12 pm, Kara's House
Two girls are sprawled across a plush couch, sound asleep, at 12 pm.
One is still dressed in her hot pink party dress from the night before. She had turned numerous heads in the crowd in her stunning ensemble... but not the one she wanted.
The other is as comfortable as she can be. Her friend's fuzzy slippers, which she had borrowed, hang over the arm rest of the couch, as she lays in an upside down position.
RING, RING, RING--one's phone blares.
"Ugh!", fuzzy slippers exclaims, "Turn that shit off!", she throws a pillow at hot pink party dress. She misses--in fact the pillow flies the opposite direction.
"I'm getting a phone call", hot pink party dress replies, "A foreign concept to you, of course", she mutters.
Fuzzy slippers replies with a special finger.
"Take it into the other room, Tiana!", she throws another pillow, and this time it lands properly.
"So last night was definitely not my finest...", she trails off, entering a different sitting area.
I don't know if I can do this for much longer, Slippers thinks. Because what friend keeps such a big secret from her bestie? "No, I'm the worst friend", she had wanted to say last night.
She felt as if a fifty pound weight had been glued to her chest for months. But there was nothing she could do about it--she could lift the weight, and have it inevitably fall back harder on her, or she could let it rest uncomfortably but safely on her chest. This is what it felt like--her options.
If she tells the truth, her friend group could implode; if she doesn't tell the truth, she implodes. It's a lose-lose situation.
Last Year
Kaylynn's POV:
"She's so fuckin clueless", a familiar voice says.
I don't usually eavesdrop, but this sounds juicy, and we're in a public school restroom, so who gives a fuck?
"Is her boyfriend really cheating on her?", another voice--a particularly bitchy one--asks in disbelief.
"I saw it with my own eyes", the other replies. "And camera lens", she finishes.
"Wow", the bitchy voice replies, "Wait", she gasps, "isn't she your bestfriend?", she emphasizes.
"So she thinks", the familiar voice replies.
I'm nosey as hell, but who isn't?
I peek through the space in between the stall door and the connector between each stall--the painfully large space. I swear people can see everything when they walk by.
Ugh, my hair is obscuring my vision. As I peek through, I can see two girls, dressed way too fancy for school, through black stripes.
In my attempt to be nosey and wipe at the same time, I accidentally flush the toilet.
Shit!
SWOOOSH, the toilet sloshes water around for an eternity (at least it feels like one).
I guess the girls peeped that someone was listening in on their conversation, and they left. Is it bad that I'm a bit sad about not hearing more gossip? It's okay, I'll vent to Lisa about my issues later.
I close the stall and wash my hands, after which I exit, disappointed in my lack of entertainment.
But wait.
One of those girls left a pink lip gloss in the shade Dirty Trollop.
I only know one girl who's stuck in 2020, and still wears this shade.
Tiana--my bestfriend.
Present Time, Kara's House
Kaylynn, the girl in the fuzzy slippers, had no idea what to do with this information. Of course she knew who the rumor was about: Tiana only had three true bestfriends. Herself, of course, her girlfriend Lisa, and Kara. Kara was the only one of the three with a boyfriend: Jack Thompson.
She knew Tiana was a huge gossip, but she never thought she'd go as far as throwing her real friends--from before high school--under the bus.
What if Kara believed Tiana over her? Or what if she blamed Kaylynn for keeping the secret for so long?
There were endless possibilities, but she had to tell someone, so--
Yesterday, Kaylynn's House
Kaylynn paces back and forth, as she ponders whether to tell, or not to tell. At least the burden would be off her chest... but then it'd be on her girlfriend's, which she didn't want. But she also didn't want to have the information she had on her own.
It has been over 6 months since the rumor incident, and she couldn't go a day without thinking of what a bad friend she was.
But to be fair, she hadn't been sure if Tiana was the one who took the picture.
She heard her voice in that bathroom, but Tiana's voice sounds like a lot of the bitchy wannabes at their school. Also, anyone could wear Dirty Trollop.
"Hey K", Lisa waves, "why are you running back and forth like a mouse?".
Kaylynn looks down to find the room is spinning. She was pacing so vigorously that she got dizzy.
"I-I know who spread that rumor about Kara last year", she blurted out.
Lisa looks up at her girlfriend with utter surprise.
"Who?", she asks, suddenly interested.
Kaylynn thinks, Shit! Now I have to tell her.
"Tiana did", she whispers, hiding behind her black sleek locks.
"I'm sorry, who?", Lisa looks more serious. She could not have been talking about Tiana—their childhood bestie, right?
Everyone heard about that picture last year. Everyone and their mama. Parents were even gossiping.
Lisa could see Tiana pushing over some cheerleader in hype hallway, maybe scattering his books, or even spread a rumor about someone having an STD, but she could never think Tiana would spread such a vicious rumor about her bestfriend.
"If this is true, you need to tell her", Lisa crosses her arms with authority—out of character for her because she's the quiet one of the three. As with all things, she becomes the epitome of optimism with this. She thought maybe Kaylynn got it wrong.
After hearing the whole bathroom story, she thought it could have been anyone talking about the picture.
"Me?", Kaylynn asks.
"Why do you look so confused?", Lisa asks, "How long have you known about this?".
"Uh... 6 months", she whispers. Suddenly she's the quiet one.
"6 MONTHS?!", Tiana shouts, "and you never told her?", she huffs. "What kind of friend--", she starts.
"First of all, I wasn't even sure if it was Tiana, and... I don't know. I got scared", she rambles. "If I had told her, she probably wouldn't believe me, and it'd cause a rift in our relationship and her relationship with Tiana", she shrugs, defeated.
"Well, you need to tell her now", Lisa shrugs, "She needs to know--even if it's been months since the original incident", she says empathically.
"I-I", Kaylynn stutters.
"You need to tell her", Lisa reaffirms.
Kaylynn tucks her hair behind her ears, feeling stuck in an awkward situation.
"Call her", Lisa speaks up, "right now, call her", she finishes.
"I-It's not the right time. I need to have a one-on-one conversation with her", Kaylynn mutters.
"You've had months!", Lisa shouts. "Whatever, this is ridiculous. You figure out if you want to be a good friend or not, and I'll be at home. Bye", she finishes.
Present Time, Kara's House
"So fuck him, right?", Tiana says, walking back into the main living room. "Right?", she asks whoever's on the other end of the call.
"Tiana", Kaylynn says her name as a warning.
She replies with an index finger. "I'm almost finished", she mouths.
Having had enough, Kaylynn simply stands up, walks over to Tiana, and chucks her phone across the room--all with a smile.
"What the fuck, dude?", Tiana barks. "My phoneeee", she whines as she chases after it.
"I know what you did", Kaylynn replies. She knew she should've told Kara directly--one-on-one--but she'd been furious with Tiana for a while, and after witnessing her blatant disrespect towards Kara last night, she'd had enough.