You - Me = Marjory

     I was walking down the hallway to second period with my best friend, Terry. He was in my last class and we left chatting. Terry had been my best friend since the beginning of middle school. Here we were in high school and there was nothing that I could. My days became brighter when I was with Terry. He was practically the only person who understood me. Maybe because we were basically the same person. And throughout the years we've been friends, I started to like him a little bit. Sadly, he had a girlfriend: a girl who liked herself more than she liked him.
    "So how's Marjory?" I asked Terry. Marjory was his girlfriend's name.
    "She's good," he answered. "I can tell that she's really starting to fall for me."
    "You can? And you're happy with your relationship?"
    "Yeah, it's going well. So yeah."
    I was a bit crushed. But I said in an accepting tone, "That's good. Hey, I was planning to go down to the pastry shop and pick up some sweets. Since two heads are better than one, how bout you come join me?"
    "I can't. Marjory wants me to take her shopping."
    I groaned, loud enough for him to hear.
    "What?" he stopped right in the middle of the hall.
    I stopped as well. "I feel like we don't hang out anymore ever since you started dating Marjory."
    "I'm sorry, Trish, but I really like her. I'm just really occupied with my schedule."
    "Then make more space."
    "Trish, if you were my real friend, you'd understand."
    "I do understand. But what I can't understand is how you can be brainwashed by a girl whose true love is herself."
    "How can you say that? She cares about me as much as she does for herself."
    "Yeah, right."
    "Well, if you think that, maybe we shouldn't hang out anymore."
    "Maybe we shouldn't."
    Terry walked away from me while I just stood there. I couldn't believe that I told him that I didn't want to hang out with him anymore. I watched him walk away until my eyes were blurry from approaching tears. Without Terry, I have nobody. I swore that time slowed down.
    It had been a week ever since I talked to Terry. That was the longest period of time we've ever gone without speaking to each other. One day, I was relaxing at home, sitting on my bed with blue-colored sheets. I went through the pictures I had of Terry and I. I could still remember taking the pictures. We were so happy to have each other. Now he was taking pictures like those with Marjory.
    Later, I heard my cell phone ring. It was laying right in front of me so I immediately picked it up. Terry's name was right on the screen. My heart almost stopped. I answered it and uttered:
    "Hello?"
    "Hi, Trish," his voice responded.
    "Hi, Terry. What's going on?"
    "Marjory dumped me."
    Now my heart was in my ears. "Oh, I'm so sorry."
    "Can you come over?"
    "Sure. Of course."
    "Thanks."
    I hung up and jumped off my bed. I was devastated that Marjory broke up with Terry but at the same time, very happy. I quickly put a blue hoodie and black combat boots over my grey T-shirt and white sweatpants. I left the house, heading to Terry's home. He lived fifteen minutes away from me so it wasn't bother. But I sprinted towards his house, wanting to see him as soon as possible. When I arrived, I knocked on the door and there was Terry was a sad puppy-dog look on his face. He let me and we sat in his kitchen at a table where he was drinking iced tea. We just sat down and chatted like old times.
    "I can't believe she dumped me," he said. "For someone else."
    "I tried to tell you about Marjory," I said.
    "I should've listened. Go on, say it."
    "Say what?"
    "Say that you told me so and you were right."
    "Terry, you've just broken up with a girl you really cared about. The last thing I want to do is to make you feel dumb."
    "Thanks, Trish."
    "But I'll say it. I told you so!"
    Terry burst into laughter, which made me laugh. It was good to him smile. His smile was something he should never lose.
    "I'm sorry for arguing with you last week," Terry sincerely apologized. "You were trying to look out for me and I didn't realize it. I wasn't being a real friend."
    "You don't have to apologize. I wasn't being a real friend. To admit, I was a bit jealous."    
    "Jealous? Why?"
    "I don't know--"
    "Because you missed me?"
    "Terry--"
    "Did you miss me?"
    I chuckled. "Shut up."
    He stretched his arms towards me and began tickling my ribcage. "You missed me, didn't you?" he asked.
    "Stop it!" I begged in a laugh. I tried to keep his hands away from me but it was too hard.
    "Admit you missed me and I'll stop."
    "Okay, I missed you!"
    Finally, he stopped tickling me. "That's better. I missed you, too. You're my best friend and I never stopped wanting to hang out with you. I'm lucky to have you as a friend, Trish."
    "Yeah. Terry, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you. You see, I--"
     Someone knocked on the door, interrupting my confession. They knocked to the rhythm of "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits". Terry got up from his seat.
    "Ugh, it's Marjory," he groaned.
    "How do you know?" I asked.
    "She knocks like that."
    He walked towards the door and opened it. There she was, Marjory, acting all excited to see him.
