Inseparable

    We were always close. 

    We always had our backs, and we never talked about each other behind our backs. We were loyal to each other, and took the blame for each other. We helped each other and stood up for each other. 

    We were inseparable. 

***

    “Oh dear, oh dear. I’m worried I’m going to fail this test!” Olive exclaimed, pushing her glasses up her nose. Her glasses were too big for her, but her mom claimed that she would grow into them. Olive was the nerd, the smart one, the one who studies, the one who worries, and the one who aces every test. 

    “You know you’re not going to fail.” Kelsie assured. Kelsie, the medic, the therapist, the soft voice piece of the group. 

    “I didn’t even study!” Marissa exclaimed. Marissa, the trouble-maker, the clown, the one who procrastinates on everything, the source of our laughter. 

    And me, plain old me. I was the artistic and creative one. The one who helped them with art. Nothing was special about me, but my friends beg to differ. 

    It was a normal day in Vermont. Little drifts of snow were falling from the sky, yet, the air had a slight warmth to it. Like a slight warmth that wrapped it’s arms around you to keep you warm. 

    “But Kelsie, you know Social Studies is my worst subject! What if I fail the vocabulary? What if I don’t remember anything I read from he book when it asks an essay question? What if I forgot how to write and essay? What if I forget how to write? What if I-”

    “Olive!” Marissa barked loudly. 

    “What?” Olive looked startled, and blinked. “Yes, Marissa?”

    “There is absolutely no need to worry about this test! I assure you that you will pass.” Marissia claimed, giving Olive a pat on the back.

    “Yes, Olive. According to my research, if you think you will fail a test, you probably will. But we all know that you will pass, just believe, Olive, believe.” Kelsie murmured in her quiet comforting voice.

    As you can see, we were perfect for each other. As said before, we had each other's backs. But little did I know, after history when we would go back to our homeroom, I would find a little surprise awaiting me. 

***

    The first thing I noticed about our homeroom was that there was a new girl, quite pale looking, standing directly next to Mr. Switzwingler. Her eyes were set a few inches apart, and her nose had a sharp edge to it. She looked like she was wearing blush and quite a bit of eye liner. Truth, her makeup skills were pretty good. She made it look really natural and it blended in perfectly. 

    “Who’s that?” I whispered to Marissa who was next to me. 

    “Dunno, by the looks of it a new student, or maybe Mr. Switzwingler’s daughter.”

    “Mr. Switzwingler never had a daughter.” I protested. 

    “Settle down! Settle down!” Mr. Switzwingler announced, taking a step forward to address the class. “As you may have noticed, we have a new student.” Mr. Switzwingler straightened his navy blue tuxedo and brown-circle glasses. “Please, introduce yourself.” The pale girl gave a nod and stepped forward. 

    “Hi y’all! Name’s Beatrix, call me Trix or Trixi. I’m happy to be here, y’know. Hope to know y’all!” Beatrix grinned, and winked. 

    As the lesson continued on, Trixi answered any questions the teacher had, and raised her hand before Mr. S witzwingler had a chance to blink. 

    “It started in 700 BC.” 

    “Ended in 1200.”

    “Began in the 1500’s.”

    “En-”

    “Trixi,”

    “Yes?”

    “Why don’t you give the other people a chance?” Mr. Switzwingler prompted, but his voice was slightly annoyed. Reluctantly, reluctantly I tell you she agreed. 

***

    “Hi!” My friend group and I were locked in a deep conversation about Noah, the most annoying guy in the world. He had pulled Kelsie’s hair, and Marissa was more than mad. Trixi popped out of nowhere and scooped up a conversation. 

    “Er, hi?” Olive hesitantly replied.

    “Names,Beatrix, call me Trixi or Trix, as you might know. In your homeroom class, correct?” Of course we were in the same homeroom class, she had already introduced herself and we knew her name. “Mind if I join you guys for lunch?” 

    I glanced at my friends, wondering what they would say. 

    “Okay.” Kelsie announced. Trixi smiled, and settled herself next to us, her shoulder-length black hair blowing in the breeze. 

    We began filling Trixi in on who to avoid, who’s the best, the most popular, and all that stuff. 

    “Noah is the worst!” I complained, addressing Trixi.

    “Oh, also, do you guys like social studies?” Trixi wondered, completely countering my compliment. I thought she didn’t hear me. 

    “Noah is the worst!” I said, louder this time. Still she ignored me. 

    “Yeah, I agree.” Marissa piped up. It was probably the sunshine, or the way the wind blew, or the angle I was looking at Trixi, but for some reason she looked slightly annoyed. 

    As the days wore on, I took great care in noticing that Trixi specifically avoided talking directly to me, or even looking at me. In the beginning, besides the ignoring me accident, she was alright. She apologized for ignoring me, which I accepted and agreed in my mind it was nature playing tricks on me when I thought she looked annoyed. 

    But now, maybe I’m starting to have second thoughts. 

