The Equivocators

Chapter 6: Happy Accidents (Janelle)

"Well what else would he be interested in then? We "met" them at a summer camp not the fricken Olympics okay!" My fingers slam down on the backspace button, deleting what little I managed to come up with about my supposed boyfriend. All I had so far was a name and a picture.

"Try like skateboarding or something! Something the two of you could actually bond over." Sadie has placed herself on the ground with her back against Sky's bed, her usual spot. Hadley is laying beside me on the bean bag in the center of the room while Sky is typing away on her bed. She of course has already finished her profile, managing to quickly create the man of her dreams in just a few minutes, something I didn't even think possible. "You have to make it realistic or it won't matter how much we lie, they'll figure it out in seconds." Although I'm not a professional skateboarder, the thought of dating someone who enjoys going on rides and hanging out does in fact sound intriguing. Typing in a quick line about getting back on the board when you've fallen off, and I find myself with a profile worthy of publishing.

"We will be lucky if they don't figure it out in seconds even if these boys actually existed in real life. It's Bella and her garden hoes, we are talking about here. They literally only exist to destroy us." Hadley says, not even bothering to look up from her screen to see Sky's annoyed face from her bed.

"Listen, we made a mistake and I think we all understand that." My computer freezes a little as I attempt to once again type up some kind of bio that seems not only realistic but intriguing as well. "Aren't you guys tired though?" Sky's voice hitches as she stands up off her bed, carefully avoiding Sadie and her mess of paperwork for the daycare that she starts back at tomorrow. She moves carefully over to her desk, putting her laptop away and leaning against the edge facing the far wall.

"Tired of what?" All three of us are looking at her waiting for her response, not entirely sure what it is she's talking about. Hadley has shifted to sit up further, causing me to sink further into the beanbag, something we usually laugh about, but the energy in the room isn't a fun one at the minute.

"Just all of it." She lets out a breath and I can hear her voice shaking just a bit. She takes a deep breath, turning to look at the far wall where her balcony door is, before facing us all once more. "We've spent the past 8 years being the ones in the shadows. We never spoke up, never went after what we really wanted, we never even-" Sky takes another deep breath closing her eyes tightly, before opening them and looking at the ceiling, where we placed the glow in the dark stars so many years ago. "Do you remember when we hung those up? All those years ago? How we each made a wish on our own star... what did you guys wish for?"

"It was so long ago, I don't think I could remember even if I tried." Sadie responds, looking up at the stars too. Sky moves to the door, flicking the switch, so that the room goes completely dark, it takes a few seconds, but sure enough the ceiling begins to glow.

"I've had the same wish for every star I've ever wished upon, for every 11:11, every eyelash, every lucky penny; the same exact wish. All I've ever wanted was for us to be seen, to be heard, to be more than just us." The lights flick back on and Sky looks over to us on the bean bag, before looking at Sadie. "I'm done wishing. I'm done hoping that something will change my life for me. I messed up and made a mistake when I stood up to Bella, but you guys all made the choice to stand with me on it, now I have an idea that I think will work. It's gonna take some work but if we plan it out enough, we may just pull this off."

     Hadley looks at Sky and back down to her phone taking a deep breath before pressing confirm. Her phone screen goes black and then opens up a new page, with the newly made profile that she has spent the last hour working on. She looks over to my screen, and then shifts her eyes back to Sky, I follow the same path and see that both Sky and Sadie are looking at me.