Luna Unknown

Faux Friends & Foes

    Gabby stayed still, holding her cell phone up, her grip on the knife ever tight. I'm not sure if it were fear or loss causing my reaction, but all I could do was stand there and sob. Tears were pouring down my cheeks, causing a huge lump in my throat. I slouched over holding onto my chest, my heart cavity was ringing with a serious pain ever since the garage door came down, giving me one last longing gaze into him.      Everything going wrong in my life were my fault. I didn't know how to be a good person, the teachings lost within years of my charade, or my fake friends, or my evil stepmother.     His words repeating over and over in my head "I can't be with someone with a heart as cold as ice." The tears were steadily flowing, I was unable to make them stop, no matter how many times that I looked up and saw that Gabby were indeed, still recording me.      I didn't care if she were recording me. I had lost Damen, someone who felt like a soul mate at first sight, people already thought that I was a w***e for cheating on Colton, I still had to break up with Colton, and now they probably thought that I ditched my "bestie" Becky for a more non conforming Martha. A bestie who swore revenge on me, publicly.     As it would seem to me, my reputation was a bit trampled with or without Gabby's video going public. The reminder of losing Damen due to my own selfish personality had me almost on the floor, gripping my chest, hoping that the pain subsides soon enough.     I was ugly crying and hyperventilating in front of someone that had hated me for years, wet mascara running into my eyes and down my cheeks mixed in with my tears. this was not how I expected this Friday to go. Gabby gasped at me almost falling over in tears and whispered "Jesus, dude."  She set her phone down so that the camera were still on us, I was unsure if it were still recording. I also didn't care.     She awkwardly placed her hand on the back of her neck as she shyly said "Look Sarah, Seeing you like this...I thought that it would be a dream come true. I've always wanted to see it. See you fall, harshly. After all, you did ruin my life for awhile. But can you please, uhm, get up? This is really weird. And I'm still not sure whether or not I'm calling the police, so if you have any reasoning that you can come up with quick, now would be the time to stop begging me for sympathy and plead your case."      Her words made my crying halt for a moment, unsure of what to do or say to get me out of this situation. I felt as though my life were already s**t, however that didn't mean that I wanted to end up in jail. Mary would have me sleeping in our over-crowded attic if that were to happen. IF i got bailed out.     I looked at her with begging eyes, a feeling that was new to me. New feelings seemed to be a reoccurring theme for the day. I couldn't count how many times I were the one on the other side of things, the one getting what I wanted at someone else's misfortune. This really sucks, I thought to myself.      My cheeks still red and puffy, I muttered out with all of the voice that I still had in me. "I'll do whatever you want, Gabby."      A smile came across her pretty face, and not an evil smirk like I am used to from Rebecca and Tiffany. Her smile seemed genuine, happy. "Cool, I was hoping you were going to say that. First, stop crying. It makes me feel weird and it's throwing me off." She said. I rubbed the remaining tears from my eyes and sniffed, my way of letting her know that I was trying.      Her friendly smile still in tact, she continued with her demand. "And secondly, the most important part, I want to be your friend. Well, I guess not really your friend, since you seem incapable of friendly human behavior. But I want to hang out with you, publicly. I want people to see me standing with you in the halls or hanging out on the weekends. I want my shot at having a few real friends, and I feel as though I have to get them through you. Like I heard that there was this party tonight, we could start there."      I stared at her in disbelief. She wanted IN? I always thought that her invisibility was self-proclaimed. Obviously she didn't really want to be my friend, she had made that clear. She shouldn't want to be my friend either, I had done nothing worthy of a friendship with her. Trying to make more sense of the situation I sheepishly asked "You, uhm, you want to be popular? I thought that you enjoyed being in the shadows." She rolled her eyes so hard that I thought that they might roll into the back of her head. "You really thought that? I always knew that you were a bit of a dummy, but I definitely didn't peg someone of your stature as an i***t. Who wants to be invisible? After you promised freshman year not to show that video to anyone, yet it had gone so viral that Mr. Pritchett transferred to a new school out of embarrassment and my parents sent me to a f*****g christian retreat for three months for having 'inappropriate' feelings towards an older man. f**k no, I hate the shadows. I've been waiting for an opportunity like this. I'm ready to go from caterpillar to beautiful butterfly! I want a boyfriend, I want girlfriends that I can hang out and gossip with at the mall! And seeing as how you're the one who ruined me, you can be the one to help build me back up. You OWE me."      Just like Damen, this girl surprised me with everything that she said. I had never shown that video to anyone. The girl had let me use her driveway, why would I want to continue it further and poke the bear? Not showing my blackmail material is probably one of the most noble things about myself. If I hadn't shared the video, who did? And how come I never saw it after the initial recording of it went viral? Guilt was washing through me remembering Damen's words earlier about how if anyone at our school were to commit suicide, everyone would blame me. Realizing his words were true sent an unknown feeling through me, almost guilt but larger than that. She was right, I did owe her. I owed her a lot more than what I was capable of giving her. A faux friendship with the popular girl currently losing everything that I were holding onto. If those were her demands, I would oblige.     