***

    On Saturday, the day us girls, Kelsie, Olive, Marissa and I usually spent a whole four hours at the mall, Trixi tagged along. This followed on for two weeks, and on Wednesday, November 13th, we officially accepted Trixi in our group. 

    Her characteristics were much like mine; artistic and creative. 

    “Class class, please, settle down.” Mrs. Twingle raised her hands, and we quited. “Today, we’re going to be doing a group project in pairs. We have exactly 26 people, and no one is absent. So please, find yourself a partner. You have 5 minutes to find one.” And with that, people began scrambling around to find a good partner. 

    Usually, since we were a group of four before Trixi joined we would take turns being each other's parenter. I would go with Olive this time because last time I went with Marissa, and before that with Kelsie. But now that Trixi was here, we had to find out a new system. 

    “Mrs. Twingle said that there can only be 2 per group. Not 3.” Trixi reasoned. “Which means one of us has to go with someone else.” 

    “I don’t mean to sound rude, but I think you should be the one, Trixi. Afterall, you were the last to join us, and you made it difficult for us to find a group of two.” I explained, hoping I didn’t sound like I was saying ‘go find another group, we can’t have you here.’ 

    “Daisy,” Olive slowly said, turning to me. “Perhaps you should be the one to go, you know. You were the first to create this group, correct?”

    “Yes.”

    “So, maybe we should let Trixi work with us this one time while you find another group so then she knows what to do, and she can get comfortable with us.” 

    “B-but, she’s been with us for three weeks now!” I was shocked that Olive was choosing to exclude me out. 

    “Yes, but Daisy, you're the leader after all. Just this once, okay?” Olive gave me that pleading look, and I reluctantly agreed. 

    Who do you know my partner is?

    Noah. 

    “So, Daisy, how do you want to start this project?” Noah asked in a surprisingly kind voice.    

    And that’s how I ended up being partners with Noah. But this wasn’t the worst yet, little did I know. Noah actually ended up being my partner for a lot of things because Trixi always claimed she was uncomfortable with being with others. 

***

    “Hi hi! This is Kelsie, your local best friend, haha! I’m sorry I can’t call you right now, but I’ll call you back soon!” Kelsie’s voicemail rang clear through my ears, and I noticed how she had changed it slightly by adding ‘your local best friend.’ Before, it was ‘your local idiot.’ 

    I tried calling Marissa and Olive, but I got no response. It was Saturday, and before going to the mall around one, we would have a call that lasted for a few minutes. 

    But they weren’t responding, which made me worry. I consulted the problem to my mom, and she brushed it off and said they were probably already there. She assured me she would drive me. 

    On the road, I couldn’t help feeling slightly anxious. They always called before the mall, it was our tradition. 

    When I got there, my heart stopped cold. 

    There she was. 

    And all the puzzle pieces fit together quickly. 

    There was Beatrix. 

    She was laughing merrily along with my friends, who took no notice that their phones had a billion missed calls from me. My mom saw them, and glanced at me.

    “Who’s the new girl?” Mom asked, “you never told me about her.”

    “Her name’s Beatrix, nicknames are Trix or Trixi.” I grumbled. “I feel sick, can we go home?” Mom looked concerned. 

    “Why do you want to go home? You never miss the mall, my little flower.” My little flower was my mom's nickname for me since I was called Daisy. 

    “I-I just feel a little sick,” it was a terrible lie, but I didn’t want to see my friends right now. I just didn’t feel right. 

    On Sunday, my friends made no attempt to contact me, I didn’t make any attempt to call them.

    On Monday, I walked up to my friends and greeted them plainly. 

    “Did you guys go to the mall on Saturday?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. 

    “Ye-oh my gosh! Daisy! I’m so sorry! We’re so sorry! We forgot!” Kelsie looked alarmed, and Marissa gave me a sympathetic look.

    “Sorry little bud, but we were hanging out with Trix.” Marissa patted me on the shoulder. 

    I shrugged her hand off. “Have you checked your missed calls? I spent hours calling you! You know it’s our tradition to call each other before going to the mall!” I felt more than betrayed. Left out. Excluded. 

    Separable. 

    “Uh hello? Mind telling me what this traditional thing is?” Trixi barged her way into our conversation without so much of a hi to me. 

    Over the week, things didn’t get better. When we had an art project, I offered to draw it for Marissa, Olive and Kelsie, but they said Trixi already offered. 

    I tried to be their partner, but they said next time. 

    “Next time we’ll be your partner.” It Became a common phrase for them. 

    And then, everything went too far.

“Hi!” I exclaimed, waving my hand brightly towards my friends. They didn’t turn around or glance at me. I walked up to them and tapped Kelsie’s shoulder. And she didn’t turn around. “HI!” I said loudly.

“Oh, hi.” Olive didn’t even glance at me from her conversation with Trixi. They didn’t even look at me! Just ignored me! I felt angered, and walked away. At lunch I tried again, and they ignored me. Trixi shot me a smug glance, and I glared daggers back at her.

                    ***

Before, we were inseparable.

Now, we were separable.