Did I do the right thing

CHAPTER 11

“What’s up, all?” I said to everyone walking into the school cafe. I did it every morning for 4 years straight, going to the café that is. I was in a great mood. This was the first time since we had him, my dog went to sleep the whole night. No barking. No whining. Just silence. That’s why I have more energy. More energy to be happy. My friends could tell too. 2

“Whoa, Chris! What’s with all this cheerfulness?” Michelle asked. She was one of my best friends. She was the funny one. Brought a smile to everyone’s face. She had long black hair. Never in a pony tail. She hated them. She mostly wore long sleeve shirts. Dark purple today. It was winter and bright colors weren’t allowed, or however that works. 3

“I finally got some sleep tonight.” I told them. “Max went to sleep for once.” They all looked at me. I took my usual seat in the booth next to Katie. I used to have a crush on her in the sixth grade, but this was twelfth grade. That was a long time ago. But, there was something there. I looked across from me. I saw grace frantically doing her homework. She was a drop dead gorgeous person. But…not the brightest.4

“Was Martin Luther king Jr. the 14 or 15 president?” she asked us. See what I mean. “I hate history. No one cares. I mean it’s all in the past, right?” we just look at her when she says stupid things like that. As grace went on talking I started to wonder.   “Where’s Jewels?” Jewels was my longest friend. And best friend. I called her Jewels, which was short for Julia. She didn’t like it that much. The only problem with Jewels was that she was so fickle. I always told her that it would come and bite her in the ass someday too. She was lucky, it never did. 5

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her yet this morning.” Katie answered. Her eyes were sparkling hazel. She was the kindest person I’ve ever known. She’s told me she wanted to be a vet when she graduated. She got into her college she wanted and had a bunch of scholarships. Lucky girl. They were all lucky. They knew what they wanted. Michelle was going into journalism. Grace was leaving to become and actress/model. Jewels had always wanted to be a chef. I was the odd one out. A little more than a week and I still have no idea. Sure, I was accepted into a college but…what do I want to do? Then the bell rang. I slid out of the booth to let Katie through and knocked my book bag over. It spilled open and things went everywhere. The others left and the café was emptying. I kneeled down to get my things when a familiar voice spoke.6

“Hey you.” It was Jewels. She was late. I looked up and smiled. She didn’t. Something was bothering her. 7

“What’s the matter?” I asked confused. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the booth. I dropped all the stuff I picked up again. I didn’t care, I cared more about Jewels. We always talked to each other. Anything we needed. Advice, homework, help… you name it! What I loved most about her is how she never gave up on me. She always believed in me and always said I was going to do something great. No one ever thought of me with such greatness as she did. 8

“What the matter?” I asked again realizing this was serious. “Is everything okay?” I was trying to get her to tell me. She sat across from me looking down at the table. She was picking at her nails, which she always did. It was her bad habit. I bent my head down to look in her eyes. They were all sad and glistened. “Is it about Mike?” I asked, assuming so. She gave a little nod. “Figures. What did he do now?” I hated Mike. He was such a bastard. He was always breaking her heart one way or another. Cheating on her, forgetting her birthday, but would always drag her along on his little ‘Mike-string’. She was always too blind to see it. I kept telling her something bad would happen but…she never listened. 9

“He…” she started, “he dumped me.” She burst into tears. Oh no. She has never been dumped. She’s always done the dumping. This is bad. Her head fell into her arms wrapped on the table. I gently put my hand on her head. 10

“It’s going to be okay.” I told her. “Everything is going to be just fine.” I don’t know if she believed me or not because she wouldn’t stop baling in her arms. I got up from my seat and sat next to her. She lifted herself and fell again onto my shoulders. She wasn’t even trying to hold herself up. This was so sad. She was ruined. I wished there was something I could do. 11

“You were right!” she screamed. “You were right this whole time!” She was going crazy. She really beat herself up about this. Almost like it was her fault. “You were right about Mike. You were always right!”12

“Shhhhhh.” I tried to calm her down. She just needed to relax. But she just kept screaming.13

“I will never ignore what you say again.” She got up from my arms and looked my straight in the eye. Her mascara was running down her face. It washed away some blush and made streaky lines along her cheek. “I’m going to listen to whatever you say. I will do it!” Her eyes were filled with sorrow. She hated herself for feeling this way. The way she felt about Mike. I seemed as if she still “loved” him, even after what he had just done. “Please tell me you’ll be there for me. PLEASE!” I jumped at her final plea. She was so serious. She couldn’t let this happen again. I couldn’t let this happen again. It seemed as if there was something I could do. She waited intensely for my answer, not taking her eyes away the whole time. I took my thumb and wiped away the tears from her cheek, smoothing out her make-up so she looked half decent again. 14

“Alright.” I told her. “I’ll help you.”    15

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