Category: The Teenage Monologues: Season 2

“You’re ready to learn the drums?” I hear Milo call out from down the hall. I shook my head and smiled; Milo would always remember everything he had his mind set on.

“I’m not playing the drums,” I answered, folding my arms across my chest. “We have to rehearse; the show is too close to be messing around.”

“We have time to have some fun,” Milo insisted, opening one of the rehearsal rooms in the West Wing. Most people tend to reserve rehearsal space during lunch period a lot these days; it seems like when there’s a show of some sort coming up, all the rooms are reserved.

“One drum solo isn’t going to hurt,” Milo teased, finally reaching up to me. “You already have the piece memorized and perfected; what more do you need to rehearse?” I rolled my eyes, listening to Milo talk. For someone who focuses on two majors at once, he was always so laid back about rehearsal time. Sure, he knew his music, but I felt like he didn’t take it as serious as I did. Milo doesn’t have to constantly prove himself and his talents; his status already does that. For me, I needed to constantly prove myself being in the section that was looked as a major joke at Waverly High.

“You can’t hurt getting more practice,” I simply said, walking into the rehearsal space. Milo walked in after me, setting his bookbag down on the ground and sitting on the chair next to it. I looked at him, wondering why he’s acting so… relaxed. “Are you going to practice?”

“I’m so over this piece,” Milo sighed as he said. “I just wanted to hang out with you, help you if you need it.” I scrunched my eyebrows, feeling a little bothered at Milo’s attitude.

“I’m fine,” I answered, taking out my violin from its case. I was glad that Milo had his dual major status back, but something definitely changed in Milo when he did. He still did his work and would go to all of the rehearsals needed, but the way he would act when in those rehearsals felt as if he was better than everyone else.

“Do you need me to count you into your section?” Milo asked. I looked at him, visibly looking annoyed at the situation. He definitely took notice of it. “What?”

“I said I’m fine, Milo,” I snapped back, looking down at my sheet music and placing the violin on my shoulder. I hear Milo sigh and get up from his seat.

“I really just wanted to hang out with you, Scout,” Milo admitted. “Like yeah, we hang out, but we only ever rehearse and practice for class and… I just don’t feel like doing that today.” Before I can say anything back, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I take it out quickly to see it’s my mum. I ignore the call to look back at Milo.

“Milo, we can literally be written up if we’re casually hanging out in a rehearsal room,” I began to say. “Just because you’re not in the mood to practice for the show, doesn’t mean I have that same luxury.”

“Luxury?” Milo reacted. “You think I have a luxury?” Once again, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket; it’s my mum once again calling me during school hours. I ignore it, putting the phone back in my pocket.

“Whether or not you practice, your dual major status has its privileges,” I said, upset now. “You’re not in the joker section of band class, so you don’t know how it feels to never feel like to be in my shoes.”

“Are you really listening to what Serrano said?” Milo said, laughing after asking the question. “Since when do you listen to anything that douchebag says?” My phone vibrates in my pocket once more; this time I actually picked up.

“Mum, I’m literally in school right now, what are you–“

“Ya,” my mother said, stern. “I’m in the main office. I’m taking you home.” I scrunched my eyebrows together.

“What? Mum I have a very important rehearsal today for the show, I–“

“I’m taking you home; no if’s, and’s, or but’s,” she said before hanging up. I looked at Milo; he looks more worried now than before. I began to pack my stuff up, which then made Milo start asking a million questions.

“You’re leaving? Why is your mom here?” I don’t answer Milo. I began to shove things in my bag to get out of the room faster. “Sophie?” I don’t answer him; all I can think about is why my mom is pulling me out of school all of sudden. So many things were circulating on my mind and I didn’t have time to be bothered with Milo.

I walked out of the rehearsal room; Milo quickly followed me, walking fast behind me to try to reach me.

“Sophie? Sophie?” I hear Milo continuously say behind me. You don’t have time for this, Sophie. I entered the main office in hopes that he’d get the memo and leave, but I turned around and looked at him opening the door to the main office.

“Milo, what are you–” I began to whisper at Milo, but it wasn’t log that my mother called me out by name; my Korean name.

“Soojin,” my mom said as she got up from her seat. “We have to go.” She spoke to me in Korean, which is something she only ever does when something serious is happening. It’s like she didn’t want the rest of the world to know of her issues, or hear the panic in her voice when she speaks.

