You did it

DAY 1

Dear Diary,

Today was horrible. My friends aren’t really my friends anymore. Luna left me to go visit her friends that have things to share with her: little fancy cheesecakes, designer pens, and their bunnies. Bunnies. Luna will do anything for bunnies. After English, Kaylie completely ditched me, going off with her cousins to the mall to buy who knows what. Probably purses. Raven, being the most similar to me, decided to morph into a different person. She and I were all like, “Yes, we like darkness, grunge, black, all that good stuff.” But now she goes off to school wearing the brightest yellow hoodie in my entire life. She's the human version of a highlighter. Let’s hope tomorrow that all my friends come back to their senses, and come back from wherever they went to.

DAY 2

Dear Diary,

They did not come back to their senses. I spent the whole afternoon by myself in Science, having no idea what the 43rd element of the Periodic Table was. Raven normally helped me since she was the best at science, but while she was off wearing the most hideous orange sneakers to her swim practice, I was stu(dying) in the miserable classroom all by myself while listening to Billie Eilish or The Beatles or some other indie/rock music. Our school decided to give us 3 tests on one day, and that Science one had counted for 45% of our grade.

Probably meant that I flunked Science.

DAY 3

Dear Diary,

This is gonna be a long one.

So.

Today Raven finally came up to me and said, “If you don’t step out of your comfort zone Layla, you’re not gonna get anywhere.” Then she walked off in her hot pink high heels. I can perfectly go to McDonald’s in my car and I don’t even have to get out of the car, if that’s what she means.  

But I know it’s not.

When I get home from school, my room isn’t exactly cheerful. It has dark grey walls, with grunge posters up on the wall, and my bed is the best bit. It’s black, with tiny little stars on the blanket, and the pillows say The sky’s the limit. I know, it’s a bit cheesy, but still comforting in a weird way. I’m laying down on it right now, having a blast.

All by myself.

In my black room.

Maybe Raven’s right.

DAY 4

Dear Diary,

I listened to Raven. Kind of. I joined, wait for it...A CLUB! For all normal students, this is boring news, but for me, it’s a miracle. Someone that listens to The Beatles while in a black room isn’t exactly friendly, but I joined the D&D club. You get to roleplay, and best of all, see who's the winner and who's the loser. I’m normally the loser, but that’s because I’m a pure noob at the game. It’s like asking a tennis player to go and join the national hockey team. Well, that might be a tad dramatic, but still.

I’m listening to Raven.

DAY 5

Dear Diary,

So.

Luna talked to me a bit today since we’re both in D&D. After the meeting was over, she said in the hallway, “Layla, sorry for ignoring the past few days. It’s just...Makenzie had a new bunny and it was white and so cute and then Jade has these cheesecakes that were so good and--”

I stopped her from continued because one, I didn’t want to get too jealous, and two, Luna can run on for a while without breathing.

“It’s okay. I need to study for Math, wanna come over?” I asked her.

Luna nodded her head and ran up the stairs to get her stuff.

Luna just left my house, so that’s how I’m writing this. Luna can help me (I think) on getting back together with Kaylie and Raven.

At least someone has come back to their senses.

DAY 6

Dear Diary,

Just got back from a walk with Kaylie.

You might be asking,

How did you and Kaylie became friends again?

Quite an interesting story, actually.

I was getting my stuff from my locker to go to History when Kaylie strutted up to me with her designer bag. 

“Hi.”

I looked at her while she was slathering on lip gloss.

“Hi.”

What an elegant conversation.

“So, we went to the mall, and Jasmine saw these earrings and I thought you would like them so…”

She handed me a blue box that said SWAROVSKI on the top.

I smiled and opened the box.

The earrings were black crystal swans cut with precision, with light bouncing off of the corners.

“AAHHH I love these!” I said.

She just smiled and walked away, flipping her hair more confidently.

I’m so tired, gotta go take a shower.

DAY 7

Dear Diary,

Now.

You might be expecting another nice story about how Raven comes along and gives me a gift and everything is fine, but…

Let’s say it like this:

Raven is stubborn.

Kaylie, Luna and I were going over to her after school when she looked free because all she was doing was scrolling on her phone. We walked over to her, but before I could say anything, she looked up and ran away.

Like, who does that?

Anyways, Luna saw that upset a bit, so we got ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery.

Oh no, my chocolate ice cream fell on the page.

Shuffle shuffle

Okay, it’s cleaned up.

DAY 8

Dear Diary,

We tried again with Raven.

Here comes another extravagant story.

Kaylie, Luna and I were in PE, doing dodgeball. I was dodging the balls while Kaylie and Luna were on the bench because they aren’t the best at dodgeball. Surprisingly, Raven was the only one left other than me.

She threw a ball at me, and it skimmed by my ear, just missing me. Raven looked enraged, so she started throwing balls like a machine.

I dodged them all.

At one point, Raven got so mad that she just stormed out of the gym, and the teacher declared me the winner.

When I told Luna and Kaylie the story afterwards, Kaylie thought I made it too dramatic. I think it’s perfectly accurate. Luna didn’t say anything, but she talked to Raven before school ended and came back with a sad look on her face.

I asked her what Raven said, but all Luna said was, “She said...never mind. It’s not important.”

How is that not important?

Sometimes people say it’s not important, but it really. is. important.  

Ugh, my mom’s calling me for dinner, see ya tomorrow!

DAY 9

Dear Diary,

Raven is the most stubborn person in the world.

I got her to talk to me at least.

In the bathroom (I know), she said, “Layla...I’ll tell you why I’ve been ignoring you. I’ve kept you waiting for too long.”

I was surprised, but I said, “Ok.”

Great comeback Layla.

“So... I’ve been ignoring pretty much everyone because I got news that I have to get my hand amputated.”

Second time being surprised that day.

I always knew that Raven had a special condition, but Luna, Kaylie and I never let that separate us. 

“I won’t be able to play basketball, hockey, I’m gonna have to learn to write with my left hand...,” she said, her eyes threatening to let tears fall.

I draped my arms over her and asked, “When is it?”

She pointed at her phone calendar.

Tomorrow.

Why didn’t she tell me sooner?

Why did she keep it from me?

Why--

“You’re getting worried. You have that look on your face,” she said, shutting her phone off.

“Will you come to school tomorrow?” I asked, worried.

“No, I have to rest, but you can visit me after you’re done school,” Raven said.

I just nodded.

Raven suddenly jumped up and said, “Oh, my mom’s coming soon, gotta go!”

She raced out of the bathroom, leaving me alone.

I stared at the tiles of the floor, thinking.

Now I’m clogging my tears with my blanket.

I’ll see Raven tomorrow.

DAY 10

Dear Diary,

I just can’t. 

I just came back from Raven’s house.

Lemme just tell you what happened.

Raven’s mom said that I could come into her room, so I did.

Raven looked the same: black hair, grunge clothing, bright smile.

But this time that smile was tinged with a bit of sadness.

When she brought her hand up to wave to me, she waved a little stub.

I ran over, greeting her, asking how it was.

“It didn’t really hurt when they were doing it, because I was frozen, but right now it hurts a lot,” she said, still smiling.

I can’t believe she can still smile.

Little rivers started flowing down my face, and Raven pulled me in and said, “Aw, don’t cry Layla.”

“You did it, Raven,” I choked out, burying my face in her arms.

“You did it.”