The Meaning

5.1: Theatrics

It's January 5th. After 2 weeks the winter break has ended. Monica  and Cain had a great time with their parents, Monica drives Cain back to the school and shares her plan with Cain about moving to the town where Cain's school is located, Salt Lake City. Cain supports the idea. 
They arrive, they say goodbye and Monica drives away. 
Cain is determined to make a change, it's time to be more open. But he has to formulate a plan first. He's walking towards the dorms. He's looking around so he doesn't really pay attention when he passes through the entrance, so he bumps into someone, that someone is a girl, and she dropped her stuff, Cain starts apologising profusely and starts picking them up. But as he stands up with her things in his hands, he sees that he bumped into Kelly. The long awaited encounter is finally here, he thinks. Kelly just stares at him, she looks scared.
Cain: Well... Hi again. 
Kelly: H-Hi..
Cain: You found the school suitable for your needs? 
Kelly: Yes... I uh.. did. Aren't you angry with me? 
Cain: Times change. 
Kelly: I see... so does that... mean you forgave me? 
Cain thinks for a second, then shakes his head
Cain: Not yet, no. Did you come here for the school or something else? 
Kelly: For the school of course.
Cain: Hmm.. What's up with Wayne? 
Kelly: He's not my friend anymore.
Cain: *scoffs* Karma is a bitch, huh? 
Kelly: You don't have to rub it in.
Cain: I've got every right to do so. Hate to break it to you but, I told you so. 
Kelly looks ashamed.
Kelly: Do you want to have lunch or a drink with me sometime? We could smooth things over.
Cain's not sure, but if he's gonna be more open he has to fix the past eventually.
Cain: Sure. When? 
Kelly: Maybe... today, 3 PM?
Cain: Fine. 
Kelly: It's great to see you again.
Cain looks her in the eyes. 
Cain: Wish I could say the same... See you then. 
Cain walks away. Kelly leaves the building with a frown on her face, she sits down on a bench outside and thinks back to what happened.

Kelly POV

Kelly and her friend Melody are talking in a park after school the day before it happened.
Melody: Do you think  he knows? 
Kelly: I doubt it. 
Melody: Maybe he feels the same way? 
Kelly: No he definitely doesn't. 
Melody: How do you know? Why don't you just try? Maybe it could work out.
Kelly: I'm not ready. And what if he says no?
Melody shakes her head.
Melody: So you're going to completely close him out of your life? 
Kelly: I mean, that's the only way I can live without those feelings.
Melody: Still, he's your best friend, he cares about you. You matter to him. 
Kelly: I don't want to hurt him, but if I don't my heart will break eventually.
Melody: And you think you'll be fine without him as your best friend? He doesn't deserve this.
Kelly: I think so, yeah. Of course he doesn't. 
Melody: I think you're making a big mistake. 
Kelly: Maybe. But this is what I must do in order to stay sane otherwise I'll go crazy.
Melody: And you want me and the other girls to pretend that you talked shit about him? 
Kelly: I have to make it believable. Please, you owe me a favour for handling that situation with Targiev. 
Melody: Okay, you can count on us. 
Kelly: Thank you. 

She's laying in her bad at home, when she recieves a text from Cain.
Cain: Kelly! There is a new burger place not far from the school? Wanna try it? 
Kelly: YES!
Right after she wrote that down, she realized that they won't even be friends if everything goes as planned. But it's too late to take it back now.
Cain: Great! Do you still want to go that private school in Salt Lake, ya dork? 
Kelly: Yeah, I do.
She wants to go there, so she can be far away from Cain and her feelings for him.
Cain: Why tho? 
Kelly thinks for a second
Kelly: Better learning opportunity. (Liar!)
Cain: I mean, yeah I guess so. Well I've got some work to do still, so take care!
Kelly: You too!
Her hearts racing and she hasn't even done anything. She's scared that she's going to crumble under the sheer pressure that this is going to put her under, but she's adamant about this, she won't change her mind. 

