Living in a Jumble of Wishes
Chapter 18
I was so glad that Carla and Kate forgave me. Well kind of. They agreed to come over so that we could talk so it was a good sign.
I also baked the chocolate cake they love.
Bribing some friends with food isn’t so bad, right?
I chuckled at that thought as I put the cake on the kitchen table. My mouth watered just by looking at it.
I glanced at my watch. They should be here in the next five minutes.
I waited patiently for them and a few minutes later, the doorbell rang. I jumped out of my seat and walked to the front door.
“Hey,” I said, giving them a smile and stepping aside to let them in.
They walked in and directly went to the living room where we usually sat. It made me smile. They still felt like they were at home here and I liked that.
“I know you guys are still mad at me,” I said, getting straight to the point. They were sitting on the couch facing the one I was sitting on.
They didn’t deny it. They just shared a look.
I sighed.
“I know I messed up and I’m sorry for that. I just got so carried away with the whole being popular thing that I couldn’t see anymore how horrible these people were and how great you guys were. I know it seemed like I picked them over you but if I was given the choice I would honestly pick you guys and that’s why I’m apologizing right now. I made a mistake.”
“Yeah, you made a mistake,” Kate agreed.
“But we all make mistakes, right?” Carla said, making me smile and nod. “Kate and I talked about this yesterday…”
“Plus, we heard about the speech you gave them,” Kate said, smirking. “They deserved that.”
I laughed. “They sure did!”
They stayed silent so I talked again, “I apologized to the people I made fun of. They were all forgiving. Such sweet people.”
“See? There are a lot of good people out there and the populars are not those people,” Carla said.
“I know that now,” I replied. “I just thought that being popular would make my life perfect but it just made my grades drop and it made me miserable.”
They nodded.
“How did you even become a part of this group?” Kate wondered out loud.
I hesitated but eventually said, “I made a wish.”
“A wish?” They echoed.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I’ve been wishing for things for a while now and they came true.”
They looked at me like I grew another head and I blushed slightly.
“Never talk about the ridiculous wishing thing and we can be friends again,” Kate said and Carla nodded.
I wanted to argue that it was true but I didn’t because they won’t believe me. I mean who would? Plus, maybe it’s just a coincidence anyway. Maybe the wishing thing was just all in my mind. Maybe it was never even there.
“What finally made you realize that you made a mistake?” Carla asked curiously.
I thought for a minute and the words came out on their own and they were true.
“I guess I have known from the start that I was doing the wrong thing. I hated my dates with Zack. He was always late and he even forced himself on me at my own party,” I said and they both gasped.
“He did?” Kate said with her eyes wide like she just saw an alien.
“Yup,” I replied, shuddering slightly as I remembered that night. And again I thought of how stupid it was of me to forgive him. “That was one main reason why I dumped him.”
They looked shocked to hear that but now I was noticing that what he did didn’t really surprise me. I was kind of expecting it from him. I knew that he was like that but I tried to ignore it.
“And I didn’t enjoy making fun of people and mocking them like the populars did. But I did those things anyway just to fit in.”
I remembered what I did to Sarah that day and I remembered what they did to all those people while I just stood there and watched.
“And the final thing that finally made me snap was what I did to Landon,” I said.
“Who’s Landon?” Carla asked.
“The guy I’m in love with,” I replied sadly.
“In love?!” Kate yelled. She always has the dramatic reactions but she wouldn’t be Kate if she weren’t like that. Another thing that makes Kate the girl I know is her honesty and bluntness. She’s not shy and she’s not the kind of person that would tell you that you look good in a dress when you don’t. If you look like an elephant in a dress you just bought, she would tell you that. No beating around the bush and no lying. That’s how she is. Her bluntness may hurt people sometimes and it did hurt me a few times but then I noticed that it was just who she was and she didn’t mean to hurt anyone so I started accepting her comments.
Carla on the other hand was sweeter and quieter. She would never tell anyone they looked like an elephant in a dress. She mostly keeps to herself but her inputs are always wise and mostly positive. She doesn’t show if she is angry at someone, which is something that can be bad sometimes.