“What happened?” I asked back, in Korean to keep the secrecy. My mom doesn’t answer me back, she looks over my shoulder, realizing she is looking at Milo.

“Leave,” my mom said to Milo. I quickly turned around to look at Milo; he looked terrified. He swallowed hard, but he didn’t move.

“Mrs. Lee, is Sophie–“

“Leave,” my mom said louder now, clearly getting angry. I looked back at my mom now, trying to understand what was even going on.

“Mom?” I said; it was all I could say. She grabbed her things and grabbed my hand, escorting me out of the main office, walking past Milo. “Mom! Mom!”

I turned back around to look at Milo. I wanted nothing more than for him to comfort me in this moment.

Today, I decided to go to the lunch room to grab lunch instead of going to a rehearsal room to practice the choreography from my dance academy. Jennifer has had me working overtime in the studio learning this dance for this showcase; I didn’t realize that the time of year for Jennifer’s annual open house showcase was here. I feel like I had at least a couple of months before that showcase performance. On top of that, Mr. Kamalani had us doing some after-school rehearsals for the show coming up. I felt like I had no time to actually sit down and enjoy some down time.

I sat at the table I would normally sit at lunch whenever I went; usually, Milo and I would sit together and talk about anything that we could possibly think of. I sometimes miss those days. Sometimes, I wish I had my best friend back; the one that made sure we always hanged out at lunch and after school. I don’t remember the last time I even spoke to Milo outside of being at some stupid family gathering.

I see everyone sitting with their friends at different lunch tables, which reminds me why I don’t come here in the first place. I threw out my lunch tray and walked out of the lunchroom.

I figured I’d practice this dance routine before rehearsal tonight; I was tired of Jennifer constantly outing me in the rehearsal because I was one or two steps behind everyone else. I put my headphones on and begin to play the music to the dance. I immediately begin to dance and allow the music to take over my body. For someone that hasn’t been in rehearsals regularly, I was able to memorize the dance really quick. As soon as I engulf myself into the dance and music, I hear a knock on the door through my headphones. I jump up, looking towards the door. I sighed when I realize that it was Aaron looking into the small window of the door. Gosh, how much did he see?

I opened the door for Aaron but he doesn’t say or do anything. I felt nervous, and quite sick to my stomach after dancing on a full stomach of lunch food.

“Everything alright?” I quietly asked. Aaron still didn’t say anything, but he walked into the rehearsal room and closed the door behind him. “Aaron?”

“Mols,” Aaron finally said, still looking as if he was shocked. “You can dance?” Fuck. He did see me.

“How much did you see?” I asked, hoping he says only a little bit.

“I was going to sit with you at lunch until you walked out,” Aaron began to explain. “I saw you came into the rehearsal room and that you just started dancing. I didn’t want to disturb you, or even stop you.” He smiles before he continues with his thought. “I didn’t know you could dance like that.”

“Dance like what?” I asked, beginning to feel a bit exposed and overwhelmed at the attention.

“Dance better than the actual dance majors at Waverly,” he answered. “Seriously, why didn’t you tell me you could dance?”

“It never came up,” I said, turning off my headphones and placing them back in my bag. “Dance is something I do outside of school. I don’t like doing it other than on my own timing.”

“Why didn’t you apply for the dual major program? You would’ve would’ve been the best of the best at Waverly.”

“I didn’t want to,” I said, not wanting to go into detail about this anymore. “I chose vocal.” Aaron sits me down on the bench against the wall.

“I’m not saying that you aren’t a good vocalist; you know I think you’re the best, but what I just saw you do just now… it was completely different than what you do in vocal.” I look at Aaron, taking in everything that he’s telling me. It meant a lot that Aaron thought I was a good dancer and that he was being genuine about it. Aaron’s opinion mattered to me, not because of how I felt about him, but he was also very talented himself… and of course because I liked him.

“How long have you been dancing?” Aaron asked.

“Since I was very little,” I said, loosing up a bit now. “I danced before I sang, that’s the crazy part.”

“So, why did you pick vocal as your major?” He kept questioning me. I know Aaron is trying to understand the situation as much as most people try to. I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth to them; instead I would lie and say that I like to sing more than dance. My knowledge of vocal is what really saves my ass; I at least know what I’m talking about and know what I’m doing. Thank that to Milo.

