Side Character Energy

They wouldn’t shut up. My two best friends, Emily and Caroline, were standing in the hallway in front of our lockers, relentlessly arguing about who gets the right to go to prom with Jonah.

I should have known it would come to this. One, their arguments were an everyday occurrence, and it’s not like they hadn’t fought over dating rights before. And two, Jonah was the new kid and their mysterious demeanor, leather jacket, and converse with pink and yellow shoelaces had had the girls in a chokehold since the semester started.

"Hey now, why don’t we take a breather?" I piped up.

"You aren’t even listening to me!" Emily sputtered.

"I don’t know why you think you’re the better choice for them." Caroline snorted back.

My small peace offering went unnoticed. I checked my watch. We had four more minutes before Calculus. I sighed heavily to see if that would interrupt their constant flow of words.

"Take a look at these texts between us, and honestly tell me you don't see the chemistry!" Emily flung her phone in front of Caroline’s face.

"They asked you for the answers to the Calc homework! That’s hardly a love connection!" Caroline stomped her foot, absolutely refusing to budge.

I wish I could say this was unusual behavior for them, but it was not. My two best friends were always at odds with one another. Where it was good grades, Friday night dates, or a spelling bee, there was always a competition at hand. Neither of them shied away from the spotlight. Honestly, I think they relied on one another as motivation. I think after school is done; they’ll be thanking the other one for their hard-fought competition.

As for me? Well, I was just happy to be included at all. Who needs everyone’s eyes on them anyway? I don't mind being out of sight. I am more than comfortable remaining in the background.   

I did think back though to how last week, my mom asked if I intended to stay friends with Caroline and Emily after we went to college. I was kind of shocked by her question. I know that plenty of high school friends don't stay close once they go away to college. But, I couldn't imagine that my life would be that different that we wouldn't remain friends. My mom said she suspected I acted like the side character in my friends’ stories, and she warned me I was missing out on making choices for myself. It wasn’t like I completely disagreed with her. I pretty much just go along with whatever the girls want to do. I only did the school play because Caroline was the lead—I organized props while on stage crew thank you very much. But then my mom brought up how I only ran track because Emily was a beast at running hurdles. She tried to let me down gently with my constant finishing last but… let’s be honest, my short legs were not made for running hurdles. I didn’t know how to respond to my mom at the time. Honestly, it’s easier to go along with what others are interested in. That way, I never have to make any difficult choices. And what if I make the wrong choice? There’s no point in rocking the boat or making a fuss out of every decision. I also enjoy being around Caroline and Emily. No one could ever accuse them of being boring. Plus, they're always kind to include me in everything.

"So, what do you think?!" Oh no. My two best friends were looking at me like they were expecting me to say something.    

"Yeah, tell us. Who do you think is a better choice for Jonah?" Emily demanded.  

Oh no, please don’t ask me that.

"Be totally honest. She needs to hear the truth." Caroline said.

I tried not to hyperventilate. "Oh, I don’t know… whatever you two think is best." I lightly offered.  

"Jeeze, don’t you have an opinion about anything?" Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Caroline! That’s rude." Emily fought back.

"Whatever. I’m just going to ask them first anyway."

"So, you want to be a dead man?" Emily's eyes went red.

Maybe, there is too much drama. Maybe, my mom was right. Maybe, I needed to take a different step, one away from this fight before it got ugly. But, I don’t need to be overly dramatic. This is what friends do, right? They get into fights.

"Can you guys hold off on spilling blood for a sec? I need to grab my textbook before class." I could feel their eyes on each other ready to pounce. I turned to open my locker as fast as I could, but I was certain I was going too slow for them.

Suddenly, a small piece of paper fell out. I didn’t recognize it as it definitely wasn’t one of my own. It was covered in drawings of flowers and skateboards and folded in half.  

"Whose is that?" Caroline pointed to the piece of paper. Even she knew I never doodled mindlessly on my papers.

"Let me take a look at it." Emily requested.

I don’t know what came over me, but I bent over as quickly as I could and picked it up. I fingered the edges, confused and intrigued by the foreign drawings.

"Yeah, hand it over." Caroline’s hand was outstretched.

"It says my name on it," I said back.

I slowly opened the fold and read its secret message:

"Nina, will you do me the honor of being my date to prom? <3 Jonah."

I couldn’t believe it. My eyes went wide as I read it over thrice. My friends, impatient, flanked either side of me and read over the message. For once in their lives, they stayed silent. They had nothing to say.

Jonah, in their white t-shirt and pink leather jacket, suddenly appeared around the corner. Their eyes were on me.

"So?" They tepidly asked. "What do you say?"

"Yes." The words flew right out of my mouth like I had no control over them at all.  “One hundred percent yes.”