Peacefully

"Fuck this!" I think to myself. "I'm going to go home." I pull out my phone, ready to call Mum but my phone's dead. Just my luck.

I walk up to Todd and Ari who are also clearly moments away from making out. Hey Todd, Can I borrow your phone for a quick call. My phones dead, he looks a little confused for a split second but wanting to go back to Ari he just gives it quickly.

I walk a few steps away holding his unlocked phone and the intrusive thought pops to my mind. What did Maisie say to have people treating my like the plague.

I opened up messages, and there it is the group chat without me. The most recent message are all messages of support, "Whatever you want" from Tess, "We'll help you avoid him" from Ari an "Of course babe, we're here for you" from Brad, each of them sending their own message to show support.

Finally a message from Maisie, saying "I said I don't want to talk about it"

I keep scrolling up looking for another message from Maisie, and there it is. "Hey guys, I don't want to make this a big thing and I don't want to talk about it but I'm really uncomfortable around Scott after some something he did. I don't want to see him and I'd appreciate it if you helped me keep my distance from him."

Most messages below were from the girls asking what happened, but then most surprisingly there was Marks message "Are you sure? Was it an accident? Scott wouldn't hurt a fly" followed by Brads message "Yeah, he's weird but genuinely a good dude, he doesn't have the heart to hurt anyone" and there it was my 8th grade bullies, defending me...

Fuck Maisie! I think to myself, she uses me to get what she wants and then paints me as the bad guy. Then an idea hits me, I start scrolling through the contacts frantically, there it is, Maisie and Maisie New. Thank you Todd for your stupidly simple contact labels.

I call her adrenaline running through my veins, not sure what I'm going to say, and by some miracle she picks up and says "Not a great time Todd, is everything alright"

I'm breathing heavily, there she was, on the other side.

"Todd, are you alright, are the others alright?"

I had to think quickly, "Maisie don't hang up"

She shouts "WHAT!" with panic in her voice, not realising until now it was me on the line, she's talking quickly something about not having done anything too bad yet I heard the word fix but im not paying attention. For the first time in years I see her in less than a perfect light and i think back to when I did see her as perfect. An amazing friend, who was kind to everyone, optimistic, enthusiastic and hard working.

She's still going off at the other end. "Maisie be quiet" I said and immediately, she's silenced.

I pause for a second, for the first time in a long time I feel like I have power. I still don't want to **** it or her, but If i was honest with myself, it felt good. "Maisie, when you wake up, you will revert back to how you were, nobody will notices the changes." and I hang up.

I delete the call from Todd's history, walk passed Todd who had his hands all over Ari's body and his tongue down her through, put the phone next to him and go for a walk on the beach.

The walk is amazing, the ocean breeze hitting my face, the sound of the waves and the the weight of the world, off my shoulders. I walk for what feels like hours, past other spring breakers until I find myself at the far end of the beach. I sit on the soft sand, watching the stars until I fall asleep.

I am free