Somewhere, Someday

7

"All my favorite conversations, always made in the A.M." 

"What you did was horrible!" I say, my hand touching my forehead to make sure I'm not having a fever dream and hallucinating what Kristina just told me. Kristina looks over at me shamelessly, a proud smirk on her face.

Kristina's been acting out of control, partying and skipping class daily. I'm pretty sure half the time she's mentally out of it, her clothes smelling like weed. I'm leaving for college in 5 months, slightly worried about what Kristina will do when I'm not here anymore. 

"Chill out mom," Kristina says jokingly. "Fuck, it wasn't that bad," I roll my eyes at Kristina, annoyed with how she's ignoring the obviously large problem in front of her. I'm the only one that is going to reprimand her for it, the only one who cares.

Kristina's mother has given up on her, has given up trying to make her listen. For Kristina, it all goes in one ear and comes out the next a moment later. Nothing sticks with her anymore, not even if we try. Kristina's mother endlessly tried to shape her into the woman she expected Kristina to be. It's ironic when I think about it. She was raised to be respectful, but now, she only knows how to defy everything her mother tried to teach her.

"Kristina you almost got expelled! How can you sit here, look me in the eyes, and say it isn't "that bad!" I say, my voice rising to a shout. Kristina and I look hilarious whenever we stand beside each other now, the "good girl" and the "bad girl". We're so different now, the both of us the complete opposite of each other. Looking at us, strangers probably wouldn't assume that we're best friends.

I'm short, have blonde hair, and always act responsibly. Kristina has dark jet black hair, dresses in all black, tight clothes, and always acts on a whim.

"You seriously don't care about getting into college or having a future plan do you?" I ask, hoping my harsh words will get a reaction out of her. 

"I don't need college to tell me what my future plans will be. I'm just going to go with the flow," Kristina shrugs. I give her a look of disbelief, shocked that she can just be nonchalant with this. 

"Kristina if you don't get a degree you'll just be stuck here for the rest of your life," I argue. I'm hoping that mentioning being stuck in our hometown for the rest of her life will be enough to scare her into finally doing something productive. But no, she just laughs at me, at my attempt at scaring her straight.

"I'll be a drug dealer," she says jokingly. Somehow, I feel as though she isn't joking about this. When I leave town, she'll have no one to bail her out, no one to tell her how stupid all of her ideas are. I'm scared of leaving her alone, scared she'll end up hurting herself in the process. 

"No, you will not," I sternly say. Over my dead body will I ever let Kristina do something that stupid. It could get her arrested and in massive trouble. 

"Chill out I'm joking. As always," Kristina rolls her eyes at my protectiveness over her. I seriously can never tell when Kristina is being serious and when she's joking. She tends to look at everything as a joke, and it makes me a nervous wreck half of the time trying to decipher if Kristina truly does know right from wrong.

"Why are you so on edge?" Kristina asks.

"Because you keep on doing these stupid things without thinking about how it affects you or other people around you. And then I'm always the one to clean up the mess," Kristina frowns at my outburst. I don't care if it upsets her though. Someone needs to show her how she's ruining her life and the lives of people around her.