Work Harder | g.d

13

that jawline though^

Maddie

I couldn't spend the rest of my summer like this. I had to find a way to make up with Kylie.

She would barely leave her room, but then again, so would I.

One thing that we both had in common was that we were both incredibly stubborn. She shut people out, just like me, but she had never shut me out. She didn't want to. But she had.

I had cried my eyes out for days, but now all the regretful and bittersweet tears were gone, and that empty, nauseous feeling replaced them instead.

I forced myself to get out of my messy bed, and made my way to the living room.

Kylie was there watching something on the tv, eating popcorn out of a large bowl.

I hesitated to speak, thinking she would ignore me. But I mustered up all I had and croaked out: "Kylie?"

She barely heard me, but I knew she couldn't resist turning her head to look at me. She squinted her eyes, giving me that dirty look, and snapped her head back in the direction of the tv.

It was the first time I had spoken to her since our argument.

I knew I had to, so I slowly went and sat down on one of our sofas. My hands were shaking, my throat was dry and my heart was thumping against my chest.

"Please," I started, "Here me out."

She didn't reply, but she didn't move. I knew she wanted to listen. She just munched on her popcorn.

"When I say this, it's not just so that we can make up, I really, deeply mean it from the bottom of my heart: I swear, I never wanted to ruin your relationship! It's the worst thing I could have ever done, and I know I've been the worst best friend lately, just locked up in my room and not trying. But the thing is, I never told you how my mom and Claudia died. I was too afraid to admit it. But now I have no choice."

I took a deep breath before I spilled everything to her. Seeing my mom just before she was thrown to the hard concrete. Seeing her eyes staring out above her.

Claudia had soon committed suicide after mom's death, because she hardly knew her step dad (my dad) and couldn't take it anymore.

By the end, my cheeks were spilling with tears and my bottom lip quivered.

"So," I managed between sobs, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for starting it all, for not being there for you. I really deserved everything. But now I just can't do it anymore. I can't be in my room all day, staring at a wall with nothing to do but just feel miserable. I need you Kylie. I can't believe we let a guy separate us. A jerk at that."

I could see a tiny little smile crack onto her face.

She finally turned to face me, and all the hatred was gone from her eyes. Her face softened, and she grabbed me into a massive bear hug.

She started to sob too, but I cried in relief.

I had her back.