It's About Time

We Didn't Actually Have That Long. Or a Magnifying Glass.

        All the girls giggled as Natalie flushed.  She let out a groan, flopping on her stomach.

        “I’m not in love with Grayson.  I barely know him!” Natalie says, her voice muffled by the rug.  She sits back up and shoots a glare at the other three girls.  They all laugh again, messing with her more.

        “You totally have a thing for him”, Scar says slyly.  Natalie groaned and began slamming her head into Sabrina’s plush carpet.  The girls continued to laugh until Sarah stepped in.

        “We know you don’t actually like him, Natalie.  We’re just messing with you”, She said, smiling warmly.  Natalie rolled over so she was laying on her back, looking at Sabrina’s pristine, white ceiling.  This reminded her all too much of home.

        She and the girls used to have sleepovers every Friday.  She remembered Emma calling her one Friday, begging her to have a sleepover. Emma had just gotten home from a two week trip to Australia and had been dying to see her friends again.  So she, Mac, and Kira had thrown on pajamas and rushed over to Natalie’s.  They had stayed up most of the night, eating pizza and watching reruns of Friends on Nickelodeon.

        Natalie hadn’t realized that she had zoned out until she heard Sarah’s voice calling her name.  She shook the memories away, focusing on Sarah’s concerned face.

        “Natalie, are you okay? I swear, we didn’t mean to make you upset.  We were just joking”.  Her voice was concerned, verging on panicked.  And it was that small thing that made Natalie crack. She let out a choked sob, her eyes pooling with tears.

 Within seconds, the three girls were offering words of comfort, Sarah rubbing her back.

        Natalie moved a shaking hand to wipe her cheeks and let out a frustrated sigh.  She looked up at the girls, shooting them a weak smile.

        “I’m so sorry, guys.  It’s not your fault”.

        They gave her an unconvinced look. “Are you sure? We didn’t mean to make you so upset, honestly.  We just wanted to mess with you a little bit.” Bina said, apologetically.  Natalie gave them another small smile.

        “Guys, really.  It wasn’t your fault.”

        “Then what happened?” Scarlett asked tentatively.  Natalie sighed, knowing that they would ask sooner or later.  However, she wasn’t really ready to tell all of her secrets just yet.

        She shook her head.  “Nothing.  I just didn’t get much sleep and I’m getting really tired.  I’m probably PMSing.”  She said, forcing a laugh.  She didn’t want them thinking that she was crazy for getting so emotional.  She knew it was an overreaction, she was just an emotional mess lately.

        The other girls laughed a little, seemingly believing Natalie.  Making sure that Natalie wasn’t mad at them one last time, they launched into a conversation about “the monstrosity that is Mean Girls 2”.  Natalie was glad that they weren’t worrying about her anymore, but she sighed.  It would have been nice if, for once, someone wouldn’t believe the fake reassurances and the false smiles.  If they could see the thinly veiled pain, and actually try to help.

        On Monday, Natalie woke up feeling slightly better than she had over the weekend.  After the slumber party, she came home and called Emma.  She knew that if there was one person that knew her better than anyone else, it was Emma.  They talked on the phone for over an hour and then Natalie took a nap.  Or what was supposed to be a nap.  She ended up sleeping until half eleven on Sunday morning.