It Ends Now

-Chapter 10- I made a new friend (Taylor's Version)

"Everything you lose is a step you take
So make the friendship bracelets
Take the moment and taste it
You've got no reason to be afraid
You're on your own, kidYeah, you can face this
You're on your own, kid
You always have been"

— You're on Your Own, Kid by Taylor Swift

   Okay. To start with, I have to confess that I have never been good at making new friends and socializing stuff. Let's just say that the arts of getting to know new people and going out to parties have never been my strong suit. It has always been that way. I even have more friends at the elderly center than at school. I know it is truly pathetic and even depressing. Oh, but when you take a good look at the kind of assholes in my school you will truly understand me. I guess that's why I prefer to spend my Saturday night in my room all comfy watching Netflix or reading a fantasy book of enemies to lovers.

   So when it came to trying to be friendly with my new gest (if I can call her that) it was kind of messy. Let's start when Arya (I hope that's her name I am really bad at remembering names) told me about her "situation" where I knew things couldn't be good. I had just come out of a fight with my father threatening me to go to boarding school if I got myself in trouble and I suddenly arrived at my room with the beautiful surprise that the girl I had just saved was actually running away from some mafia who had kidnapped her. And to make things even better she had some strange powers which the mafia wanted to absorb from her. What in the name of telenovela did I just get myself into?

   "So I guess that's about all," finished saying Arya. "Are you okay?"

   She probably noticed my shocked face (I'm really bad at hiding expressions) because I had been expecting she was going to tell a truly bizarre story but this arrived at another level. But to be honest, a feeling for adventure inside me was actually really excited to get messed up on this thing.

    "Yeah," I finally manage to say. "I just need to process things, you know? Uh, want something to eat?"

   Her purple eyes seemed to explode with happiness at the mention of food. And with all rights, she seemed to haven't gotten a decent plate of food in months, maybe even more.

   "Uh," she seemed to try to hide the excitement at finally eating something. "I wouldn't mind eating."

 ☀️

   After Arya finished successfully eating five plates of pasta she seemed to finally be full so I decided to try and do some icebreakers for each of us to get to know each other better. While she was finishing her third bowl of pasta I decided to look up on my phone for icebreaker activities for us to get to know each other better. I read that asking what is each other's favorite things may help people find things in common and become closer.

   "So," I said, breaking the silence as Arya was finishing to clean until the last piece of boloñesa meat from her plate. "What is your favorite color?"

   "Purple," she responded, looking at her plate.

Another awkward silence.

   "Oh um mine is yellow, thank you for asking," I said sarcastically. My investigation on Google made it look so easy for a conversation like this to flow but Arya didn't seem to help to make the atmosphere more friendly. She seemed to be waiting for me to take out a knife and try to stab her. That place where they kept her kidnapped must have affected her psychologically because she obviously seemed to be a distrustful person.

   I waited for her to show another sign of friendliness but she seemed to be interested in finishing scrubbing her plate.

   "Uh, do you want more pasta?" I asked.

   Arya finally looked at me and then looked at the other four plates of pasta she had already eaten. She seemed to be a little embarrassed for eating so much.

   "Oh no I'm fine," she said sharply.

   I sighed desperately because this situation was getting stressful.

   Why was making friends so hard?, I thought.

   Arya seemed to notice my desperation because she added, "Why is your favorite color yellow?"

   "Oh," finally some sign of socializing. "Well I have always liked the radiance that the color yellow brings and I like how it looks on me."

   Arya laughed. Yes! This was a good sign.

   "So why is purple your favorite color?"

   "Um," she said, scratching the back of her neck. "I don't remember."

   The atmosphere rapidly changes into a more depressing mood. Great, I ruined the conversation. Arya seemed to have gotten really frustrated by the remainder of her memory thing because she had stopped scrubbing her plate. I started to curse myself in my head. Why was I so bad at this? My negative thoughts were rapidly blown away when Arya started humming a melody.

   "You like music?" I asked nicely.

   "Yeah it helps me to calm down," she said without meeting my gaze.

   "Well, then you must have a favorite singer. " I ate the opportunity to make up for my mistake. "And I guess that maybe you even like TS."

   "What?" asked Arya, looking confused at me. "Who?"

   I gasped.

   "You don't know who Taylor Swift is?" I exclaimed.

   Arya said no with her head and it made me want to scream because there is no better thing than to introduce someone to the queen Taylor Swift.

   "Oh my dear sweet Arya," I said with a vicious grin. "Prepare yourself."

☀️

   Teaching someone about the entire career of Taylor Swift can be a little exhausting but worth it. I know that after this Arya is never going to be the same. As we went through every single era and album she continued saying "This is my favorite!" and "Oh my god I love this one!" with every new song played on my phone. I also made her hate Kanye West and some of Taylor's exes who hurt her in the past. I was satisfied with myself as I heard Arya curse the name of Jake Gyllenhaal when I played her All Too Well (10-minute version) and when she gasped and screamed "Noo!" when I told her how Scooter Braun stole all of Taylor's albums and how she is rerecording them.

   As the day went on we spent it together learning about each other and singing to, you guessed it, more Taylor. I can't believe that thanks to my idol I finally became close friends with someone. I loved how we laughed and enjoyed doing everything together.

   Is this what it feels like to have a best friend? Someone who understands you and enjoys hearing you talk all day long about life problems and never cares to interrupt you. Someone who is always there when you feel down or when you feel happy. Someone who knows your deepest secrets and will take them with her to the grave.

   I believe I have just found my best friend. And all thanks to Taylor Swift.

   "Hey, Arya?"

    "Hm?"

    "What will you say if I invite you to the Thanksgiving Ball this weekend?"

Kayla: Hay everyone! Sorry for publishing this a little late but I've been a little taken away by school and other stuff. Anyway, here is chapter 10!

Cole: Cant believe we are already on chapter 10. I mean, things are going fast quickly.

Kayla: I know right? Anyway, I know this chapter is a little short and not as exciting as one would expect but I promise that in the next chapters, things are going to start to heat up! So I hope you enjoy it and see you next week!