Gabby was pretty enough to hang out with, I even suspected that I had a slight girl crush on her now seeing her up close. With my breathing more even, I had to confirm the situation. "So let me get this straight, I help you to have a life, and you won't show anyone the recording of all of this?" She looked at her feet before looking up to me and answering "uhm, I stopped recording the moment that you started crying. I just needed proof that you were intruding. I couldn't video anyone in that state. I've often wondered how you guys through with it. I guess I'm into PG-13 blackmail." She let out a small, friendly smile. How could anyone be this nice?     She stopped recording me, and then trusted me enough to tell me that she didn't really have anything socially incriminating on me. All this girl wanted was a chance to fly, to break out of her cocoon. Part of me started to wish that Gabby and I could become real friends, granted if she taught me how. I've never had a real friend, just a few blonde robot followers.     I let my brain sink into the fact that Gabby would never want to be my friend for real. I had ruined her life. And she had to spend three weeks at a christian camp. There was nothing that I could do to apologize enough for that. I would just try to be the best damn faux friend that I could be, and hopefully learn something along the way.      She interrupted my thoughts by continuing "However, yes. Those are my terms. Help me, and I won't try to get you thrown into the slammer." So we were in an agreement then. For the first time today, I felt my body become a little less tense.     I used this time to say "Gabby, I uh, I never showed anyone the video." She let out a playful laugh, just now loosening the grip on the knife as if she had forgotten it were there. "Yeah, no offense, but I don't believe you. At all. But enough of all of this, it's in the past. Lets go get ready for this party! I'm wicked excited about it!" She came over to me and grabbed my hand, leading me towards the door in the garage that led to the rest of the house. "Gabby, I don't have any clothes here." I muttered. If she wanted to get ready for the party together, I had no argument. That meant that I wouldn't have to run home to be in terror of Mary's words or my dad's alcoholic state. However, if Gabby wanted to be popular, I couldn't show up to the party wearing a potato sack. She unleashed my hand and took a step back, eyeing me up and down before stating "I have a few nice dresses that might fit you. They're from before when I was a bit skinnier, before I had this wonderful ass! But I think you could find a choice within them. They might be a tad short, given our height difference. But I didn't think that it would bother you so much." She said pointing to my entirely too-short shorts.      I hadn't really ever had someone speak to me like this. Demandingly yet playfully. Or without total terror in their eyes for talking to Sarah in such a way. Gabby showed no fear or hatred when it came to me, and it surprised me that I enjoyed it a bit. This is how a real conversation is suppose to go, I thought to myself. "Alright, I'm following you." I said as I let a smile play on my face. "Well duh," she replied laughing. She took my hand in hers once again and led me through the door.     Just from first entering, Gabby's house was as big yet unoriginal on the inside as on the out. The furniture had seemed as though it were never used, a speck of dust nowhere to be found. The carpets were soft on my feet as if made of wool. The walls were tall and decorated with different large paintings of Jesus. This has to get a little creepy sometimes, having Jesus stare at you from all angles. It was a lovely house, but I couldn't help but to notice how cookie cutter it was.      Still hand in hand, Gabby led me to her bedroom up the stairs. Her room was so awesome but from a different fashion taste. Her walls were lime green and black, a large bed emerged in the center of the room. Large windows with black curtains, and a stack of old records sat next to a record player. It shocked me to see that she also had a television and stereo set, yet it appeared that she used her record player more, the vinyls being the only scattered thing in the room. Her bed had been made to perfection, this room also not containing one spec of dust.    "Okay, have a sit. We'll do me first since I clearly need all of the help I can get." She released my hand and I sat on her bed as I sunk into the memory foam. She made her way across the room and slid a large mirrored closet door to the side, revealing a massive walk in closet that contained more clothing than an outlet mall.     I muttered a soft "wow." She had heard and turned around to smile at me. "So, you can wear anything that you would like tonight, I just need it back. And if you plan on hooking up, please take my clothing into consideration. Any crusty white stuff left on my dresses will be at your fault." She teased as she disappeared into the closet searching for something.     Yet another person who believed that I weren't a virgin. A thought that would typically relieve me, yet after today I was so confused on my standings. Everyone thought that I was a w***e, I couldn't have Damen due to being heartless, I permanently dismissed my "best friend" and everyone had seen me talking to Martha. I had to do some serious damage control before I didn't have a ranking to help out Gabby.     