    "Hey, baby!" he squealed, pulling him into a hug.
    Terry pushed her off. Atta boy. "What do you want, Marjory?" he asked, bothered.
    "I came here to say I'm sorry for dumping you for Brad Wick. After I started going out with him and he took me to the mall, I realized that the money in his wallet wasn't the size of my heart. But your money was, Terry. And to me, that means something. It's like a sign!"
    "No, it's not, Marjory. I liked you and all you ever really cared about was yourself."
    "That's not true! Of course, I have to make sure every part of me was perfected so you could have a hot girlfriend."
    "I was never concerned with your looks. I wanted someone to talk to. Someone with a heart. And you're obviously not that someone."
    "Come on, Terry. I know you want me. Don't you miss this?"
    Marjory wrapped her arms around Terry's neck and began kissing him. It seemed really deep and sloppy. It was hard for me to watch. When she let go, she said:
    "Whatcha think about that?"
    Terry spit out the gum that Marjory passed on into his mouth. "I think that you should go," he responded.
    "Oh, come on, baby. You don't want to do this. I'm the best choice you've ever made."
    Terry was never going to get that brat out of the house. He wasn't assertive enough and she was too sassy. I had to jump in. I got up from my chair and walked over to Terry. When I was by his side, I let my deepest feelings take over.
    "What do you think you're doing?" I questioned fiercely. "Quit touching my boyfriend."
    "Boyfriend?" Marjory raised her eyebrow.
    Terry looked at me. "Boyfriend?"
    "That's right," I said, putting my arm around my best friend. "You heard me. Get your paws off of my boyfriend or I'll beat you."
    "Terry, you can't be seriously dating this... walking cinnamon stick."
    I gasped. Hurtful.
    "Don't talk to my girlfriend that way," Terry played along. "You moved on so I moved on. Trish is a very beautiful girl and I'm never letting go of her."
    I smiled. He never called me beautiful before.
    "Terry, come on," Marjory giggled. "Look at me and look at her. If she was really your girlfriend, you would be all over each other."
    Terry said, "We don't need to prove any--"
    I cut him off with a kiss. I wasn't thinking; I just did. I felt like I had to so Marjory could go away. But I've been wanting to kiss for a real long time. It was sudden; my lips just collided with his. And it was as amazing as I thought it would be.
    I didn't want to kiss him too long so eventually I moved away. Terry and I were just looking at each other with shocked looks on our faces. We looked at Marjory whose mouth was wide open.
    "Wow, I guess you guys really are a couple," she said. "Maybe I should try to get back together with Brad."    
    "You go do that," I smiled. "Buh-bye."
    I pushed Marjory, more than gently, out of the open door. I slammed the door because I knew that was going to be the last time I see her which felt good.
    "That was awesome!" Terry grinned. "The look on her face -- priceless! She really thought we were nuts for each other."
    "Yeah, awesome," I said with little enthusiasm.
    "What's wrong?"
    "Terry, we need to talk."
    I walked up the stairs and sat down the third step from the floor. I patted the space on the step, gesturing Terry to sit next to me. And so he did.
    I sighed, ready to tell him everything. Scared, I spoke as rapidly as I could. "Terry, we've known each other for a long time. And we're really good friends. Best friends. But every day, we hang out, I get all these types of thoughts and they fluster me. And I don't want to sound weird because you don't probably think this. But I--"
    Terry interrupted me by pressing his lips on mine. Slowly, he pulled away and we looked at each other. He was smiling and I was blushing.
    "Why did you do that?" I asked softly.
    "Because I've always wanted to kiss you first," he confessed.
    "You have?"
    "Yeah, I had a crush on you forever. Ever since I met you, I was crazy about you. I've always wanted to tell you but I thought you only liked me as a friend."
    "Terry, I like you. Way more than a friend. But why were you so depressed when Marjory broke up with you?"
    "I wasn't really depressed. I just wanted you next to me. I wanted to know I can still rely on you."
    "So you didn't like Marjory?"
    "I thought I would but we had nothing in common. Plus, I only dated her to make you jealous."
    "Well, it worked. Then why did we have that fight last week?"
    "Because I thought fighting with you would help confess your real feelings for me. But it backfired and I'm really sorry I made you feel neglected. I was only trying to see if you liked me the way I liked you."
    "Terry, I've been waiting to hear you say that for that for the last four years."
    "Well, you know me more than any other human being on Earth. I was so afraid of ruining this friendship but you've waited as long as I did and that's amazing."
    I smiled like a kid in a candy store. "Aw, Terry. That's sweet to hear. Besides, Marjory was not your type."
    Terry chuckled. "I know. But you are."
    I giggled which made him laugh even more. Then he grabbed my face and began pecking my lips, sending electricity all over my body which felt really good.