Game Changer

THIRTY-FIVE

The sound of the smoothie machine going on and Rachel singing along to the music she's playing on her phone can be heard. I shake my head from where I'm sat on the couch watching Gilmore Girls.

"How long is it going to take for you to make that smoothie?" I ask.

She glares at me, "Oh, quit whining..."

I laugh lightly, "Okay mom." Suddenly, the ring of my phone cuts through the rest of the noise and I reach for it on the table.

When I see the caller ID, I grin and press it to my ear. Speaking of the devil.

"Hey mom, how are you?" I ask and gesture to Rachel to turn the music down.

"Great and you, sweetie? How's your trip going?"

"I'm great and the trip is going amazing!" I gush over the phone. My mom laughs and a bit of homesickness hits me straight in the gut.

"I'm glad to hear that, Sophie. How was surfing?"
I gasp and begin to tell her all about it, from the first day all the way till now- Friday. She continues to laugh and ask me questions which I can basically hear her smiling at over the phone.

Eventually, Rachel walks over to me with a smoothie in each hand and sets one down for me while taking a seat beside me. She gestures for me to give her my phone and I nod, "Rachel wants to talk to you, mom." I hand the phone to Rachel and she presses it to her ear letting out an excited "Hello Aunt Emily!" And from then on, my best friend begins to gush to my mom about everything and I laugh.

The woman's my mother yet you'd think she was Rachel's.

After another fifteen minutes of talking I snatch my phone back from Rachel and tell my mom I love her before cutting the call.

Due to the fact that it's still early in the morning and we're only going to the beach in a few hours before going to a bar tonight, since it's our last day, Rachel and I get comfortable on the couch before switching shows to Gossip Girl.

"I just don't understand... Chuck and Blaire's relationship is so messed up! Can't they see that they're supposed to get married and have a happy family?" She exclaims in what can only be described as pure frustration.
I try my hardest to hide my amusement.

This last week has been incredible and so much fun and I can't believe it's nearly over. I don't want to go back to school and face all the drama that I call my life.

"Hey, Soph?" Rachel asks me suddenly, snapping me out of my reverie of thoughts.

I look over at her and raise a brow. "Yeah?"

Confusion is clear on her face but so is hesitation, "Uh, I know this is a bit random, but I've been wondering... what happened to all those other friends of yours?"

I freeze before gulping.
"What friends?" I ask obliviously.
I know it's silly to play the dumb card on Rachel since I know she'll figure it out but I do it anyway.

"Those girls that Zoe and I were never too fond of. The ones in the pictures all over your wall? I didn't even know Alex and everyone else existed."

I scan her face and swallow the lump in my throat. Nobody knows what went on in Ridgevale High- not my mother, not Rachel, not even Zoe knew when she was around and I practically told her everything. The thing was that what was I supposed to say? I got messed up with the wrong crowd and I'm in too deep now? I mean, I only truly realized what I had gotten myself into at the beginning of junior year. Before that, the Elite were my "friends". I actually enjoyed spending time with them. I was oblivious to what was going on around me; to what I had become. And by the time I had come to my senses, it was too late.