Abby

CHAPTER FOUR

"Hey." Abby said, coming up to Sierra at her locker. Because things had been weird with them lately, and neither one of them knew what to do about it since it had never happened before, it just continued getting weirder.

"Hi." Sierra said with a smile. It was forced.

"I have a favor to ask." Abby said hesitantly.

"What is it?" Sierra asked, hoping maybe this would help whatever was making their friendship suffer.

"So, as you know, I'm not allowed to see Jace right now. But I was wondering if you could tell my parents that I'm with you. And in the event my da-." Sierra stopped her with a cold hard stare.

"No." Abby wasn't sure she'd heard her right.

"But we're best friends. If you-." Sierra stopped her with a roll of the eyes.

"If you were my best friend, you wouldn't ask me to lie to my parents and yours." She said with anger. Abby didn't know what to say. She didn't think Sierra would be so angry.

"Oh, come on." Abby said, getting defensive. "We've lied to both our parents before." Sierra rolled her eyes again and slammed her locker shut. Abby jumped.

"About stupid shit." Sierra said. "Not real shit. Not like this. Not so you can get drunk or high or have sex-whatever you two do!" A few people looked over, luckily the hall wasn't very crowded. Abby glared at them and gave one of them the finger. Everyone scurried away. Sierra tried to stare her down, but Abby was just as pissed.

"You're being a huge bitch about this. Totally overreacting." Abby swore Sierra's head exploded. She'd never seen her friend so angry. She'd also never called her a bad name. Never mind that one.

"No." Sierra said. "You're the one being a problem. And I could call you a lot of names that hurt worse than what you just called me, but I won't. Because then I'd be just like you." Abby didn't know what to say back. This was getting further and further away from being fixable. "Two months ago? I'd have died for someone to say that I reminded them of you, or that I was acting like you. Now? I'd rather kill myself than resemble you." And that hurt more than being called a bitch, any day of the week. Sierra knew it. Abby couldn't let it go. She should have, let them each have their space, and revisit things in a week. But she just couldn't.

"You're jealous." Abby said. She didn't yell, she didn't accuse. She said it as if it were a realization. Sierra laughed.

"Jealous? He has no talents whatsoever, and he's not even that cute. He said the words you wanted to hear, and you ate it up. He played you to sleep with you, and now you're fucking up your life for him." Sierra's reply sounded rehearsed.

"Don't ever talk about him like that again." Abby said, stepping closer to Sierra.

"Or what?" Sierra said. "You're going to kick my ass?" Abby knew she would never win in a fight with anyone, never mind Sierra. They stared each other down as the bell rang. Sierra gave Abby one last look and walked away from her. Abby wanted to call out, she wanted to call her back. But she didn't.

...

"She's been my best friend since we were babies." She laid her head in Jace's lap. She wasn't supposed to be there. She was grounded. But she needed someone who loved her, who'd understand, who wouldn't pass judgement. He played with her hair as she reminisced. "Our families are best friends. She's an only child, no brother for Aaron to play with, but when we were younger, he'd hang out with us." Jace couldn't do anything for her. She was on the outs with her best friend, and nothing he could do would change that. "My dad doesn't know yet. Aaron only knows because we don't talk at school anymore."