Page 247 of Something Rad
“What?” Alice rears back. “Sara, no. That’s not what I’m saying at all.”
“Then what is it?” I demand. “Because, I swear, Alice, I’m starting to feel like I’ll never make you happy.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” she questions me.
I blow out a frustrated breath. “At the beginning of this year, you wanted things to be different, for me to be pushed outside of my comfort zone. Well, I did that. I ran for president. I got with Robbie. But, after the dust settled on that situation, once I was actually with Robbie, you were certainly lightning fast about running to me when you saw a chance for us to break up–”
“Sara, are you serious–”
“So, we break up,” I continue. “But then, you start telling me I’m notglowinganymore. So you force me to go out, which results in me and Robbie getting back together and me being the happiest I’ve been in a long time. And now, you think I’ve changed? Now, you’re still not happy with me?”
Alice shakes her head. “Sara–”
“So what is it, Alice? Because I don’t understand what you want from me. I mean, is it just so unbelievably shocking to you that I’m actually with someone? That you’re not the only one with a boyfriend now? That you’re not the only person I have?”
“What’s unbelievably shocking to me is how much of a bitch you’re being right now,” Alice growls.
I stiffen, my mouth falling open.
Alice ducks her head to speak to me. “Sara, I don’t even know where this is coming from,” she whisper-shouts. “I was so happy for you when you first got with Robbie. Hell, I encouraged it, maybe even instigated it. And I was more than supportive of you two getting back together. Robbie is not my issue.Youare. Becauseyou’remy best friend. And you have been since we were in kindergarten. So don’t try to act like I don’t know you. And like I wouldn’t obviously know when something in you has shifted. I’m just looking out for you because I know how hard you’ve worked to get to where you are.”
I shake my head. “I missed one homework assignment and made one B- on a test. It’s perfectly normal.”
“Not for you,” Alice says.
We stare off for a few moments before Alice leans closer, speaking again. “When’s the last time you even wrote in your journal?”
I open my mouth to respond, but the school bell ringing cuts me off.
Alice pushes her desk back to its original spot, standing up and gathering her things. I robotically grab my things as well, and, once I get to my feet, I find her standing right in front of me.
“I love you, Sara,” she says. “All I’ve ever wanted was to see you happy, to see you glow. But you can have a new flame without putting out the rest of your fires. They took a long time to build and a whole lot of energy for you to maintain. I’d just hate to see them smolder for nothing. Just…be careful.”
And, with that, Alice walks out of the classroom, leaving me standing there slack-jawed and sick to my stomach.
It’s not until Mr. Norman calls my name to let me know I’m the last person still in the classroom that I turn on my heel, making my way out and into the hallway. I feel like I’m in a fuzzy haze, operating on auto-pilot as my feet automatically drag me to the entrance of the boys’ locker room.
“There she is!” a familiar voice calls.
I don’t have time to even look up before Robbie is scooping me up into his arms, pressing my back against the hallway wall and kissing me hard. My eyes fall shut, everything from the last fifteen minutes slowly melting away as I feel Robbie’s lips on mine. It’s like I’m a toy that he’s pressed the reset button on to return me to my factory settings. And when my arms wrap around his neck, it’s like everything is back to normal, totally right in the world.
“Hey,” Robbie says as he sets me back down on my feet.
“Hi there,” I reply.
The grin on Robbie’s face twitches, his brows pulling together. “You good?” he asks.
I press my lips together, nodding. “I am now.”
“Great,” he smirks, kissing me again. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I’m always here,” I chuckle.
“Well, I’m especially glad today,” Robbie says, grabbing my hand and dragging me a few feet down the hallway away from the locker room door. “Because I have a brilliant idea.”
“And what’s that?”
“We skip.”
