Milo sits alone in his usual booth in the pizza parlor, flipping through his binder of sheet music and a pencil in hand. He scribbles and erases on different parts of it, concentrating hard on his task. He’s taken back when he looks up momentarily and sees Gwen walk in, immediately spotting him.
Gwen: Hey.
Milo: Hey.
Gwen: *looks around* I’m shocked to see you here by yourself.
Milo: *scoffs* I’m not.
Milo sighs and continues to work in his binder. Gwen awkwardly stands there, watching Milo. Milo looks up, realizing Gwen is there.
Milo: You can sit with me if you’d like.
Gwen doesn’t say anything; she sits down in the booth with Milo, looking at his binder as he continues working.
Gwen: It seems like you’re really into what you’re working on. Is that for class?
Milo: *shakes his head* For the band… I don’t even know why I’m still working on this anyway, to be honest.
Gwen: Is it something that needs to get done?
Milo: *annoyed* Yeah, and only I give a shit about it whereas my bandmates just get to do whatever they want to do in their free time.
Milo notices his aggression when Gwen winces at his words.
Milo: Sorry. It was a rough day.
Gwen: I know… it’s why I came here in the first place; to check on you to see if you were okay.
Milo looks up at Gwen, surprised she would even do something like that for him.
Milo: You saw what happened today in lunch?
Gwen nods her head; Milo sighs.
Milo: Sorry you had to see that… Pep– I mean, Jennifer–
Gwen: I know that’s “Pep” to you.
Milo pauses before continuing.
Milo: Yeah. Pep can be a handful at times.
Gwen’s facial expression agrees with Milo, which makes Milo immediately retract his words.
Milo: I mean, she’s my best friend and her decisions are sometimes questionable–
Gwen: You mean you tell her you don’t like something she is doing and she ignores you?
Milo: *defensive* It’s not as simple as that.
Gwen nods, awkwardly looking toward the front window before she speaks.
Gwen: I don’t know Jennifer well, but from what you’ve told me about her and just seeing you guys argue in the lunchroom today, I can see how complicated your friendship can be with her.
Milo: *sighs* Pep always means well, but she has such a thick-skull and thinks she knows everything and goes into shit without thinking twice.
Milo leans forward, seeming more comfortable talking to Gwen about this.
Milo: I mean, if you were a part of a band, would you have gone to some random guy’s private studio to check it out, alone, not even knowing that his older brothers were there too?
Gwen: I mean, I would’ve felt comfortable if my bandmates went with me to check the space out in my opinion–
Milo: That’s what I’m saying! You know Nate Tobias, right?
Gwen: *recalls* Percussion guy with the curly hair in band?
Milo nods his head.
Milo: Apparently his brothers own this private studio and Pep went to check it out the day our ensemble had that performance. Like, she barely knows this guy but feels so comfortable agreeing to go see this studio space and gets mad at me when I call her out on her shit.
Gwen: And that’s what you guys were arguing about in the lunchroom today?
Milo: *nods* Pep is my best friend, but she makes being in a band with her really fucking difficult, especially when she feels like it’s her band just because she’s the face of the group. It was her idea to make Danny Campbell our drummer.
Gwen: *confused* Are you not friends with him?
Milo: Danny is Pep’s ex, and–
Before Milo continues, he’s hesitant about sharing personal information about Jennifer.
Milo: Let’s just say that he was a douchebag, and she just forgave him and then thought it was a brilliant idea to introduce Nicki to him and vote him into our band.
Gwen doesn’t say anything, she sits there and listens.
Milo: She’s my best friend, but I just wished she actually realized that her impulse decision-making affects the people around her.
Gwen: Have you thought about sitting down with her and actually telling her how you feel?
Milo: It’s literally hopeless. She thinks that everything that bothers me stems from jealousy or *air quotes* Me being a hater.
Gwen: *sighs* Milo, I say this as your friend, but you need to realize that you can’t control what Jennifer does. Those are her decisions to make, and thinking that you can persuade her into making decisions that you want her to make is just going to strain your friendship with her.
Milo: I’m not trying to control her–
Gwen: No, but you want her to make decisions that you want her to make.
Gwen smiles and leans forward toward the table.
Gwen: I’m not saying you can’t care for your friends; I know you care about them dearly, but people like Jennifer don’t want to change, and you have to be okay with that.
