Of Friendship and Love P2

A teenage girl trying to be the best version of herself with difficult choices to make.

I should head home. I’ve lost count of the trains that have come and gone since Melanie said goodbye. It seems I am now the only Brady High student left to be found after everyone else has been whisked away by the heavily populated carriages that arrive and depart every twenty minutes at this time of the afternoon.
No more laughter, no more yelling across the tracks to friends as they wait for their trains to come. No more last minute pashes exchanged among the latest of couples until tomorrow, where they will grab at each other like the night apart has drained them of their very life.

It’s been a long day, albeit an enlightening one. A day without Ali. A day of peace, normalcy, and lightheartedness that I have not experienced in the longest time. A day spent not having to defend her against the hate and cruel vitriol. If only every day could be this way.

Mel is right; things need to change. I need to grow a spine and stand up for myself, but it’s not as easy as it seems. Melanie doesn’t know about Ali’s home life, and I promised never to tell a soul. Secrets I have kept for so long, seeming since the beginning of time. I would never betray Ali’s trust. I would never put Ali and her mother in that kind of danger.

With a groan that is laden with teen angst, I peel myself from the train station bench; sling my backpack onto my shoulder and head towards home.

I should have missed Ali today. Normally, I would look forward to meeting her at our usual place tomorrow by the school's front gate to catch her up on all of today’s gossip. But the thought only fills my stomach with heaviness and, if I’m honest, sadness. What the hell am I going to do? How do I tell my best friend I need a break, that I need to spend time with people other than her? She will crumble. I am her one and only friend. If she suffers at school now, with me by her side, how much harder will it be on her own? I can’t do it to her; I can’t abandon her that way. But I don’t know how much more I can take.

The afternoon is warm, and with my backpack heavy with tonight’s homework and unfinished assignments, I soon start to sweat and feel uncomfortable. The walk home is not a long one, thankfully, and Mum is always on hand to pick me up. But if I let her do that, I would miss out on my one chance in the day to spend time with Melanie and the gang. And I need that time. Desperately.

I round the corner of our street and stop to pat Charlie, the scruffy crossbreed on the corner, who eagerly awaits his afternoon attention with a wildly thumping tail and a grin from ear to ear. He never fails to greet me and always puts a smile on my face and dog slobber all over my hands. And seeing as this is as close to having my own dog as I’m ever going to get, I soak it all up.

As I near our gate, I glance up to see Mum speaking with someone at our front door.
Probably one of those annoying Avon ladies trying to sell their latest beauty products that cost a bomb and smell like crap.
Closing the front gate and heading towards the stairs, I hear a male voice and frown. Must not be an Avon lady then, unless they now employ men to sell their lipsticks and makeup.

I place my foot upon the bottom step and chance a glance towards the visitor on our porch. I stop short. My breath catches in my chest, and my heart pounds like a bass drum being pummelled within an inch of its life. I feel slightly unsteady but put it down to the heat of the afternoon. It cannot possibly be. I must be dreaming. What the hell is going on?

“Hi hun,” Mum says happily, as my world is imploding all around me. “You have a visitor.”