Finding Friendship: Snippet
Sheila was a quiet girl who stayed to herself. No one understood her and her secretive ways but she didn’t need those silly girls to validate her. Who were they to laugh at her when they couldn’t even take a trip to the bathroom without going 10 at a time? Her push to get through high school as quickly and as painlessly as possible was enough to get her past all that froo-froo crap. Sheila remembered the days when she would ride the bus with those same girls that now mocked her. Weren’t they all cool then? What happened now? How did things end up changing so much where they were hardly recognizable as those she knew back in 2nd grade? Sharing one another’s eraser during a hard math problem in class. Or trading lunches with each other in the cafeteria when once again, their parents gave them something that they thought was less than edible. Sheila didn’t know how things got the way they did but that’s how they were. She often thought how funny slight turnings of events can cause differences in everyone and their lives around them.
Was it the fact that Jenna’s mom and dad got a divorce 5 years back that caused Jenna to bully students younger than her present self? How about the fact that Elizabeth was once made fun of for eating a triple scooped ice cream that caused her to have a low self esteem of herself forcing her to make fun of others? Who knows the psychological reasonings of why everyone started playing turncoat and doing their own thing. But Sheila didn’t get why everyone turned their backs against her. Some days she would ponder on her curiosity but the moment would soon after pass. After all they were in high school now did it really matter? Some times she thought yes. At times it was hard focusing on her academics all the time. She wanted to hang out with the girls after school. Not just them but anyone that she could call friend.
Sheila’s parents always said she didn’t need any friends. That she should stop moping around the house and be grateful for the life she had. “Many girls would give up their cliques any day to have grades like yours.” Sheila always followed that stale statement with a sharp eye roll while silently mimicking her mother’s words. “My baby will make something of herself while those silly girls are off figuring out what lipstick goes with what top. Isn’t that right?” Sheila always appeased her mother with a slight lift of the corner of her mouth in order to create a faux smile. She found joy in choosing different sides of the corner of her mouth to lift. Did her mom realize the game she played? That this time it would be the right side to curl? The thought caused her to make an actual smile causing both corners to lift. “Darn it, now I have to start the game all over. I’ll start with the left side next pep talk”, she thought to herself.
That night Sheila finished her homework as usual right before her bedtime with time to spare. She reached under her bed to pull a beauty magazine from her arsenal of others. Her mom and dad would kill her if they found her doing non-curricular activities. She didn’t care. She liked to indulge in the world of glosses and shadows intermingled with potentially ankle breaking platforms combined with pleated designs. She was a girl and liked girly like things. No matter how high she tried put up the wall between her and such things, she had to admit she liked them. As her eyes begin crossing while taking in the latest smoky-eye-how-to article she dosed off with thoughts, later turned dreams, of her wearing the latest trend with matching accessories. As morning came Sheila found herself curled up to her froo-froo mag and hurriedly put it back between her mattress with the rest. Ready to not start the day she got dressed for school, ate breakfast and headed out the door. “Honey, you want me to drive you to school?”, her mom asked. “No thanks, I’ll walk.”, Sheila replied. “Okay, be careful.”
Sheila liked walking to school sometime. It gave her time to be alone with her thoughts. “Hey! How are you today?” Sheila heard a voice that wasn’t her own come from across the street. She slowly turned her head toward where the sound came from and saw a peculiar looking girl waving at her while jogging toward her. She had never seen her before and was thrown off by the flailing gesture. She turned around to see if someone was behind her that this fresh face was actually looking at. Then she felt like a dork because looking back was a dumb move to make. It didn’t really show that she was a “cool” kid. Who was she kidding, she wasn’t. “Are you talking to me?”, Sheila asked. “Yeah.” The new girl said assuredly. “Hi, my name’s Carmen.” She said as she approached closer to Sheila, hand out, waiting to receive a shake. Sheila reluctantly shook her hand, all the while curiously staring at Carmen with one brow lifted. Although Carmen appeared peculiarly out of the blue Sheila found out during their walk to school that Carmen was new to the neighborhood and was more than appreciative to have someone to walk with. She had been to school the day before and found some of the girls to be a bit uppity. Sheila more than understood that. Their 25 minute walk to school felt like 2. They seemed to have so much in common, yet shared so many differences but in a refreshingly good way. Could it be that Carmen could possibly end up being someone that Sheila could call friend? She sure had hoped so.
These little snippets are not complete stories but an interjection into another's world. Just enough of something to take you someplace else for a brief moment. Feel free to let me know how you think the story should end if it is left open. Let me know if you enjoy these. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
