Love Is Toxic (Rewriting)

3. It's History

"What did Dwayne want to talk about?" Erina asks over the phone.

I lean my back against the kitchen counter, running a hand through my locks and let out a sigh before answering, "He basically apologised and, apparently he also has feelings for me."

"What?!" Erina exclaims, causing me to pull the phone away from my ear and give it a grimace.

I tell Erina word for word of what happened at the park and she's just as shocked as I am. Dwayne didn't show any evidence that he harboured any feelings for me, especially when he snogged that girl.

"So, what are you going to do?" She asks, intrigued.

"I don't know, Erina. I'll go with him to the party but that doesn't mean I'll jump into a relationship with him. I'm too busy at the moment and I'm still hurt and need time to process this mess," I reply, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Makes sense, go with the flow I guess? By the way, I'm getting ready for the party at Koda's."

"Alright," I respond, drifting away into my thoughts, contemplating whether I still want to go or not.

"See you later?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, bye then. Love you."

"And I, you," I greet, ending the call.

What are you going to do, Skylar? I turn around, gripping my hair in my hands with my elbows resting on the counter. Take a few breaths. After calming myself down, I stand up and retrieve my phone and message Dwayne.

Hey, Erina is getting ready at Koda's. You can get me at seven? If that's alright with you?

Not waiting for him to reply, I head over to my room to get ready, seeing as it's already five pm. You might be wondering why I'm so introverted. Well, I was never shy when I was younger. On the contrary, I was outgoing but I guess it's what people do to you that makes you close up like a shell.

Throughout my childhood, especially my awkward teens I've embarrassed myself, countlessly. Like this one time, I had an oral and in the middle of it, I choked up and what did I do? The worst thing I could possibly do at that moment, I cried.

Yes, I cried. That has made me self-aware during public speaking. I don't know what happened that day, I stood in front of the class and it felt as if everyone was judging me but that had a lot to do with the toxic friendship I was in.

Erina and I weren't that close at the time, we were friends but not as close as we are now. This was in the middle of ninth grade. I was friends with a girl named Cassandra. She was new, and everyone hesitated to talk to her, even Erina.

What did I do? I felt sorry for her and gave her a chance. Through the course of our friendship, Cassandra used to talk me down. Make fun of my art, talk shit about my mom not having a job, mocked me about my weight and height. I always brushed it off because she had issues, and in the process of this, I did not listen to Erina. I thought Erina was being unreasonable.

What did I get in return? On the day of my oral, she sat at the back of the class, and gave me a smug, taunting smile. Made vile gestures throughout my speech. I eventually stopped in the middle of it, and I'm ashamed to say I cried.