Milo: *annoyed* I’m not trying to change Pep–
Gwen: You’re trying to prevent her from changing, Milo.
Milo doesn’t say anything, he just sits there and looks at Gwen.
Gwen: I had a friend a lot like Jennifer back in junior high school. She was outspoken and social, but she always appreciated our friendship and found time for us to hang out. But, boys came into the picture, and she became this boy-crazed girl who forgot about her friends.
Gwen adjusts herself in her seat, visibly looking uncomfortable with the topic.
Gwen: Anyway, our hangouts went from every day to every other day, to barely once a week. We began growing apart and that was hard since that’s when I was first diagnosed with this.
Gwen points at her head, referring to her cancer diagnosis.
Gwen: The boy that she was crushing on had a crush on me. I didn’t believe he did, but I saw whenever I was with this friend, he was only interested in talking to me. That made her jealous, which led her to start bullying me.
Milo raises his eyebrows, not knowing this about Gwen. She sighed as she continues.
Gwen: It was horrific. She was my best friend, so her insults weren’t just your typical, generic ones. She cut deep and even took it upon herself to take my wig off one day when this boy came to talk to me. Shouted to the entire class about my diagnosis. It was humiliating.
Milo: I’m sorry you went through that. What happened after that?
Gwen: I was homeschooled for my 8th grade year.
Milo: *surprised* Wait, you didn’t go to another school?
Gwen shakes her head no. Milo is shocked.
Milo: So, you didn’t have, like, a senior trip or go to senior prom?
Gwen looks at Milo; he already knows the answer to his questions. Milo doesn’t say anything else until Gwen starts to talk again.
Gwen: I learned early on that if your friends change, there’s nothing you can do to prevent it. You can’t expect them to still be the version of themselves you know them as, and the more you try to change them back, the more hurt you get in the end.
Milo: Do you know where that girl is now, or–
Gwen nods her head and slightly smiles.
Gwen: The boy too. They date now and go to Waverly.
Milo: *eyes widen* Wait, what?! They go to our school?!
Gwen: *nods* I know you know Greg Stein from band–
Milo: Greg?!
Gwen reacts to Milo’s reaction to hearing Greg’s name.
Gwen: Yeah.
Milo: *in shock* If you’re talking about Greg, that means the girl you’re talking about is–
Gwen tightens her smile straight, sighing afterward.
Gwen: Diana Lopez.
Milo: *dumbfounded* Greg and Diana went to Beverly Junior High; they literally made me and Pep’s a living hell our senior year– *moment of realization* That means you also went to Beverly. What did you major in?
Gwen: Band. I was literally in the same band class as you.
Milo is taken back by the newfound information.
Milo: But, I would’ve known you, I would’ve–
Gwen: It’s fine, Milo. My point is that I tried so hard to change my friends back to what I knew them before, and it literally made me vow to not really make close friends like that ever again.
Milo: I mean, you’re friends with Nicki.
Gwen: She’s more of a bandmate than a friend. *smiles* I don’t spend recess gossiping with her in the schoolyard.
Gwen looks down at her hands, clearly in thought. Milo watches her before he catches her attention.
Milo: Well, people are missing out being your friend, because you’ve been a really good one to me.
Gwen looks up and smiles, appreciating Milo’s words.
Milo: And if I wasn’t so caught up in whatever it was back in Beverly, I would’ve definitely been your friend back then too.
Gwen: *smiles* Same here.
The two teens share a moment of silence until Gwen’s phone rings for a notification. She looks down at her phone, sighing before putting it back in her pocket.
Gwen: I have to go; my mom is waiting for me at the doctor’s office.
Milo: Is she okay?
Gwen: *corrects* It’s my appointment.
Milo gets the hint, nodding his head in understanding. Gwen gets up from the booth, gathers her bookbag and things, and begins to say her goodbyes.
Gwen: I’ll see you in school tomorrow–
Before Gwen walks away, Milo calls out for her.
Milo: Hey.
Gwen turns around.
Milo: Thanks for letting me confine in you.
Gwen smiles.
Gwen: That’s what friends are for.
Gwen turns back around and walks out of the pizza parlor. Milo watches her walk away from the place through the window. He clearly is now deep in thought about her.
Letters From Liz. 