Try picturing two girls, standing on stage, smiling and singing their favorite music. Together. Try hearing them tell each other that they'll be best friends forever. Now try picturing these girls only months later, glaring at each other from across the cafeteria, looking like they are about to blow fire out their mouths. Try hearing them say how much they hate each other, their voices full of distaste for one another. Try being me, because I was one of those girls.
At the beginning of seventh grade year, I wasn't yet sure who my best friend was. I mean, sure, I had all my guy friends, but it seemed like I didn't get along with girls as well as I did with guys. That was, until, I met Emily. We were in the same literacy class, and she sat next to me one day, introducing herself with a smile on her face. We just clicked instantly. All of my favorite books were some of her favorites too. She was sarcastic, an I had a fairly good sense of humor, so we were always laughing. I eventually started sitting at her table at lunch because I was dating her best guy friend. We just grew closer and closer as the year went on.
Within a couple of months of knowing each other, we became inseparable. We did everything together. She challenged me to do things I had never given a thought to. Like preforming onstage. I loved to sing, so did she. One day, she just came up to me and said, "You're going to sing at the behavior blast with me!" So I did. Then at the end of the year, I sang with her at the talent show. She gave me the courage to get up onstage and sing, even though I have horrible stage fright. That's one of those things I'll never forget about her.
We may have had our differances, and our little fights, but we were best friends for life. At least, that's what I thought. On the last day of seventh grade, we parted, saying that we would have millions of sleepovers over the summer, and I could come camping with her and her family. I thought it was going to be the best summer of my life, but it turned out to be the worst.
For about two weeks at the start of the summer, I was in Arizona, soaking up the sun. I came back tan, and ready to hang out with all my friends, especially Emily. When I saw her for the first time in what seemed like forever, I ran up to her nd gave her the biggest hug I had ever given anyone.(I am not one for hugging.) That night, she slept over my house, and we gushed about all the cute guys I had seen, talked about what we had been doing, and stayed up late at night giggling until my mom yelled for us to be quiet. I think that was the last time there was no tension between us.
Then it began...It started with Emily's dad saying she couldn't have sleepovers for the rest of the summer. So, because Emily couldn't do anything, I started hanging out with my other friend, Johnna, a lot more. Johnna and I became very close. I started telling her everything. That's when Emily became jealous. Now, I'm not saying that it was all her fault this happened, because I'm sure I had some part in it too, I just didn't handle it the same way she did. She was always mad at me, we were always getting into fights, and she never seemed to be truly happy when we were together.
At some point it got so bad that I just gave up with her. I couldn't believe she thought I liked Johnna more than her, when she knew perfectly well that I didn't play favorites! She started calling me names, saying bad things about me...She even laughed on the phone while I was sobbing to her asking for forgivness even though I wasn't sure what I did in the first place...I was being bullied by someone I thought was my best friend. So it ended. Just like that, our friendship came to an abrupt stop. I cried for weeks, until I ran out of tears to cry.
It still upsets me that our friendship ended, but it was something I just couldn't deal with anymore. It was stressing me out, making me act mean to almost everyone around me. Now and then, when I see her in the hallways, I smile. She always gives me the same dirty look. It's hard to believe looking at us now that we were best friends. That we once stayed up until midnight talking, shared all of our secrets, and had so many experiances together. Every once and a while, I like to go through my pictures, and whenever I come across one of us together, smiling with our arms around each other, I pause. I just stare at it for a while, and remember the seventh grade year, and that summer. I will always remember that as the year I met, and lost, my best friend.