The summer we turned thirteen (Published)

Chapter twenty-two: Torn between friends

Harlee

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"Harlee, there you are! Come on upstairs; you're right on time! I need your help right now!" Farrah greeted me as I stepped into her grand foyer.

It had been a few days since James had agreed to try reconciling our friendship. But I was still walking on air about it.

Farrah had wanted me to come over and help her choose her outfit (along with the rest of her look) for Evan's birthday party. The party had been moved from last Saturday to the coming Thursday instead. Due to that, James and I also postponed our early birthweek celebration; I didn't want anything getting in the way of our week together. I wanted everything to go as planned.

I agreed to come help Farrah because (although I hated the idea of getting all worried about impressing a boy), I kind of wanted some answers from her about the Rachel situation. So early that morning, I woke up, got dressed, grabbed a breakfast bar, then headed over to the Harringtons'.

"Hyland and I were just talking about how we think you should dress up for the party," she told me as we walked up the staircase, "I know you're still upset about James. But it could be fun if you got all dressed up. Besides, now that he and Hyland are dating, he'll be-"

I almost tripped at what I thought I'd heard her say.

I blinked my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't half asleep.

Farrah grabbed my arm to help me regain my balance.

"What did you just say?" I asked her.

"That you should dress up for the party," Farrah said.

"After that."

"Oh, that James and Hyland started dating last Friday," she said. "So, he'll be focused on her anyway. So, you should focus on..." Farrah's voice trailed off as she looked at me with concerned eyes.

"That's...what I thought you said," I muttered, taking a seat on the step. I felt so unsteady after what she'd told me, I feared if I didn't sit down, I'd fall down the flight of stairs.

Farrah seemed confused by my behavior and took a seat beside me.

"Um, Harlee, are you okay?" she asked.

I honestly didn't know how to answer that.

Because my behavior concerning this was confusing me as well.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," I replied.

"About what?" she persisted.

I knew I needed to compose myself. If I didn't soon, Farrah would start thinking I was jealous of Hyland and James being together. I did feel pretty left out and in the dark, especially because I'd asked James what he'd done on Friday, and he'd never mentioned that.

I guess I also felt kind of betrayed.

James and I always joked about how dating really young was so "pointless" and "a recipe for disaster."

We weren't even thirteen yet, and he had a girlfriend now?

I quickly stood to my feet and tried to think of some kind of excuse for my reaction. None came to mind, so I simply told her,

"It's just weird how fast life changes is all."

Farrah nodded sympathetically, then gently took my arm. We headed up the stairs, and I talked to her like normal. Like I wasn't internally drowning in sadness, confusion, and hurt. We walked into Farrah's bedroom, and Hyland greeted me.