Josh, arm in arm with each other. The two have been dating for four months, and for the past four months, they haven't been able to keep their hands off each other. I usually wouldn’t care if she had a boyfriend. It’s not like I was jealous, otherwise I would of cared in the past. But when she starts to include him in everything we do together and cancel our plans to hang out with him, that’s when I have a problem. I mean, it’s not like she doesn’t see him enough as it is.
First, I should give some background information on myself. My name is Taylor and I’ve been best friends with Katie since elementary school. We are now sixteen and as close as ever. Or so I thought before Josh came into the picture. Ever since, she doesn’t make time for just the two of us. Now don’t get me wrong, Josh is a nice guy but that doesn’t mean I want it always to be Katie and Josh… plus Taylor.
As I near the two of them, I fake a smile as I drop my backpack to the ground with a soft thud. “Hey, guys, how are you?”

“Good.” They both respond at the same time, almost twin like. Again, another change with Katie. She used to always be the cheerful one of the two of us and morning or night, she was always talking a mile a minute. But not anymore.
I mentally roll my eyes as I turn my back slightly on Josh, hoping he’d get the hint. “So are we still on for tomorrow? The mall?”
Katie’s face drops as she bites her lip and hesitantly admits, almost as if she’s scared of my reaction, “I… uh… I kind of forgot and made plans with Josh…”
Typical. Typical! How could she possibly forget about the Saturday mall trips we’ve been making since the day we both got our licenses? I was about done with this. I had been putting up with it for too long and things needed to change. I nod slowly, despite the anger that I could feel seeping out. “Of course,” I throw in my snarky comment, “Well, I guess we’ll just do it next weekend.”
Our conversation was cut short by the bell, to my relief. I turn sharply, pushing through the students as I leave her standing there. I mean, she had Josh to walk to class with anyways, right?
*******
I turn to my only friend in first period, Kayla. We had never been the best of friends, but she has always been someone I can talk to for advice and to just vent. She was the next best thing to Katie, who I couldn’t exactly go to right now. I knew Kayla would be the perfect person to talk to about all of this madness.
“So, I need some advice. What do I do if my best friend is constantly ditching our plans to hang out with her boyfriend, but doesn’t seem to realize it?”

“You talk to her.” Kayla replies blatantly, as if I’m asking what two plus two is.
“But I don’t want to upset her-”
She cuts me off. “Look, if she’s a true friend, she won’t get mad at you. It’s not your fault she’s acting like that. She should do her best to change how she’s acting.”
“You’re right. Thanks. I’ll do that.” I turn back around in my seat. Kayla was right. If Katie was ever going to change her ways, I just needed to talk to her whether she gets mad or not. And I will. Today.
*******
The final bell rings, signalling the end of the school day. I hoist my backpack up on my back, the straps tugging on my long brown hair. I exit the classroom, swinging my keys in my hand, as I walk amongst the other students. I send Katie a quick text once I get in my car, asking her to come over tonight. I throw my phone on to the passenger seat, hearing it hit the leather. I pull out of the parking lot and drive home, thoughts running through my head about how to approach things with her.
She arrives at my house, later that night. I spot her car pull up, and make it downstairs, just in time to hear the soft knock of her hand on the door.
I swing the door open, letting her in. As soon as she’s seemed to make herself comfortable on my couch, with her body sprawled out and her hand reaching for the remote, I interrupt her and take the remote. “We need to talk,” I say, in a serious tone, a tone she should know by now I rarely display.
I take a seat next to her and open my mouth, but no words come out. Did I really want to do this? Am I just making everything bigger than it seems? Some may say I’m making too big of a deal out of this, that it’s not that hard, but it is. One wrong word, one thing that she takes too harsh, could mean bye bye to our friendship.

I take a deep breath and let my words take over. "Why does Josh have to always be with us? Why can't you do anything without him anymore?" The questions tumble out before I can even stop them.
She looks a little stunned, her eyes wide and her lips starting to part but closing while she tries to come up with a response. "What do you mean?"
"Are you really asking me that right now? Whenever we make plans, you cancel on me or you bring Josh along. I'm sorry to say it, but when I invite you somewhere, that doesn't mean he's invited." I never meant for it to sound so harsh, but I needed to get this through her head. "I'm done, Katie. Either stop or you'll have to choose between Josh and I."
She sits there for a few minutes, the silence starting to scare me. I expected either her blowing up or her starting to cry, one or the other. "I- I- Have I really been doing that?" Her voice comes out in a quiet whisper.
I should of known. She wouldn't purposely do that, she's just been oblivious this whole time. "Yeah, you have. Like our mall trip you just canceled? You really haven't noticed that you always cancel because of Josh or ask to bring Josh along?"
All she had to come back with was a shake of her head and a small apology.

******
A week later. We've rescheduled our plans and this time, Josh isn't tagging along. Thank goodness I talked to her. She made a change of things so fast, and I'm happy to say, we're just as close again as we were when she was single. Or, we’re close to that. We'll get there though. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that I finally have my best friend back.