It’s been a week since Sophie has been in school. I’ve tried texting her phone to ask if everything was alright, but didn’t get any answers. After the first 3 days of radio silence, I tried calling her phone. Still, no answer.
I walked towards the vocal room for my last class of the day, hoping the period will go by quickly. All of the other vocal major in my grade enter the room, including Mollie. She walks in with Aaron; no surprise. I look down at my notebook, waiting for the disgust to bypass my body. My dad walks into the classroom which quiets down the class. He puts his binder of sheet music on top of the piano before facing the class.
“Good afternoon, all,” my dad addressed the class. “As you may know, midterm season is upon us, and here at Waverly, we take this time to check in with our students by assigning them a midterm project to focus on. You will be graded based on your creativity, technique, and of course; passion.” As my dad was talking to the class, I see Aaron looking down at his phone, smiling as his fingers pressed against the screen. I looked over at Mollie, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that se was texting Aaron. I as so aggravated and wanted nothing more than express that out.
“Yo, Serrano; get off your phone, man,” I shouted towards Aaron. The class looked over at Aaron as he shot his head up. “It ain’t that serious.” The class laughed, but my dad immediately got the class back in order.
“That’s enough,” my dad shouted to the class. “Mr. Kamalani, your assistance is not needed–“
“Yeah, because he wouldn’t do that in any other class besides the one that his dad teaches,” Mollie added, which made everyone turn their heads towards her.
“Nobody asked you, Mollie,” I snapped back at her, trying to maintain my composure.
“And nobody asked you to be your dad’s guard dog; woof woof!” Mollie teased as everyone in the class began to laugh again.
“Alright, class,” my dad began to say, but at this point I didn’t care whether or not I was being disruptive.
“You would know being Aaron’s bitch, woof woof!” I responded back. This made Mollie get up from her seat. I wasn’t afraid of Mollie; I got up from my seat as well. “Yeah, learn to mind your business, Mollie!”
“Fuck you, Milo!” Mollie yelled out.
“That’s enough!” my dad screamed, which made everyone in the class go quiet. “Mr. Kamalani and Ms. Castro, grab your things and leave my class now!”
“He started it!” Mollie argued.
“And you decided to get involved!” I snapped back.
“If the two of you don’t grab your things and leave my classroom, I will make sure to have both of your majors suspended for the rest of the year; do I make myself clear?” my dad demanded. I rolled my eyes, knowing I had to get out of the classroom. I couldn’t jeopardize losing my dual major status for the rest of the year.
Before I was able to grab my stuff and get up, Mollie storms out of the class. She doesn’t look at my dad or at me when doing so. I watched her leave and then looked at Aaron; clearly pissed off.
“Mr. Kamalani,” my dad called out. “Go.” I rolled my eyes and began to get my stuff together and finally leave the classroom.
…
Mollie and I sit outside of my dad’s classroom; she sits on one end of the bench and I sit at the other. We don’t say anything to each other, and it honestly kills me. Mollie has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Some of my first memories were us hanging out in her mom’s backyard pool during the summer with her family. My dad and Jennifer would hang out together while Mollie and I played in the pool, and Mollie would always try to show off her swimming skills when I use to sit in a floatie, terrified of going underwater. The smell of the barbeque in the air and the chlorine mixed with the sun on my skin was something I remembered vividly. I missed my best friend, and something told me that this was going to happen as soon as she began to get all boy crazy. It’s like she stopped believing in herself and only cares about what boys think about her. I sighed at the thought.
“Mol,” I gently said. She shook her head, immediately dismissing me.
“Don’t talk to me,” she quickly said, not looking in my direction.
“Mollie, I’m sorry,” I said, not listening to her. “I didn’t mean to say those things in front of the class-“
“But you did,” Mollie said, side-eyeing me. “You said it like I was your biggest fucking enemy on the planet. Like I was Laurie or something.”
“The way you’ve been acting towards me, you feel like you’re becoming Laurie,” I admitted. Maybe there was some truth behind that, but the way Mollie spat out at me during class was something that Laurie would’ve done to either one of us. Plus, she’s dating the male version of Laurie.
“That doesn’t give you the right to treat me like I’m Laurie though. I’m suppose to be more than just that.” I wanted to be sympathetic to Mollie, but it was bothering me that she was not taking any accountability for what she is doing.
“And you’re treating me like I’m your enemy too, Mol,” I pointed out. “We’ve both been treating each other like shit.”
“You’re treating me like shit because of Aaron-“
“Just how you’ve treated me like shit because of Sophie?”
“I don’t give a shit about Sophie!” Mollie raised her voice, which echoed throughout the empty hallway. “I got over that way before we got to Waverly. But you seem to keep punishing me for the way you feel about another person. That’s not fair-“
“What’s not fair is you throwing me out like I’m disposable whenever a new boy comes into your life,” I began to raise my voice, trying to make Mollie understand where I was coming from. “Seriously, Mol; first it was Theo, then it was Jake, Deangelo, Kyle; now it’s Aaron. It’s like you need these guys to find your purpose for you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, and I’m done talking to you,” Mollie said, getting up from her seat.
“You know I’m right, Mol,” I continued. “Instead of getting these guys to do it, why don’t you let your friends tell you how awesome of a person you are, huh?” Mollie doesn’t say anything back; she continues to pick up her things to walk away from the bench. “What happened to Ronnie? Huh? She was your girl best friend and now I don’t even see you hang out with her anymore-“
“Fuck off, dude!” Mollie turned around and faced me. “Seriously; instead of worrying about my life and Aaron, worry about your own! Why don’t you call your little girlfriend and see where the fucks she’s been all week?” Are you fucking serious, Mollie? “Seriously, I don’t give a fuck what you do, so stop giving a fuck about what I’m doing.” Shortly after, I see Jennifer walking up the stairs towards the main office, looking in our direction.
“Mollie?” she called out. Mollie turns away from me, walking toward her sister. Before I could get up, I hear my dad open the door from the main office.
“Milo,” he said. I got my things and walked toward the door, not before looking back at Mollie. She doesn’t turn around.
Letters From Liz. 