The summer we turned thirteen (Published)

Chapter ten: Growing up

Harlee

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"Kiss Harlee," Farrah commanded James, causing the tension in the room to rise even more.

I could not believe that she had just said that.

I didn't know how to handle what was happening right then.

After everyone had come out of the pool and off the water slide, Farrah led everyone inside to play some party games.

Little did I know, party games meant Spin the Bottle.

Not wanting to be a bad friend, I chose to stay. Spin the Bottle didn't make me nervous or excited like it seemed to make everyone else. I simply planned to give a peck on the cheek to anyone I was supposed to kiss and let it be over with. If anyone called me a wimp for that, so be it. I wasn't going to throw my first kiss away on some medieval party game, no matter who pressured me to.

Not even Farrah.

Sadly, my way of thinking was mine and mine alone.

It seemed most everyone else either wanted to make out or make a run for it. Some people left the party while some chose to stay and play the game. I could tell by the anxiousness in James' amber eyes that he didn't want to be here. But the peer pressure was too much for him to run off.

Since he had been the last person standing after Farrah instructed us to sit down, Farrah had chosen to have him spin the bottle first. It landed on Hyland, but James refused to kiss her. He said he didn't want to kiss someone that he hardly knew. This filled me with relief that he wasn't going to throw his first kiss away so easily, either.

But when Farrah used his refusal to kiss Hyland as an opportunity to tell him to kiss me, I was shocked, hurt, and mortified.

How could she humiliate me like that?

Why couldn't people understand that James and I were only friends?

We weren't even that anymore, so I didn't understand what she thought she was accomplishing here.

But that wasn't even the worst of it.

Neither was the chanting that Amy started by calling James and me "Jarlee," our assigned ship name from sixth grade.

The worst part was James' response to everything.

The words he said were unforgettable but in the worst way.

"I'd never kiss Harlee! I don't even like her, okay??" he shouted.

No one said anything after that.

His eyes and mine were locked when he said it.

I tried not to let my hurt show, but I couldn't muster the strength.

My best friend had just admitted to hating me in front of what felt like the entire world.

Before I could be humiliated anymore, I raced out the back door.

Hot tears fell down my cheeks and splashed onto my white blouse. I put a hand over my mouth, trying to stop crying but I just couldn't. I wasn't just crying because of James, though. I was crying because it hurt to have two friends betray me in less than five minutes. And because of how much it hurt to be the girl everyone saw as strong and not even be strong enough to handle growing up.

And worst of all, it hurt to realize everything was different and that things would never be the same again.

The sound of the back door opening behind me was enough to get me to stop crying.