Finding Beauty

[21] - Chapter Twenty-One

“No,” I interrupted as I shook my head and then I stared at my feet, “it was a lie, I guess.”

“A lie and you guess? What—

“He cheated on me!” I exclaimed sadly as I started to cry again. “And it was with—

For some reason, I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t tell her that Kale was locking lips with a teacher. Maybe it was because I stupidly still had feelings for him or maybe it was because it was illicit, but I wasn’t sure. “With some girl,” I finished with a sigh.

“McKenzie, I’m sorry,” Stefanie said apologetically with a surprised gasp. “I had no idea; I’ll let you get ready. I’ll be in your room.”And with that, she walked away. Sighing, I closed the door and went to get ready.

After I put on my pajamas, I picked up my clothes and left it in the laundry basket. Leaving the bathroom and walking inside of my room, I noticed that Stefanie was sitting on my bed with my purse and my high heels beside her. Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair and sat beside her.

“Thanks for getting my belongings,” I thanked her quietly as I put the purse in my lap and laid my high heels near the bed.

“No problem,” Stefanie replied to with an awkward look on her face. “Um, so…are you going to be okay?”

“No,” I said with a sigh as my eyes become teary again. “I just thought he really liked me and now…” I didn’t even finish my sentence because I was about to cry again and it made me feel sick. Stefanie threw her arms around me into a comforting embrace and I hugged her back. It actually made me feel a lot better.

“Maybe watching our movie would help,” Stef said as she picked up the movie Frozen from her backpack. “And I brought candy too.”

I smiled. “Sounds great, I’ll make the popcorn.”

While, Stef was putting the movie into my DVD player, I took my cell phone out of my purse and went to make popcorn. As I was walking down the hallway, I knew that it was probably a bad idea to have my phone out but I couldn’t help it. Taking a deep breath, I turned on my phone and noticed that I had three new text messages. I opened up the first notification and it was from Stefanie:

Hey McKenzie, where r u? I was going to come visit you but you aren’t here, what happened girly? Text me back xoxo.

I sighed and pushed the next notification which was come from Kale:

Hey babe, where are u?

I rolled my eyes blinking back tears and deleted his message. Lastly, I checked the last notification and it was from Dean:

McKenzie, wht happened? R u okay? Your friend couldn’t find u and you left your stuff here? Txt me back when you get this msg or call.

I smiled; it was actually comforting for him to be worried about me yet so unusual. Unfortunately, I didn’t really feel like talking to him right now. Shutting off my cell phone, I laid it on the table and went into my cabinet to get a bag of popcorn when I felt a sudden chill wave over me.

Turning around, I saw my insecurity ghost standing before me as her lips curled into a smile. “So how was the dance, McKenzie? Was it a night to remember?”

I cringed at her words and felt tears in my eyes once again, “I’m not in the mood.”

“Let me guess, you found out that Kale was interested in older girls,” She teased me with a laugh. That sound so familiar as if I heard someone say this, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.