When Barbie Takes Over

15- Mood Swings

Chapter Fifteen:

Mood Swings:

“So…do you have an answer for me yet,” Garrett said after greeting me cheerily at the side of the street.

“Um, yeah I do,” I said honestly. I toyed with the strap of my backpack so I wouldn’t have to look at him. But he didn’t like that idea.

“Pigtails,” Garrett said catching my arm and forcing me to stop and turn to face him. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, just tell me."

I looked up shyly between my lashes and saw the confident, happy smile on his face. I was really hating myself right now for what I was going to have to tell him.

“The answer is no,” I said softly. I was unable to look away from his face after the words left my lips.

His smile faltered slightly. “No, you’re joking right?” he asked almost desperately.

I shook my head. “No,” I whispered.

Garrett’s entire face crumbled and he lowered his head. He hastily turned forwards and started walking quickly so I couldn’t see his face. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and ignored me.

“Gare! Gare, I’m sorry,” I said practically sprinting to catch up with him. “I just can't.” It was a terrible excuse, but I didn’t know what to tell him. ‘Hey I don’t feel that way’ didn’t seem right. Because, I admit, there were times…long ago…that I probably would have said yes immediately to his question. But that was back when we first started hanging out. That wasn’t now.

“It’s alright,” he said.

“Please don’t let this change anything,” I pleaded.

Garrett turned his head to me and flashed me a smile, one that wasn’t real. “It won't.”

I nodded, but I was nowhere close to believing him.

“So…uh…what did you do last night?” Garrett asked awkwardly.

“Just played with Alice for a little bit and watched some TV,” I answered.

“Mmm, I did about the same.”

And the awkward small talk continued all the way to school. I was surprised though that he still wanted to walk with me. I mean, I didn’t even want to walk with myself, I was a terrible person.  

I stopped when I was a couple of feet from my locker still.

“Hey Bridget,” Quinn said smiling sheepishly from where she was leaning against a locker a couple over from mine.

“Hi,” I said drawing the word out.

“Look, I’m really sorry,” she said looking down at the floor in embarrassment. “I just over reacted.”

“Um…yeah,” I said. “Maybe…"

“Can you forgive me?” she asked softly.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I said with a sigh.

“Yes I did,” she said as I started to spin my lock. “I should have let you explain.”

“Do you want to know everything?” I asked after wrenching my locker door open. I turned and looked at her expectantly.

“Yes, of course,” Quinn said, nodding vigorously.

“There’s a lot I didn’t tell you,” I warned her.

If Quinn was surprised, she didn’t let it show. “I still want to know.”

I nodded. Assuming Garrett didn’t completely hate me after I turned him down earlier, we were now friends outside our homes. He had been demanding we were for the last couple of days. And even if he took that back, I wasn’t going to hide things from my best friend anymore.