That Girl We Knew

o3 | b e t h

    Carlotta smiles. "I'm just so happy to see you all again!" She wraps her arms around Beth and Melanie.
    Beth nods uncomfortably and pulls away. "Sure... Hey Mel, how are you? You look great!"

    Melanie takes a step away from Carlotta and turns to Beth. "I'm doing pretty good. Want to go some place we can talk?", she asks, glancing over her shoulder at the other woman. "No offense, but I've had enough of Lotta for a night."

    Beth sighs, but agrees nonetheless. "Sure. How about the patio?"
    "Lead the way!"

    Carlotta was part of their group of mismatched leftover friends. She was always very bubbly and over excited, something that didn't settle well with their classmates. She could get on Beth's nerves as well sometimes, but she learned to put up with it. After all, she didn't really have anyone besides Juliet T., Melanie and Lotta.

    She never really knew why Melanie wasn't one of the popular ones. She didn't have an overly different personality and had never cut her hair. But perhaps it was the fact that she didn't own any on-brand clothing that set her apart from them.

    They make their way out onto the patio and are about to sit down on one of the benches when Beth sees Clark sitting there. "Let's go someplace else", she whispers, tugging on Melanies arm.
    Melanie groans. "You know it's been ten years, right? And besides, why did you guys even hate each other in the first place?"
    "It's not that we hated each other, we just didn't get along. I tried at first, but he was constantly bugging me and making fun of me so I eventually just gave up."
    "Huh. Fine, we can go some place else, but where? The noise volume in there is so loud I could barely hear myself think."

    Beth shrugs. "We can stay out here and just walk around a little instead of sitting down. The way we used to during breaks, remember?"
    "Oh yeah, that's right! Okay, come on!" A suddenly over enthusiastic Melanie pulls Beth away from the benches and down into a park-like area. They walk slowly in circles, side by side.

    "So... How are you?", Beth asks, a little unsure of herself.
    "Well, you were right. Things didn't go the way I had planned."
    Beth covers her mouth with her hand. "What happened?"

    Melanie and Carlotta planned to move to New York together after graduation. Melanie wanted to start going to auditions and Carlotta... No one really knew what Carlotta wanted to do. She talked about being a therapist, but it was pretty obvious that she wouldn't be getting into any good college. Not that she was bothered by that. She always took things very nonchalantly.

    Melanie on the other hand had planned out her life, as unrealistic as it was. She would get into a good acting school on her first try, land a role in a movie before she turned 19, and then keep getting roles until she was famous and rich. Beth constantly told her not to get to optimistic. Now she can only laugh when she realizes she should have taken her own advice.

    "She ditched me for a guy."
    "Oh man. Typical Lotta."

    They stopped counting Carlotta's high school boyfriends after number ten, but there were probably a couple more. She constantly fell in love, and then they broke up for reasons she refused to tell them. Since they never actually met any of her many lovers, Beth sometimes wondered if she was just making the whole thing up.

    "Who was it this time?"
    "This like firefighter guy from Toronto?" She shakes her head slightly. "I don't even know anymore. It's not like it matters, they broke up a couple months later"
    "She moved to Toronto for him?", Beth asks incredulously.
    "Apparently so. Anyway, that left me with nothing. I couldn't afford our perfect New York apartment on my own, so I moved back in with my parents."
    "Shit", Beth draws in a breath. "But wait, weren't they planning this big 'no more kids' move?"
    "Yeah, to Florida. I was so broke I couldn't even afford to go to Disneyland."