The next day Kelly's talking to her friends about when and what they should say about Cain.
Cain arrives goes up to Kelly greets her and they hug each other. Kelly's grip is stronger than usual, she knows this is the last one. She knows what's gonna happen after the third period.
Cain: *out of breath* Are you trying to suffocate me? 
Kelly: Shut up!
She holds her a little longer, then lets him go. Her eyes begin to get teary. 
Cain: Is something wrong?
Kelly: I'm just quite tired today. *nervously chuckles* 
Cain: I should be the tired one, have we changed roles? 
Kelly: Yeah, I guess we- 
Her voice breaks, she's on the verge of tears. Cain starts panicking.
Cain: Kelly? Hey, what's wrong?
She starts coughing like she just has a sore throat.
Kelly: Nothing, I just had to cough. So, yeah I guess we did change roles.
Cain: Jesus, you scared the living shit out of me!
Kelly: I'm sorry!
Cain: You're gonna be the end of me someday.
Kelly: It seems so...

It's the end of the third period, she waits for Cain to catch up to her. She's bricking it. Her heart is racing, she feels hot. 
Kelly: Cain, could we talk in private?
Cain: *nervously* Sure...
She pulls him aside. Cain is confused but he's still smiling.
Kelly: This is not gonna be easy for me, and neither for you. I loved every minute of our friendship but... I have to move on from you. 
Cain's smile quickly turns upside down. He's shocked. 
Kelly:  I don't want our friendship to end, but I fear that if neither of us move on, we'll just end up resenting each other and we'll destroy our mental health. So I have to do this.
Cain looks down. He doesn't want to believe this, he's hoping it's a nightmare.
Cain: *softly* What? Tell me you're joking. 
Kelly: I'm sorry Cain, but I'm not.
Cain: This can't be it. This is absurd. No, not even just absurd. *raises his voice* This is bullshit. *shakes his head* I can't... You... 
His voice starts trembling, Kelly feels awful. She stabbed her best friend in the back. The person who trusted her with his life. She puts her hand on his arm, to comfort him. But he recoils.
Cain: Don't you touch me. You are a... *starts shaking*
He doesn't finish, he just storms away. Kelly is disgusted by what she had done. But she believes this was the right choice. She starts crying, rushes to the bathroom, locks herself inside a stall sits down and starts sobbing.
Kelly: *while crying* What have I done?

Everything's in motion, the people who are involved start spreading the rumors about Cain which he hears and it gets to him. As the day goes by he's getting angrier and angrier. 
It's the last period. Kelly steps out of the classroom and he sees Cain standing in front of her.
Cain: We need to talk!
Kelly: Come on... Don't make this harder than it has to be.
Cain: Don't make it harder... Do you hear what you're saying? 
Kelly: Look, we just need to move on.
Cain: *scoffs in frustration* Is this the same Kelly I became best friends with? I'm not sure anymore. 
Kelly: Yes it is.  I just made a responsible decision. 
Cain: And a selfish one. 
(Come on, Kelly just act like you don't care, you can do it)
Kelly: It was for both for our sakes.
Cain: *shouts* I never asked you to make this for me! After all this time, after everything, you just take a knife and stick it in my back like it's nothing. Like you don't care at all. 
Kelly: This was a hard decision for me. 
Cain: I damn sure hope it was. I'm starting to doubt everything you've ever said to me. Have you ever cared about me? 
Kelly: Yes I always have and I still do. 
Cain: Yet you made a stupid decision like this. Plus you started spreading rumors about me. Allegedly I never was a good friend and I didn't care about you enough. 
Kelly: Look people have to believe that we're not best friends anymore. 
Cain: I can't believe what I'm hearing. What happened to you? When did you change so drastically? I'm guessing you already found someone to replace me.
*Kelly nods*
Cain: Well that's just absolutely fucking great! Let me tell you the truth face to face so you might actually understand it. You never cared about me, not one bit. I was just a tool. 
Kelly: That's not-
Cain interrupts her
Cain: Don't you say it! Tell me who's the lucky person then? 
Kelly: Wayne.
Cain: What in the fuck? Wayne? Really?! You expect him to fill my place... good luck with that. I thought you couldn't get any lower but you just did. 
Kelly wants to say she's sorry and it was all because she loves him and she's too scared to admit it. But she has already caused the damage.
Cain: *shakes his head in anger* I never ever in my life want to see you again. I never finished last time. *she looks her straight in the eye* I  was gonna say that you are one treacherous bitch. You better keep that one in mind.