Tension - Harry Styles

Chapter 3

"That's my best friend, she a real bad bitch.
Drive her own car, she don't need no lyft. On the dance floor she had two, three drinks.
Now she twerking, she throw it out and come back in."

***

Mary is a person everyone wants to be befriended with, which sometimes gets a bit annoying. We normally can't go somewhere without someone noticing her. From time to time I feel excluded, but I'm happy to have her though, a person to talk to about my problems and insecurities. It just feels good having a friend like her, knowing she cares about me.

It's ironic that we hated each other back then in school, because she was one of the famous students and I was the silly washout. I can't even remember the day things changed.

Dad always said. "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." And I think he was absolutely crazy right with that.

One day I couldn't understand my own way of thinking why I hated her that much. Yes, she was more popular than me, but we had a lot of commonalities such as helping out in an animal rescue center.

We always said that after school we will do everything to make sure we don't lose sight of each other. Until now, it probably worked out pretty well. I couldn't even imagine losing her. Before this is about to happen I will be having a boyfriend.

Funny. I will never find someone loving me for the rest of my life, except for Mary. I'm not able to say anything to a foreign person standing in front of me. How should I then be dealing with a boyfriend? Or at least finding a potential one?

Mary always hates me for my self-doubts, saying I'm stupid as hell. She thinks I'm one of the most beautiful women she ever met in her life. I don't know about that. Whenever I see myself in the mirror, I see a weak and shy small girl being scared of everything that's unusual for her.

That's the reason why I don't think it's the best idea for me to go to a party with the most confident girl I've ever seen. "Don't worry about that." She says optimistically when she straightens my hair. It took her about an hour to put on the make up onto my face. I feel like a doll, or even like a slut as my stepfather called me, seeing that make up all over my skin.

"Everything's gonna be fine. You look stunning." I know she tries to cheer me up a bit, to strengthen my self-confidence, but I just don't think it's going to be working.

"Mary, I don't know, if I should really go to that party." I almost don't dare to pronounce these words out loud, since I know she won't accept a withdrawal from me now.

"I'ma just pretend I didn't hear that right now, love." I can tell she's trying not to freak out right now. She hates it profoundly hearing me questioning everything she plans to do with me.

Well, that's who I am, feeling miserable knowing it won't change, even if I tried harder.

"And...you're done!" I can tell by Mary's face, that she wants me to go to the bathroom and look at me in the mirror. When I stand up from the chair, she instantly does the same and follows me into the bathroom.

She nailed it. How is Mary even able to conceal all the impurities on my face? "Oh my-... Thank you a lot, Mary! It looks absolutely stunning." I praise Mary with all my heart.

"You're welcome, love!" She says and leaves the bathroom at a fast pace. I immediately go after her. She directs me back into her room.

"No way!" I blurt out. Mary's standing right in front of me and holds up a little black dress. "I can't wear that." I say straight away.