Steps of Courage

Chapter 8

The whole day I avoided going near Alexa. The thought of even just looking at her made me feel like crying and throwing up at the same time. But when I saw Bree in the hallway and she smiled at me like she hadn't stolen my best friend, it pushed me off the edge. I needed to get it off my chest, I couldn't keep pretending everything was okay when I saw them. 

After my last class I went into the courtyard and spotted Alexa on her phone. I gathered every ounce of courage I had inside of me and I approached her. 

"We need to talk, Lex." I said, firmly. 

"About?" she asked. 

I took a deep breath, I couldn't back out now even though I really wanted to. 

"I heard some girls talking about what you said about me with Bree." I said, right to the point, "That's not cool."

Alexa shifted from one foot to the next, avoiding eye contact. 

"Katie, we were just blowing off steam. You know how it feels." Alexa said, obviously trying to deflect. 

I refused to let her push my feelings aside any longer, normally I could move on but this was too far. 

"You were talking behind my back. And I know everything you said so don't try and play the victim." I said, angrily, "I thought we were friends."

Alexa sighed. She knew she was caught. 

"Bree and I have a lot of stuff going on, you wouldn't understand." Alexa said. 

"Bree and you? Since when did you speak on behalf of her?" I asked, hurt. 

"Since you started acting all weird when I made friends with her." she said. 

"So instead of talking to me about it you talk about me behind my back?" I asked, sarcastically, "Real mature of you."

"I knew you wouldn't understand." Alexa said defensively. 

"Yeah, of course I wouldn't understand. I'm not "Perfect Alexa" who is outgoing and makes friends with everyone. I'm stupid, anxiety-ridden Katie who's awkward and can't seem to keep any friends." I said, frustrated, "I can't be friends with you if you're going to talk about me like that." 

"Oh yes, typical Katie, always finding a way to make it about yourself and become the victim." Alexa says, scoffing, "Well maybe I didn't want to be friends with you anyway."    

My heart shattered. All I could do was nod, holding back tears. I took a couple shaky breaths. 

"Fine, then we're done." I said before walking away. 

I turned around and I could see Alexa typing - while smiling - probably texting Bree. Didn't take her long to share the "amazing news". The fact that she was smiling proved that she didn't care about me anymore and I needed to get rid of that friendship, but I never thought it would end like this.