I was staring out of the window wondering just how a person could be so kind. I had screwed with her life big time, and without even an apology from myself, it seemed as though she forgave me. She was offering me her clothes, letting me into her home. She either had way too much faith in people or she was genuinely just a cool, down to earth, nice person. The lightbulb inside of my head went off at having that thought.     "Hey, Can I ask you something?" I had to call out for she was lost inside of her monster closet. She reappeared in a classy yellow dress that had hung to her knees. It looked nice for church, but a high school party? She wasn't wrong about needing help. "Yes maam, what can I do for you?" She replied, her voice sing-songy as she twirled in her yellow frock.      I was new to this experience, I had never asked anyone for help before. Only demanded it. I wasn't in a place to demand anything from Gabby, nor did I want to. If she rejected my request, I would just have to figure something else out. I sucked back all of my pride as I asked "Can you show me how to appear to be a nice person?" Her eyes returned to me with amusement before she asked "Can I ask why?" with a tone full of wonder.      I looked at the floor, embarrassed. I could have asked for such a favor long ago, yet I had remained cold hearted. She was aware of that too as her face gave a look that said "why now?" I sighed as I prepared myself to tell her the truth. "There's a new guy, I'm sure that you've seen him. I can't explain it, but I would do anything to be with him. But he told me that he can't be with someone so cold hearted...and you seem so nice...I don't know. I thought that maybe you could help, being so kind yourself."      She grinned from ear to ear as she said "Did the amazing Sarah just pay me a compliment?" I returned her smile, not only because I needed her help, but I was also starting to find her grins and smiles quite contagious. "Yes, I did. And while I'm on a roll, I'm also jealous of your ass. However, that dress would be lovely if we were going to an Amish convention. We need something a little shorter, or pink if you have it." She let out a playful laugh before returning with "Alright, thank you. Seeing as badly as you clearly need it, I can help you to become nice. Or to appear so, however you might find that you enjoy it. However, I have a few rules. One, really. You have to do whatever that it takes. If you really want this guy, you HAVE to listen to me. And also, pink isn't a great color on you, let alone my islander beauty, so I will absolutely not be wearing it."      I gulped wondering what she could possibly have in mind. She spoke as though she already had a plan in motion. I was starting to get worried so I shyly asked "Did you have something in mind already?" She shook her head up and down as she answered "yes, and you won't like it. Which is why I made you promise."      Great, I loved having my fears reassured. With trepidation flooding it, my voice came out shaky as I asked "W-what?" She narrowed her eyes at me, giving me the most serious look that she had given me since my breaking and entering. "You need to formally apologize to Martha. To a few people, really. But we'll get there in due time. And something even greater, a more grand gesture, I think that you should call and invite her to the party tonight."      I felt my mouth drop and my eyes narrow as I practically shouted "You can't possibly be serious! I need to look nice, not like a Saint! The Queen Bee can't be a saint, Gabby! That's not how it works! How can I help you to become popular if you're trying to get me dethroned before your coronation?" I finished my banter, my breathing heavy from speaking too quickly.      She sighed as she contemplated her next words, tapping her finger on the side of her head. "I thought that you might say that. So I prepared this fact for you; the Queen Bee is a cold b***h because you made her that way. From your first day of freshman year, it seemed as though you were out for blood. You're so beautiful that you could have became the Queen Bee  easily, but you chose to blackmail and f**k with people's emotions to get what you wanted. You became the Head b***h. Have you ever stopped to think 'what if I were nicer to them? Would they say less bad things about me? Wouldn't I feel better as a person?' You'd be surprised looking through history that all of the great rulers were adored by their kingdoms, and the terrible ones were overloaded by fear. Being nice is easy, Sarah. Especially when you're the one writing your own script for your own role. You can change the Queen Bee status, change it to love instead of fear. Starting with your main problem, Martha. That is unless, that dreamy guy in the Jeep isn't worth it?" A small smile playing on her face, I could tell that she had been wanting to say a lot of that for awhile now.     I had to sit with her words for a moment to take them all in. They were words spoken in complete clarity, like someone should have said them a long while ago. I suppose that I used to be nice, long ago, when I still went by Lenora. Lenora was nice but she was never in charge. Granted she also didn't have Mary in her life dictating how she acted. Still, I were already the queen bee. Perhaps it wouldn't be too late to switch my script a little after all. And Damen would be my prize. I started getting excited realizing that we had a chance after all, given that I could follow Gabby's orders and appear or change to be kind. Thinking of being with Damen gave me enough confidence to follow through with breaking up with Colton, my high school sweetheart. And Rebecca could be handled, she were easy.      She was staring at me wide-eyed waiting for an answer. I let a smile fall on my lips as I informed her that I didn't have Martha's number. Still grinning and twirling, she snatched her phone off the bed next to me and sang "I doooo!" And she had Martha's number pulled up, ready for me to dial. 

"Damen, baby. This is all for you." I sighed and said to myself.