“The truth?” I started to say, facing Aaron on the bench now. “I couldn’t afford the program. The dance program is the one program that costs the most to be in because of the constant competitions and costume changing.”

“Did you audition for the program at least?”

“I auditioned for both vocal and dance,” I admitted. “I got accepted into both.” No one knows that; not even Milo.

“Wait, what?” Aaron reacted, shocked by the news. “You were gonna be in the dual major program, but—“

“Couldn’t afford it,” I finished Aaron’s sentence. “So, I settled with vocal. I hate putting it like that, but it’s the truth. Like I love vocal, but—“

“Your heart is in dance,” Aaron was now the one finishing my sentences. I simply nodded, confirming the fact. Aaron sighed, readjusting in his seat. “Sorry for forcing you in the band. I didn’t know you had your heart set on something else.”

“Are you kidding me?” I quickly said. “I love being in the band. It’s different and—I don’t know—I have so much fun being free like that.” Aaron smiled at me; it has to be the biggest one I’ve seen on his face.

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Aaron said. He leans in and gently kisses my forehead. “So do I have the pleasure in seeing your dance routine in full?” I smiled sweetly at him, tilting my head as I tasseled his hair with my hand.

“Of course; at the showcase next week,” I teased Aaron. Aaron playfully rolled his eyes as I laughed out loud. Thank you for saving me from my own thoughts.

The show was less than two weeks away, and I was already feeling the pressure of being the only person in the percussion section learning the piece. It was technical and I haven’t been able to grab the hook the way I would normally do on a piece. I felt my stomach tie itself in a knot when Mr. Harrisburg had us set up for this particular piece.

I don’t hear anything or anyone besides the sweet, soft voice of a girl. I look up and see Sophie standing there, watching me tune the drum set for this particular piece.

“Hi, Milo,” Sophie said and smiled. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Scout,” I said and leaned back in my chair. “And what do I owe for this surprise visit in Percussion Paradise?” Sophie immediately laughed.

“Percussion paradise?” Sophie questioned.

“Two tickets to paradise,” I said in a sing-song melody. Sophie laughed and shook her head as she took a seat next to me. “What’s up, Scout?”

“I was going to ask you if you wanted to practice for the show after school,” Sophie stated, picking at her fingernails.

“Why so nervous?” I questioned, noticing her hands fidget on her lap. She immediately stops.

“Well,” Sophie began to say. “I’m usually never the one to ask to hang out, and I don’t know if you’re busy doing other things like being a dual major.” I rolled my eyes at Sophie, but smiling to let her know I wasn’t serious.

“You know you can always ask to hang out with me,” I said. “And you know I will always say yes.” Sophie smiled and immediately cleared her throat.

“It’s always fun practicing with you,” Sophie pointed out. “Plus, it gives me an excuse to practice anywhere else but my house.”

“Another video visit from your dad?” I asked. Sophie nodded her head.

“My mom is supposed to see him today,” Sophie said. I nodded my head as she spoke. I know how hard it was for her to talk about her dad. I cant imagine not being able to see or be with someone you loved every single day. “And knowing my mom, she is going to take away all of my practice time to sit in this call and I just don’t have the energy today to do that.”

“It’s cool,” I reassured Sophie. “I’m down to distract you with music.” I smiled at Sophie, which makes her smile. Finally. “You know, you should just permanently switch your seat next to me; it’s not like he comes into class anymore.”

“But I don’t play the drums,” Sophie said.

“I’ll give you another drum lesson when we hang out,” I insisted. “And then you can teach me a couple of things on the violin.”

“If you learn the violin, I’m out a spot in the strings section,” Sophie commented. “You’ll be so good, you could be a one-man string section.”

“Well I guess you’re going to have to take my drum lessons seriously,” I teased. Sophie nudged me on my shoulder. Mr. Harrisburg clears his throat, in which Sophie immediately gets up from the seat and rushes to her section.

“Good afternoon, class,” he addresses the class. “As you may know, our mid-winter showcase is two weeks away. This show is a very important one as there will be some special people watching in the audience.” The class begins to softly chatter in excitement. My dad had told me that potential colleges scout freshman for these specialized programs; they basically work with you for the time you’re in high school and pay for your college when you graduate. It was something that my dad did when he was a student at Waverly all those years ago. I can understand why he’s been so pushy about me being good at both of my majors.