We all have our flaws but that’s what makes us real and human.
“Yes,” I replied as I nodded. I then carried on with the whole story when I saw them still looking at me with shock. I guess they never thought I would fall in love. Heck, I never thought I would fall in love. It seemed like such an impossible thing but now that it happened, it doesn’t seem so impossible anymore.
“He lives in the neighborhood. I met him a few months ago and we became really close. He goes to a different school so I never bothered with knowing his status at school. When I was at the carnival with Zack and the twins, we saw him there and it turns out that they know him so they started teasing him and when Landon talked to me, I-I told them that I didn’t know him. He got so angry with me and he won’t reply to my texts or return my calls or talk to me when I go over to his place. After the carnival I realized that I was in love with him and now he hates me.”
A couple of tears escaped my eyes against my will and I didn’t bother wiping them away. They were my best friends; they have seen me cry a lot of times. They gave me hugs, whispering comforting words to me that helped a little.
“Just give him some space,” Carla said. “He’ll come around. Of course he’s angry now.”
“I know,” I replied. “He has the right to be angry but it’s just driving me crazy because I feel so bad for doing that and I can’t stand not talking to him.”
They both gave me sympathetic smiles.
We talked about Landon for a bit longer. I told them about the day I met him and his sister and the day I invited him over and how my parents really loved him.
They convinced me that everything will eventually work out and that made me slightly happier.
“I need to eat that chocolate cake now,” I said as I stood up from the couch.
“You made chocolate cake?” They asked simultaneously, making me laugh.
“Your favorite,” I replied and they grinned like a kid on Christmas.
I then went to the kitchen and got the whole cake, knowing that we will finish it all.
“What are you doing with my phone?” I asked as I put the cake on the living room table. Kate was holding my phone in her hand.
“Temple Run!” She said and I rolled my eyes.
“You do know that you have the same phone and the same application on it?” I said amusedly.
“I know,” she replied. “I just want to beat your high score on your own phone!”
I chuckled. “We all know that’s not possible,” I said arrogantly. I was the best Temple Run player!
She started pouting. “I lost. Hit a tree,” she said and I laughed.
She then gave me back my phone and we started eating chocolate cake.
I knew that things weren’t back to the way they were before everything. There were moments where they would say something and laugh while I sat there awkwardly not knowing what it was about but this had to happen since we haven’t hung out in months.
It might never go back to the way it was before but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be best friends anymore. We have always been best friends and best friends are forever.
My parents were so happy to see Carla and Kate at our home. My mom insisted that they stayed for dinner and she prepared pizza for us.
That night, it felt as if things were slowly going back to the way they were supposed to be. I was feeling relaxed for the first time in months. I wasn’t feeling angry, sad, and guilty with myself for hurting other people at school and ruining their confidence.
I didn’t feel angry at Zack because he was late for a date, I didn’t feel lonely even though I had endless messages on my phone from all the members of the popular group.
I felt happy.
Even though Landon still wouldn’t talk to me, and even though every time I thought of him, I would feel a pang in my chest, I was still happy with my night.
I finally did something I should’ve done a long time ago.
I got the courage to tell the popular clique what everyone in school thinks of them and I got the courage to apologize, not only to my best friends, but also to other people that we have bullied.
I was never good at apologizing. I never liked apologizing because I didn’t like feeling that I did something wrong but I found out that we all make mistakes.
Making mistakes is a part of every person’s life. They ruin parts of people’s lives and they make people lose who they care about the most.
But the strongest people are the ones who are able to fix those mistakes.
And these few days, I’m strong because I was able to fix my mistakes. Maybe not all my mistakes were fixed but I was determined to fix them all. I was determined to make Landon talk to me and forgive me. I wasn’t going to lose him. I love him and I want him in my life. I won’t lose him.
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I'm sorry it's short but I promise the next chapter will be better! Landon will be in it ;) ;)
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