Less Than Three

Chapter 34: The All Star Pony Princess, De-throned

Monday, June 30, 6:47PM Term of the Day: Pother – A cloud of dust or choking smoke.

I feel a little like I'm in a pother. Things are confusing right now. Like this: Madison and I have been bff's forever. I thought she would always be on my side. But now I find out ... maybe not so much. That hurts.

I tried to call her. At first, she wouldn't answer her phone but when her mom got home she was forced to talk to me. That is, if you call this talking:

Me: Madison, please, just listen to me.

Madison: Sure.

Me: I never meant to hurt anyone.

Madison: Right.

Me: I really need to see you.

Madison: Whatever.

Me: So you'll meet me at the fairgrounds?

Madison: Click.

Things with Kiersten didn't go much better. Okay, she talked to me. If that's what you want to call it:

Me: Hey, K-girl.

K: Hey.

Me: What's up?

K: Um, I'm kind of busy right now.

Me: What are you doing?

K: Working. I'm trying to get stuff done so I can get over to the festival.

Me: So you'll be there tonight?

K: Well, yeah, but ...

Me: But?

K: I'll be there, but I'll be with ...

Me: With?

K: I've really got to go.

Me: (I repeat) With?

K: With ... with friends, okay?

(Which, I suppose, no longer includes me.)

I will spare you the details, but really, it was pretty sad. One after another of my so-called B.est F.riends F.orever found excuses not to be seen with me. At least Andrew had the courtesy to hesitate for a minute before he made up some ridiculous lie.

And then there was Dave.

You might think that breaking up with an almost-perfect boyfriend, just so you could eventually date another boy, a boy who pressured you for weeks to do that very thing, would establish a few requirements. For instance, that the boy might actually call you.

But no. I started to get paranoid. More than a few of the old 'Dave Brown is out to ruin your life' scenarios had already flashed through my brain when my phone finally rang.

"Summer?" Dave.

"Hmmph." Me.

"I'm sorry, it's just that ..."

"Just that what, Dave? By the way, mission accomplished. I broke up with Brady and now everybody hates me. Is that all you wanted or should I hand you a Sharpie?"

"What?"

"That way you can tattoo LOSER across my forehead in permanent ink. Just so everyone knows for sure."

"Right."

Click.

It took me about point-oh-three seconds to get desperate enough to call him back.

"Dave?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, there are other things going on in the world besides ..."

Click.