Gossip Galore

Goodbye

"Since I'm moving in a few weeks, I wanted to spend more time with you." Miami took my hand in his.

"I have work now, and school to catch up on."

"Just one more date. It's all I need."

"Okay."

***

I threw on my favorite dress and recurled my hair.

I wanted this night to be perfect. After all, it was going to be my last date with Miami.

He came around six to pick me up.

"I'm going to miss that beautiful face of yours," he said, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm going to miss you lying to please me," I said.

He wrapped an arm around me. "I'm a man of my word." He lead me outside to his car, opening the door for me.

When we arrived at the movie theaters, we bought two tickets to see Safe Haven, a Nicholas Sparks movie.

"Nicholas Sparks was made for us." Miami said, smiling warmly at me.

"He sure was."

We made it to the room in the nick of time, right when they were showing the very last of the trailers.  I was feeling very comfy and happy with Miami's arm wrapped around me and a large bucket of popcorn in the middle of us when Miami's phone rang. I watched as the caller ID flashed Lissette.

"Sorry, I gotta take this." he easled his way out of my grip and headed out of the row, mumbling "Excuse me, sorry" to everyone along the way.

I was annoyed. This was our last date, and he was taking a phone call from my best friend? Suddenly, all of the pieces clicked in my head. Lissette and Miami were having an affair behind my back.

I felt sad and angry at the same time, and I barely even noticed when Miami came back through the row and sat next to me.

"Listen, I have to go," he said. He wore a mask of guilt. "We'll do this another time," he said. "I'm  really sorry."

"Can't it wait?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm really sorry."

We headed back to his car. I was extremely annoyed now.

He dropped me off back at my house. "Listen, I'm really really sorry," he said for the millionth time. "I just can't skip this or they'll get mad at me."

"Who are 'they'?"

His face paled. "I'll explain later," he said. "I have to go."

He drove off, and just my luck, it started to rain. Hard.

I told myself not to cry. Instead, I headed inside and grabbed my bright red umbrella, and headed out into the rain. I had a meeting of my own to go to, after all.

I ran through puddles and mud, not caring about them staining my clothes.

When I arrived at Lissette's house, I opened the front door without knocking.

Just as I thought, there were Lissette and Miami. Miami gasped when he saw me.

That's when a waterfall started pouring out of my eyes. Because here were the two people I trusted with my life, standing inches apart from each other.

"It's not what it looks like, believe me," Lissette said.

"Well, to me it looks like I was cheated of my last date so that you two could spend some time together," I said, my voice cracking on the last word.

They looked back and forth between each other. Just then, Jade came from the kitchen. Her hair was a natural red color and she didn't look a hint of emo. "Hey, I was thinking we could throw her a party. You know, since she stopped gossiping and stuff."

Lissette gave her a desperate look and Jade flipped her head in my direction. "Oh, no..." she droned. "That's not good."

I made no effort to hide my confusion when Angy, Margaret, Matt, and Blake stepped into the room. "Is it okay if I drink your Coke?" Matt asked.

Blake rolled his eyes. "You'll drink it whether she says you can or not."

"Good point," Matt said. He popped the can open and took a swig.

"What is this?" I asked. I noticed a binder on the table with my name on it. I opened it up. The room went quiet, and they all looked at each other with horror-stricken faces.

Every page was held a plan that targeted me. The first one was to disguise someone as an emo named Jade. The second was to make sure Lissette befriended her and made me jealous. Another was to pretend Matt was cheating on Lissette so that I would hate Jade even more.

The list went on and on. I soon realized that this had all been an act; Miami had never meant to break up with me, Matt had never cheated on Lissette, and Jade was just a fake character they created.

"Why?" I asked. "Why did you do all of this?"

"I just wanted you to stop," Lissette said. "I didn't want you to live the rest of your life stuck in a web of lies. I didn't want you to end up in some huge trouble in the future. I just wanted you to learn."

"Don't be angry," Angy put a hand on my shoulder. "We just wanted to help you. We all care about you."

"Some more than others," Blake said.

"And some even more than that," Jannette said. She smiled at me. "I never really hated you," she explained.

I felt really strange after that. Here I was, in a room full of people who had joking me for months without my notice, and I wasn't even the least bit of angry with them.

"I'm  glad we did this," Miami said. "I probably wouldn't have met you if it weren't for it."

"I'm glad you did this," I said. "It made me realize that just because I was hurt at one point, I can't do the same to others. It made me realize that there are people who use you and people who care about you. It made me realize who my real friends were."

I turned to Jannette. "I'm really sorry," I said. I smiled at her through my tears. "I was a huge jerk to you all this time."

"Don't be," She said. "I was a jerk back." She gave me a small hug.

Lissette smiled. "Things are looking up now, aren't they?"

I was about to answer when my phone rang. It was my mom. "Come to the hospital," She breathed. "Now."

"I have to go to the hospital," I said.

"Then we're coming with you," Lissette said.

So, we all piled into the Miami's car and made our way to the hosiptal.

When I walked into my daughter's room, my heart skipped a beat.

There she was, lying motionless on the bed.

I was almost sure she was dead.

Just when I thought all hope was lost, I noticed her twitch.

Her eyes opened.

***