A Change of Heart

"I need to shower, I smell like prom and desperation."

Roni pov-

"Answer me, or we're through." Joselyn repeated the message George sent to me. My hands were shaking slightly, I push my strawberry pancakes away from me. I could've vomited.

"I don't know what to say." I tell her, biting the fake nails I had on. Joselyn grabs my shaking hands. "Look at me." She declares, I look into her eyes, feeling like I could cry. "We've both had a very good night. We danced, bowled, and are eating ihop. We went to our senior prom, which will be the last thing we do before graduation. Then, we will be heading to Nashville. Please, don't let this ruin our night, just deal with him in the morning okay? You can't let this kill you." She tells me, I nod. "You're right. Okay, I'll eat and we'll go back to my house to sleep. We will deal with this in the morning." I repeat, mostly to calm myself down.

I bring my food back towards me, biting into it slowly. She stares at me to make sure I'm okay before she begins eating again. We carry on talking about how we need to go to Nashville this weekend to take the rest of our clothes, then shop for furniture.

"Are we thinking like cloth or leather couch?" She asks, I shrug. "I don't know! I've never couch shopped before." I tell her. "Well, leather couches are nice because of stain proof. However, they begin to tear and strip away on the top layer. Cloth is just like very noticeable when there's stains. It's a lose-lose." She spiels, I just look at her blankly. "Okay, Ms. IKEA." I joke, she rolls her eyes.

"I say that whatever is cheapest will work." She utters, I nod in agreement. "So, are we thinking like one big couch or a loveseat?" I ask her, she shrugs as she eats her waffle. "I think we need to visualize when we get there. However, I think a loveseat and 2 armchairs would really bring out the space in our apartment. Plus, it'd be a lot cheaper." She pronounces.

"I really just want to know if you look at ikea books for fun?" I ask, she chuckles. "Nah, I just watch remodeling shows with my mom." She tells me. "I like your idea though, but I think we need a beanbag chair." I proclaim. "Definitely." She agrees.

"Do you wish that you could ever just take back something stupid that you did?" I ask, the mood changing again. "Veronica." She warns, I put my head down. "I'm being serious. I shouldn't of said yes to Matty, you even warned me. I just wish I never did it, I hate when George is mad at me." I groan.

"Roni, you even said that you're allowed to have guy friends. You can't beat yourself up, you need to lighten up. George is overreacting over this, he needs to learn the promise you two made." She says, I nod. "I feel like an idiot." I mumble, she moves from her booth to mine. She wraps her arms around me, I feel tears start to spill from my eyes. "I'm going to get makeup on your pretty dress." I sniffle. "Good thing we have dry cleaners and I'm selling it." She says, running her hand across my back soothingly.

"How did I get such a great best friend?" I ask, she smiles when I pull away. "What can I say? I'm great." She smiles. "Shut up." I say, pushing her out of my booth. She goes back to her side and finishes her waffle. "To answer your question, yes I do regret tons of shit. As the great Rafiki says, 'the past, you can either run from it or learn from it.' We just have to move on and find out why we experienced it." She tells me, I cackle. "Did you just quote The Lion King?" I ask, she smirks.

"Did it help?" She asks, I nod. "It helped a little." I say. "Then yes, I quoted The Lion King." She laughs, I shake my head. "I'm tired." I state, she pulls her wallet onto the table. "Me too." She says, pulling out her credit card. I grab mine too, walking to the counter. "How was it?" The waitress asks, we both say it was great.

—

"I have 23 bobby-pins in my hair." Joselyn states, throwing them on my cabinet. "I have 16." I tell her, putting them beside hers. "I could pass the fuck out right here." She says while sitting on my makeup chair. She takes off her makeup, sighing loudly. I do the same, throwing my makeup wipe in the trash can.