Just Forget It By Vicky Gajos
This is dedicated to Katrina Macmillen and for all the people that got hurt by their “friends� and had a hard time dealing with it.
So she asked me, “I saw you here before, you‟re just changing houses, right?” “Yeah,” was all I answered. I wasn‟t really in the mood to talk that day, but then this thought hit me; she could be your first friend around here, talk to her! So I randomly asked, “How long do you live here? Maybe you could show me around?” I could see a smile emerge on her face, but all she answered was, “Yeah, sure.” For me, I felt like the happiest person in the world that day. I was just like six or seven, and I really needed a friend around here. That‟s how we met and we just became best friends. Three years later; so one day, I‟m just sitting in my room, and my best friend calls. “Hey, want to come hang out in the park, I‟m with a couple of my friends.” I told her I‟d be right there, so here is how the problem started: I was walking towards the park down the street, and I hear a loud roar of laughter. I stop and tiptoe to the closest bush. I quietly sit under the bushes so no one hears or sees me. I was so squeezed behind the small bushes, their thorny edges pinching my clothes. It was really annoying, but I forced myself to ignore the wet grass, the pinching bushes whenever I made the smallest move.
I closely listened and here‟s what I heard; “So we went like for this umm Harry Potter movie and then in the middle of it she was like, „Daddy can I go take a pee?‟ and he was like “„Yes, honey sure it can be.‟” So they all just laughed real hard, and I could feel teardrops slowly running down my face, but I still stayed there, quietly sitting. All I thought was; wow you‟re really good at lying...how dare you!? Now, my heart felt like it was being pinched by the thorns of the bushes. I was sobbing now, but I kept quiet so they wouldn‟t notice I was there. But then I heard her voice again, “You know guys, it‟s kinda sad but she is like Bigfoot! Her foot is like so big, I mean, two sizes bigger than mine!” Then, another roar of laughter. I couldn‟t stand this anymore, but curiosity won over me. On one side, I really felt horrible, and I wanted to go home and forget about the whole thing. But on the other side, I wanted to stay and listen to what my “best friend” had to say about me. Again, another comment, “Let‟s call her, she‟s not coming for a long time.” My mind went crazy. What? Call me? After all this lying about me to her other friends, she wanted to CALL ME? What was she thinking? I was confused, sad, and disappointed then. How could a best friend treat you like garbage and make fun of you? The only thing in my mind then was the actions of my very own best friend that I trusted, the friend I told everything, the friend I knew would help me in any situation. But that wasn‟t what I was seeing. In my mind, I saw an ugly, mean monster that just liked to chatter about their own friends behind their backs. Suddenly my best friend changed into a frenemy, the person I would always avoid and never even dare to look at. That, is how my best friend looked to me now. Terrible. Awful. Mean. Finally, I got the courage to stand
up, and walk to her. In my mind, all the untrue things she said about me repeated in a voice of an evil witch. „She‟s a Bigfoot. I mean seriously her feet are like‟...ugh I couldn‟t stand it anymore. My heart was pounding three times faster than it was supposed to. I think my blood pressure was rising in an awkward way. My skin felt sweaty, even though it wasn‟t, and I could feel the blood running through my body. Every centimetre felt like a kilometre. You can do it, common. It‟s ok,
she‟s just some girl walking around talking bad stuff about others. Later on, she‟ll have zero friends, and we‟ll be the ones that don‟t mind how mad she feels. Every step I took felt like a year has passed. I was really nervous, but when I finally got there, I looked her straight in the eye. I stared into her brown, confused, unsure of what was happening eyes. She raised a brow, that formed a mysterious look on her face. All that came out of my mouth was, “Why?” and, a dramatical, “How could you?” My voice sounded cracked, but it didn‟t matter how my voice sounded. It mattered how put down I felt, it mattered how a best friend could turn out to be your enemy at the same time. I burst into tears, and I started running down the street towards home. I could hear her running behind me, screaming, “Wait! All this wasn‟t true! I was lying and joking, OK!? Please wait!” I finally stopped, interested what she had to say. I couldn‟t even look at her face. So I stood there, waiting for her to come. Finally, she was there, in front of me, but I was looking at the wet ground. “Look, sorry.” she said. “I really didn‟t mean to, I...” I cut her off. “I don‟t want to know you anymore, OK? After everything there, here, just forget it.” And I started walking towards my street.
I slowly opened the door, and ran into the house. My heart calmed down, now that I felt safe inside here. Good anyone wasn‟t downstairs, I didn‟t want them to see me like this. I walked up the stairs, and closed the door behind me. I jumped onto my bed, crying. I cried and cried for a long time, but I suddenly noticed, what‟s the point of crying of someone you don‟t even care about? I thought my life was over that day. I just lay there, doing nothing. I felt lifeless. My parents forced me to go down for dinner, and they noticed something was wrong. They started asking a million questions, so there was no way they wouldn‟t find out. So I told them every little detail. I even tried to describe some feelings, but believe me, it was hard. It felt good telling someone you trusted and loved in a family-kind of way. Today, I have to accept the fact that she is my neighbor, but we‟re not even friends anymore. I have a new best friend now, from three years already. I still regret the fact that I sat there for such a long time, listening to all the senseless but painful comments. All of that bad stuff I listened to that day, lowered my self-esteem for at least two years. But with my new-best friend, I‟ve never gotten into a fight before. With Kori, my ex-best friend, we would fight for the most senseless stuff. I don‟t know how I imagined our friendship lasting forever. But that‟s a good lesson I learned. When you meet someone, and you become friends but you fight a lot, I don‟t think that friendship should last for long. After weeks, I decided to go outside and breath in some fresh air, and there she is, standing, with her other “friends”. When she sees me, she stops laughing immediately, and her face turns serious. I just walk by pretending I don‟t even notice the whispers, and smile on my way towards the park feeling good for myself.