In true fashion, the classroom door opens, and in walks in Aaron Serrano. Mr. Harrisburg turns his head and looks at him.

“Aaron,” he addresses him as he tries to sneak past him. “Please see me after class today.” The class snickers to themselves before Mr. Harrisburg quiets the class. Aaron sits in his seat, next to mine, taking out his notebook and sheet music. I slightly shook my head; how can he get away being absent for so long without getting his status suspended?

“I would like to start with percussion today,” Mr. Harrisburg said as he looks in my direction. “Milo, Aaron; please flip to the last four measures of your section.” I couldn’t help but grin a the fact that Aaron has no idea what we’ve been working on and that he’s about to make himself look like a fool. Payback’s a bitch, huh? I quickly open my book to the song that Mr. Harrisburg is referring to and I immediately panic. Where the fuck is this sheet music? I look at Mr. Harrisburg, who is looking at me. “Are you ready, Milo?”

“Uhm, yeah,” I answered, trying to play it cool. Mr. Harrisburg counts us into the piece in which I nervously wait to start playing. I look over at Aaron, flipping through the pages of the music before we come in to play. How the hell did he get this music?

One, two, three, and–

To my surprise, Aaron and I begin to play at the same time, and for the first time actually sound like one section. I tried to not look in his direction, but I was genuinely curious how he knew the piece just as good as I did.

“Okay, okay,” Mr. Harrisburg stopped us. “This is the best I’ve heard you both play together. Well done.” I finally look over to Aaron, sitting in his seat like what he did wasn’t a big deal. How did he learn this piece so quick? How did he even get the sheet music? Aaron looked at me and rolled his eyes, making notes on the sheet music as the rehearsal went on. Something is hella weird.

…

The bell rings and everyone begins packing their bags to leave. As I started to put my books away, I see Aaron walking past me to leave. I don’t know what possessed me to say anything to him; I just do.

“Yo, Aaron,” I called out. Aaron stops to look at me; clearly he’s confused that out of all people, I’m the one calling for him. I’m just as confused. “Got a minute?”

“For you?” Aaron asked. “No.”

“Sorry,” I quickly said. “Don’t mean to take up your precious hallway time with Mollie.”

“Yeah, my girlfriend,” Aaron emphasized. The sound still makes my skin crawl.

“Yeah,” I played along, trying to not him get the best of me. “Tell her that the next time she needs to steal my sheet music in order for you to learn it to let me know in advance.”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Aaron asked, annoyed now.

“Just admit it, dude,” I said, now directly looking at Aaron at his face. “How the hell do you miss all these classes, yet you have the sheet music for a song we just started to learn, and you knew perfectly?”

“It’s called being good at your major,” Aaron scoffed, trying to walk away from me.

“Sure,” I continued to say. “But it’s a coincidence that my sheet music just magically disappeared the day you finally show up to class with the music and knowing how to play it already.”

“So you’re accusing Mollie of stealing your sheet music?” Aaron asked before laughing. “Damn, that’s suppose to be your best friend, dude.”

“Damn,” I mocked. “That’s suppose to be your girlfriend; why would you have her steal my music?”

“Listen, jerk,” Aaron spat out, getting close to me now. “I don’t need to steal your fucking sheet music.”

“So where is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Aaron started to get louder. “But I don’t need to be stealing your shit, and I wouldn’t tell Mollie to do some shit like that.” He points in Sophie’s direction, which startles her. “Now go bitch about it with your band-filler violinist girlfriend.” Mr. Harrisburg immediately calls out our names to stop arguing. The class quiets down and everyone is now walking away from Aaron and I.

“Aaron, I told you to see me after class; Milo, keep it moving and go to your next class.” I grabbed my backpack from the ground and look at Sophie. She quickly puts her head down and walks towards the exit of the classroom. Just when she was getting more confident in her craft. I sighed, leaving the classroom as well.

Life at Waverly High was so much different than it was when I first started back in September. For one, it has been one of the coldest winters to date, and traveling to and from school have been one of the bigger challenges. Long gone were the days that I was able to simply walk a couple of blocks to school, barely feeling the cold hit my skin. Maybe it was because the city had all these big skyscrapers covering the little sun that comes out these days; it just felt colder whenever I had to go to school.

Thankfully today was just a little warmer than usual, and the school day was going by quickly. It was already lunchtime, and I was sitting at the usual table I always sat at, eating the lunch that my mum packed for me the night before. And right on cue, I see a lunch tray placed in front of me; it’s Milo.

“Hey, Scout,” Milo greeted as he sat across from me at the table. He immediately gave me the muffin off of his tray while I gave him the bag of chips my mom packed for me. It was our thing; I don’t really like potato chips, but I don’t tell my mom because the chips always go to Milo. She just thinks I really like them. “How’s your day going so far?”

“Surprisingly quick for a Monday,” I said, eating the muffin in front of me. “I have this huge chemistry exam next week though. I’m afraid that I might not pass it.”

“Of course, you’ll pass it,” Milo reassured as he continued to eat the chips. “It’s the seniors in that class that have to worry about passing.” He leaned forward before changing the subject. “You need a study buddy?”

“How are you going to study chemistry with me? You don’t even take chemistry,” I laughed, thinking it was cute.

“I could study something else, like math or biology,” Milo insisted.

“Something tells me that you are not going to be a good study buddy,” I teased, ruffling his hair before laughing. Milo huffed and leaned back in his seat in a defeatist way. “What we could study is this new song we have to play for the banquet in a couple of weeks.”

“Don’t remind me,” Milo sighed. “The vocal ensemble is also performing that day.” Knowing Milo well enough meant that he never really meant what he said when it came to performances as a dual major. I know Milo enjoyed the work and the performances, but I also knew he enjoyed having the title of being a dual major. I will let him vent about the hard work behind being two pleases at the same time, but I know he wouldn’t trade his title for anything.

“I feel like Mr. Harrison and Mr. Kamalani are always collaborating on performances,” I joked, trying to be the one to make Milo laugh now. Instead, Milo rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Vocal doesn’t have to do everything that the band does,” Milo responded, clearly not looking forward to the vocal performance. “It’s like my dad knows when to put more work on me.” I scrunched my nose at Milo’s response. Sometimes, I didn’t agree with Milo’s belief about his dad. His dad is only doing what he’s supposed to do to further support Milo and his dreams.

Some of us have fathers who only think for themselves, not being around to even know our dreams to support them in the first place.

“You’ll do great,” I reassured Milo, keeping my thoughts to myself.

…

During passing, I walked down the hallway with all of the other students going to their next class. I had enough time to use the bathroom before my band class; the bathroom was close to my class anyway. I walked in and looked at myself in the mirror. I took my brush out to comb my hair after it got messy being in a bun for gym class.

A couple of other girls came and went into the bathroom to use it, but one girl walked up to the mirror next to me, looking at herself in the mirror. It was Mollie.

Mollie still made me extremely nervous whenever she was around. These days, she doesn’t bother me; or maybe I don’t bother her anymore. Needless to say, there are days that she exists since she and Milo don’t talk anymore. That’s another different type of normal these days. I couldn’t understand how someone that you’ve known for most of your life would just cut you off because of someone they were dating. You hear things like this happening in those cringe TV sitcoms about best friends. I always thought Milo and Mollie were different.

I snap out of thought when Mollie rips the paper towel from the dispenser in front of me. I couldn’t help but jump in place. I look at Mollie who immediately rolls her eyes.

“S-sorry,” I said nervously, not even knowing why I was apologizing to Mollie. She didn’t say anything back. Her phone started to ring and she immediately picked it up, a smile now on her face. I tried to not look at her or not have her notice I was looking at her as I washed my hands.

“Hey babe,” she greeted over the phone. It must be Aaron. “Yeah, after school I’m free for practice.” Mollie laughed over the phone as she washed her hands. “I’ll see you in vocal.” She hung up the phone and noticed me looking at her. “Why are you all in my business?”

“I’m just washing my hands,” I said, looking down at the water hitting my hands. Clearly, she didn’t believe me.

“You looking at me like you’re lost,” Mollie said as she fixed her hair. “Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not gonna find Milo in the girl’s bathroom.”

“What?” I asked, not really understanding where Mollie was going with this.

“I’m just saying you look a little lost,” Mollie said. “I’m assuming it’s because you don’t have a mind of your own and need Milo to guide you around like a puppy.” I finally looked at Mollie, annoyed at her comment. I wasn’t Milo’s “lost puppy”, I was his friend; something that she clearly hasn’t been for quite some time now. I looked down at my bag before closing it with the zipper.

“At least I’m not on the phone with him the second he walks away,” I said under my breath but loud enough so that Mollie knew what I was saying.

“What did you say?” Mollie spat back, now directly looking at me with her body facing toward me. I didn’t say anything back; the warning bell rang and a hall monitor was already shouting in the girl’s bathroom to go to class. I walked passed Mollie, not wanting to deal with her anymore. I didn’t understand why Mollie still had issues with me being Milo’s friend when she clearly wasn’t being one to him.

I looked up to see Mollie walk out of the bathroom and toward Aaron. She smiled at him as he put his arm around her as they walked down the hallway. I couldn’t help but feel jealous at the way Aaron wasn’t afraid to show how much he liked Mollie. He showed his affection no matter where they were in the school; I can only imagine just how good that makes Mollie feel. Why do I feel so jealous of Mollie and Aaron’s relationship even after knowing it ruined Milo’s friendship with his best friend.

These were the different types of normal we had at Waverly High these days, and I’m not sure if I like it.

Days in the treehouse were always brutal in the wintertime. I remember my dad told me he first went to the treehouse with my mom during the winter, and he wasn’t properly dressed for the cold. When he was my age, every electronic was either on a cord or needed 5,000 huge batteries in order for it to work. Thank god for things being wireless these days.

I walked up to the treehouse with a little portable heater in my backpack; I had taken it from Jennifer’s studio back at the house. I climbed up and sat in the treehouse, taking all of my supplies out of my bag.

I can’t lie; I was nervous to talk to Sophie. How could someone that you once felt so comfortable talking to and telling your secrets now feel like a complete stranger? I guess I was used to it with Mollie. I didn’t even feel bad leaving her house to come here; why was I celebrating someone’s birthday who didn’t care about my thoughts or how their actions made me feel? She wasn’t the same person I once called my best friend. She spent all of her time with Aaron; I don’t even think she shows up to dance rehearsal, according to Jennifer. That wasn’t like Mollie; I knew she loved to dance. The Mollie I knew loved to dance.

I started to hear some noise underneath the treehouse, which made me look out the window. I saw Sophie standing there, taking out her phone from her pocket.

“Scout,” I called out. Sophie looked up at me, answering to the nickname I gave her back in middle school. Even after not being on good terms with her, she still answered to the nickname. It made me smile. She began to climb up the ladder toward the treehouse; every step closer to the top made me more nervous. She finally got to the top and entered the treehouse. She was quiet, nothing like our time together before our huge fight the night of the showcase. I hate how that night panned out.

“You’re not cold?” Sophie asked me once we saw me wearing just a hoodie and a light jacket. The truth is I was, and I hated that I took the wrong jacket before leaving my house. I blamed Mollie for getting me angry before I left.

“I’m okay,” I said, adjusting so that Sophie could sit comfortably in the treehouse. We didn’t say much at first; I think the both of us were not sure how to bring up what happened that night, but I think it hurt me more to not be on speaking terms with someone that has come to be my only friend at this point. “Thanks for meeting with me, by the way.”

“Yeah,” Sophie said back, playing with the string attached to her coat. I knew she was nervous when she felt the need to play with any small object during a serious conversation. I would remind her to stop picking at her nails or pulling on tags or strings when she did. I guess she didn’t realize she was doing it, and this time was no different. I placed my hand on top of hers, stopping her from pulling at her coat string any longer. She looked at me before I quickly yanked my arm away, feeling embarrassed. I couldn’t help it; it was more so a reflex than a nice gesture at this point.

“I meant what I said over the phone,” I began to say. “I really am sorry for hurting your feelings and for putting you in a position you shouldn’t have been in. I shouldn’t have dragged you into my mess with Mollie.” I looked at Sophie for a quick second, but she didn’t seem to react to anything I was saying. I wanted her to know that I was genuine in the words I was saying; I really did miss her being such a big part of my days. I didn’t realize until it was taken away just how much Sophie’s company and friendship meant to me. I didn’t realize until it was too late that Sophie had seen me in the way that I saw her.

“It’s more than just you and Mollie, Milo,” Sophie finally began to say. “It’s the fact that you didn’t consider what I was going through that night being the first showcase. I was nervous, I was anticipating the audience leaving the auditorium when the strings came up on stage. I was sad that no one from my family could come to my first-ever showcase. I just felt like you glanced over that.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I defended. “But I know that doesn’t excuse how I acted towards you when I found out you and Aaron had a conversation. That guy is just bad news and I don’t want him to get to you or make you believe anything he says about the strings or–“

“You?” Sophie said, finally looking up at me. I didn’t know what to say; was it selfish to say yes? Was I that worried about Aaron taking another person that I cared about? Did I think Aaron was that persuasive to get someone to think badly of me? Yes. He’s done it with Mollie. She knew the answer when I didn’t say anything back. She sighed before she said anything. “I mean this in the nicest way, but not everything is about you, Milo. He was genuinely asking about Mollie and if she was okay.”

“I believe you,” I began to say. “I just felt hurt when you knew that Aaron and Mollie were dating and you didn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t know fully until Mollie said something,” Sophie confessed. What? Why would Mollie tell her? “She was the one that pretty much confirmed they were dating.”

“Why though?” I questioned. Sophie’s face changed and she looked nervous to say. “Why would Mollie confirm something like that to you and not tell her best friend.”

“I don’t want this to be all about Mollie,” Sophie said, putting her foot down. “Why are we so worried about other people and not about each other? We’re supposed to be friends, right?” We’re supposed to be friends, right? It was kind of a relief that we didn’t have to bring up our feelings for each other, and I think she sensed that. Not talking about our feelings became the new normal for us, and I think this time it was even more serious since in reality, Sophie was now my only friend.

“Of course,” I answered. “Of course we’re friends.”

“Then let’s try to not let other people affect our friendship,” Sophie pleaded. “I’m sorry for hurting your feelings and for not telling you about what I knew. I just didn’t want to get caught up in drama that was not my business to begin with.”

Sophie was completely right, and I was happy that she was understanding get logical in the way she handled this situation. I know Sophie well enough to know that she would’ve preferred to not have known about Mollie and Aaron. She wasn’t trying to keep secrets from me; she was just trying to stay away from a situation that was just too deep to get involved with.

Stupid me got her into the situation, and I feel bad for doing so.

“You did nothing wrong,” I finally said, looking at Sophie. “You’re a good person for not spreading around anyone’s business like that, and that’s really all that matters.” Sophie smiled, appearing to be more comfortable in the treehouse. I couldn’t help but give her a hug. She tensed up as soon as I gave her the hug, but immediately melted into it, hugging me back even. “I missed you, Scout.”

“I missed you too, Milo,” Sophie responded. “I missed being in the treehouse with you.”

“Fuck you,” I spat back at Milo. Clearly, you’re just mocking me by wishing me a happy birthday, you asshole.

“Wow,” Milo said. “Another year older and you’re still as immature as ever.” I finally turned around and looked at Milo, sitting on the steps in front of my house like he lived there or something.

“Nah, I just see through the bullshit,” I answered back, crossing my arms along my chest. “What are you even doing here anyway?”

“If my dad and Jennifer didn’t make me come here, I wouldn’t be here,” Milo answered, now looking down at his phone. “I have better things to do than to spend the day here with the person who stabbed me in the back.”

“Still listening to mommy and daddy?” I mocked, knowing that this would get under his skin. I wanted nothing more than for him to leave my house. I didn’t want someone as self-centered and thick-skulled as Milo here anyway. Milo looked up at me.

“Jennifer is not my mom, asshole,” Milo spat back. “You of all people should be a little sensitive to throw that word around, Miss ‘my-real-dad-didn’t-even-bother-coming-to-my-birthday-party’.”

“At least my real mom is not dead,” I spat back, not caring about Milo’s feelings anymore. For him to stoop so low just because he doesn’t like Aaron made me realize just how much of a horrible friend he really was all this time. Milo stood up, clearly angry now.

“Maybe you and Aaron are meant to be,” Milo began to say. “You’re just as much an asshole as him; probably even more than him, which says a lot.”

