Totally Not Cliche

We Sound Like All Those Couples on TV Don't We?

"We got all we need
No new friends now"

🫧🫧🫧

I dragged my feet as I made my way down the hall, carefully avoiding contact with all the strangers. The headache was gone, but the fact I was on my way to see Star didn't help.

At that moment, I felt it was much worse than a hangover.

I stood Infront of the class we shared. The class where we're partners. It felt so weird and foreign hesitating to enter a class I share with my best friend.

Former Best friend.

I sighed, before finally stepping in.

The teacher glanced at me before burying herself in her computer again. Reluctantly, I took a seat next to Star.

Silence.

I pulled out my phone. Maybe she forgot about it. Maybe she changed her mind. Maybe she doesn't even care anymore. Maybe that's a good thing.

But before I could get anything done, she sighed.

That's getting annoying.

"Where do I start?... Ok, Amy, I am really sorry. This wasn't easy to do. Trust me. It wasn't ok not having my best friend with me. It wasn't normal not hanging out in the bleachers with you."

I waited for her to continue. What did she expect me to say?

"The reason why I did that was because of....uh- Jason."

I froze. Remembering what Jason said about Star kissing him. And trust me, the more I thought about it, the more confused I got.

"What about him?"

"Well..." She chuckled nervously. "The thing is...I sort of..maybe...kinda..kissedhim."

....wow..

Well, that's it! The cliche best friend betrayal that I and Star always watched on TV. We would end up shouting at the actors, screaming how dumb they were to ruin their seemingly perfect relationship. I wonder how Star felt as she shouted with me, knowing that one day she'd do the same too.

I don't know how to respond to this. Maybe it's because I was half expecting it. I touched my cheek, and sure enough, it was wet. And red. I expected this didn't I?

"Why?!" My voice was small. "No. I'm not doing this here. Bleacher. Lunch time. Don't be late Star." I turned away from her, and a small part of me scolded myself for prolonging this.

***
"It'll be fine." Xavier tried to persuade me as we walked slowly out of class. We were the last ones out, and I'll admit, it was my fault.

We were on our way to the cafeteria to get food, then we'll go our separate ways. Me to Star.

I scoffed at the thought. A part of me was trying to hold on to reason. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think. I'll finally know the truth, and I can cut off a fake friend in the process. But the other part...well, let's just say, they want to throw hands.

"Will you stop." Xavier said, clearly getting annoyed.

"What?"

"I've been trying to make you feel better about this whole thing, but all you do is glare and scoff. What's the point?"

I sighed. "Sorry. It wasn't at you, I was just thinking."

"You're always thinking." He placed his hands on my cheek, gently stroking it.

"Overthinking is my superpower."

Yes. I got that from a Pinterest post. Heh.

"Wanna know what mine is?" He whispered, leaning closer.

I didn't wanna know, but I did at the same time.

"What?" I whispered back, breathless.

"Kissing." He smirked.

***
I hate Xavier.

I hate him because he does things to me. Things that I can't even begin to explain. One minute we were talking about Star, then the other we were...uh...

The thoughts of what we did just two minutes ago flood my head again -not that they left anyway. I found myself playing it over and over again. I just couldn't stop. And it didn't help that I was supposed to be talking to Star by now.

I hid behind the bleachers, crouched down and giving myself a pep talk. I have to forget Xavier. Even if it's just for a few minutes.

I walked around to the front. Only because my leg started hurting. And the pep talk didn't help. But this wasn't time to care about red cheeks when the i-dont't-care face was meant to be used. I hope.

She was laying on the grass, typical Star. I almost smiled. Almost.

She must've heard my footsteps on the grass, because she looked up. When she saw me, she sat up immediately, then began wiping her face quickly.

Was she...was she crying? Because of me?

"Hi..." I sat beside her.

"H-hi."

Silence

"Sorry. I just..." She continued to wipe her face. "I didn't mean to do it, Amy, believe me. I mean, I regret it the moment it happened. But... I knew if I told you it would ruin our friendship and I didn't want that to happen but of course it still did. I avoided you cause I knew Jason told you about it. I didn't want-" Suddenly, tears poured from her eyes.

I sat alwardly. Should I comfort her? Is that what she  needs?

I sound like an idiot, of course she needs comfort.

Slowly, I stretched my arms out and wrapped it around her back. I froze when she leaned into me.

"Uh- it's...ok..." To be honest, I didn't believe myself. But I hope she did.

"I didn't mean to do It, I promise!" She sat up and stared intently at me. Determined.

I could only stare back. This is the Star I know.

"It just happened. I wouldn't lie to you! I was there with a friend that day and I saw him and I don't know what came into me. I promise I don't know how that happened and who did it!"

I guess this was making sense....maybe?

"It's...it's cool if you don't believe me. Recently, I haven't been trusting myself too. I am so angry at myself for causing all this drama. If that didn't happen, maybe you would still be with Jason and I would still be your best friend. Now you've lost both of us, and I don't even remember the last time we actually talked!"

Now that I think about it...the only talking we've been doing is the usual 'bring that pencil over there' or 'excuse me.' If there was a new student, they wouldn't have ever known we were best friends. They wouldn't have ever known we were as close as we used to.

That realization made my heart heavy.

"I believe you. Maybe I shouldn't, but I do. You know why? You're my best friend." Her eyes lit up, and my heart suddenly didn't feel as heavy as it did seconds ago. "Atleast, I hope we can go back to that. After all we went through together, I can assure you I'll forgive you. But it'll take time."

"I can wait." She grinned, the tears making her eyes twinkle.

"Oh no. We sound like all those couples on TV, don't we?"

She let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah."