After everything Collin explained, some things started to make sense. I looked at him and asked in a shocked voice ,
"Is that why you have been trying to talk with me?" I stood up with my hand on my mouth gasping. "And here I thought you were trying to bully me into some form of mind games!"
"Ha ha, I could never do that to you. " he smiled at me again. We sat there and continued talking. An uneasy feeling settled over that I could not shake of. I meekly looked up at Collin and asked,
"So, is this the beginning of our friendship or were you just trying to clear a misunderstanding?" I asked not sure where this was going.
"Caterina, if I wanted to clear the misunderstanding I would have sent you a letter with every detail." He explained back. "Of course I want to be your friend. That is, if you are willing? "
I looked at him a little worried and said teasing, "I'm not sure?" Then I laughed hysterically by the face he made . "Kidding!kidding!"
" Oh, so that's how it's going to be?" He asked slightly unamused.
I shook my head no, saying, " I wasn't being serious, I'm sorry."
He looked at me sternly, then smiled, "Back at you!" Then we both laughed out loud and chatted for a few more minutes before returning to our class.
I felt more free and at ease that afternoon, like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was happy to finally have a friend again. I looked on the other students with a new perspective. Other kids' stares wouldn't get to me anymore and the whisper that went around were still there but I just blocked them out. I finished all my classes on a hi note and went home without an incident.
That night, I laid on my bed thinking about everything that happened so far. I couldn't believe that Colin was my friend. I almost let a misunderstanding get in the way of our meeting and new found friendship. I decided to not be so quick to run away from a problem and let them unfold as they would. If Collin taught me nothing but patience, I was grateful for that.
The following weeks went smoothly. Collin and I would meet whenever we could and got closer and closer together. We would sit together and make the most of our time in the few clases we had together. My mom and dad teased me about our friendship relationship. Collin was my best friend and that's all there was to that. Besides , we were still kids.
A couple months after Collin and I started hanging out, the other classmates started being nicer and wanting to talk. It was startling at first considering they never did that before. One of the girls that approached me was named Christiana Goldeneye, her dad owned one of the city's many pharmaceutical companies. She was very beautiful and sharp. She took opportunity whenever it presented itself. Had I known what kind of girl she was, I never would have become her friend. But I did not know that then. Christiana came to me with shyness and friendliness. And since I had decided to stop being afraid of bad things happening and being skeptical, I gave her the benefit of doubt.
Even though Christiana was on the shy side, she was always in the know about things, the latest trends and gossip. She became my girly best friend and she always wanted to dress me up and wanted me to wear the latest trends. I let her know that my family wasn't very frivolous and was more on the conservative side. She understood and backed off, letting let me dress how I wanted to but she would always have her ways to alter how I was fashioned, which I didn't mind because she had good taste and it was still comfortable.
One of the things she did a lot which was a red flag was she would always ask about my relationship with Collin. She would shyly bring him up and I would laugh it off saying we were only friends, which we were. There was no way I was going to be like some of the girls who felt like they were above everyone just because they had a boyfriend. It was a little too early for me to be having that mindset. I did not notice or understand why she brought it up, so I would always just ask her if there was anyone she she was interested in to which she replied that yes she did have someone in mind but did not know if he liked her back or not since she had not yet mustered the courage to speak with him yet. That usually was as far as our conversations regarding boys would go since I didn't have anything to offer and she never volunteered anything else.
Christiana also had a good friend named Elmer Mercedes. They always hung out together and were in almost all the same classes except maybe one or two. Elmer was a nice guy but was never talkative towards me . He tried his best to be friendly but it never felt natural, another red flag that I let go because I did not want to be paranoid or misunderstand the situation.
Since we were in the same classes together I started hanging out with both of them. Occasionally since they always seemed to be around, all four of us would study sometimes or go grab a snack from a local vendor.
Collin didn't seem to mind since Christiana and I were pretty close. But he made it clear they wouldn't be around after school when we would go to the mall, or a movie together, or any other time when we were not at school. Collin enjoyed my company and vice versa. I would could never have dreamed that we would get separated.