“Not as much of an asshole like you,” I said as I walked closer to Milo. I wasn’t going to let him have the last word; I didn’t do anything wrong. “You’re seriously mad that I’m dating someone you don’t like, yet you went ahead and have this huge fucking crush on Sophie.”

“Sophie never did anything to you!” Milo yelled out. “And don’t give me that sad excuse that she was Laurie’s friend, because she’s not even friends with her anymore.” I was growing even more angry at Milo. He wasn’t understanding the true reason I was mad at him. I didn’t care about him liking Sophie anymore; I got over that shit when I knew it was a losing battle. It was the fact that once Sophie came along, I didn’t exist to him anymore. He used to actually be my best friend. He was aware of the things that would hurt my feelings and never used anything sensitive against me. The worst thing about your best friend being something you have known your whole life is that you never think they will turn on you until they do. Milo was so quick to turn against me because I was with someone he didn’t like.

“Are you fucking stupid or something?” I yelled back at Milo. “What is it gonna take to get through your thick-fucking-skull that this isn’t about you and Sophie liking each other! I don’t care about that!”

“Then why would you not tell me you were dating Aaron?” Milo asked. “If you knew it wasn’t going to be a problem, you would’ve told me. You used to tell me everything, Mollie.”

“I didn’t tell you because no matter what, I know you’d react this way. You want everyone to understand what you do, but let someone else do something you don’t approve, and now you’re threatening ending friendships with people you knew your entire life.” I knew Milo well enough to know how his brain operated. He wanted everyone to understand his point of view without acknowledging his actions hurt the people around him, and the fact that Milo willingly fell for a girl that used to tolerate Laurie’s shitty behavior towards other people. He allowed Sophie to get close to him to the point he forgot about his best friend.

No matter how many crushes I had on boys, I would never leave my best friend in the dark.

“That’s not true,” Milo spat back. “This isn’t about anything else besides the fact that you knew how much Aaron has fucked up the first couple of months of high school for no valid reason besides the fact he’s a bully. Yet, you chose to go out with him, knowing that our friendship would have problems–“

“How about asking me hoe he makes me feel?” I spat out, now tired of hearing Milo talk in circles. “You keep saying how I should know how you feel, but have you even asked me how he makes me feel?” Milo doesn’t say anything back, but I could tell that he knew I was right.

“I can’t imagine him even being worth getting our friendship damaged,” Milo said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. I was tired of Milo putting this on me as if it’s my fault we aren’t on talking terms. It bothered me that no matter what I told Milo about Aaron, he will forever think that I did this because I wanted to piss him off. Why would I ever want to piss off the one person who’s been my best friend since… forever? Why would my best friend even think I was capable of doing that anyway?

“Aaron was my friend first before we started dating,” I started to say. “He actually wanted to hang out with me and talk to me whenever we saw each other in the hallways at school. He didn’t just come into my life because I wanted to piss you off or some shit. He came into my life because, at one point, he was being a better friend than you were being to me.” I wanted nothing more for Milo to understand where I was coming from. I wanted him to finally see my side of the story and to hear me out. This was the most I was willing to give Milo in the weeks we’ve been fighting, because quite frankly; I don’t want to continue fighting with Milo. I want Milo to be happy for me; after all the boys that broke my heart in the past, Aaron actually makes me feel good about myself. I thought best friends were supposed to support each other as long as their best friend was happy.

“You got to be kidding me,” Milo responded. He started to laugh as he shook his head before looking back at me. “That boy fooled you, Mol. He put up a front and you fell for it. I thought you were smarter than that.” Milo finally gets up and walks toward me. “Now I’m going to have to pick up the pieces when he breaks your heart, because Aaron is just that type of guy.”

I couldn’t put the wrds together to explain how I felt in that moment. Even after telling him everything, he still believes that he’s not in the wrong. That boy fooled you, Mol. Thats all I can hear roaming through my mind. Milo wasn’t really my best friend, and I just had to accept that he really didn’t consider me as his anymore.

“I hope your dad and Jennifer get a fucking divorce so I don’t ever have to see your dumb face again.” I spat at Milo before walking back towards the front door of the house. That’s all I can say because I meant it. I fucking hate the fact that Milo is someone i will forever see just because his dad and my sister are married. I hated Milo; he’s not the person I once knew. That boy fooled you, Mol. Yeah, you did.