"Ouch, That Hurts"

As I reached our daily lunch table with my tray full of unappealing Italian day lunch special, one of my best friends was saying catishly, "Marie thinks I'm going to nominate her for 'Best Personality', but I'm voting for Tracy instead." The eyes that had been eagerly focused on my friend, now known as 'the backstabbing bitch' by me, raised to see me standing behind her as she declared to whom her loyalties belonged. When Jamie saw their looks of warning, she turned around and her expression quickly turned sheepish and her pink cheeks drained of color, apparently from embarrassment and guilt.

Not that I cared to even be voted in as 'Best Personality' for the class, 'Most Typical Student' was more my speed. Actually, I really didn't expect to get selected in for any of the categories, I wasn't part of the popular crowd, not even close.

I guess what had really hurt was the viciousness I had heard in her voice, her assumption that I was expecting the nomination, and the company to which she was sharing her wicked thoughts.

Jamie had made the statement using such an unusually nasty tone for her that it totally caught me off guard. We made up two of the trio that formed our tight knit group which we had self-declared 'The Three Musketeers' after the famous group of swashbuckling buddies. Tracy was, of course, the other corner of our triangle, but she was in a different lunch period and had no idea that Jamie had just dissed me in favor of her. It would have even been okay with me if Jamie had stated her plans in a different way and in front of my face intead of behind my back. After all, Jamie and Tracy had been best friends before I had started hanging out with them; and everybody knew that they would always have each other's backs first before anybody else's.

I especially respected the special bond they had, besties since Jamie moved to town in seventh grade. A new kid with four eyes and railroad tracks on her teeth--a deadly combination when trying to fit in. But Tracy had seen the 'diamond in the rough' and the two opposites had complimented each other perfectly, just like peaches and cream--Tracy was quiet and studious; Jamie bubbly and outgoing.

So when high school had started and my best friend Naomi, who had developed big boobs over the summer, was an instant hit with the boys I needed to enlarge my circle of friends. Naomi and her new steady guy were so involved with each other that the time she and I spent together had fallen by the wayside really fast.

Tracy and I had last names that started with the same letter and had several classes sitting near each other and had begun talking while waiting for the bell to ringvto start class; so after school we started hanging out from time to time. Jamie had turned out to be very pretty once she had gotten contacts and stopped hiding behind her large-rimmed glasses; and her smile shined bright when her braces came off and she was spending more time with the guys too and less time with Tracy.

As freshman year progressed, so did the friendship between Tracy and I. We had chatted intensely during Biology, Spanish, and Algebra much to our teacher's chagrin. I got to know Jamie through Tracy, and we would gossip on the phone for hours after school; had shared secrets and dreams, and had discussed plans for our respective futures.

Hell, sophomore year, Jamie and I had even shared a boyfriend. I had dated Tom for two weeks before he broke up with me; he had been my first boyfriend and although the breakup hurt my pride, he wasn't someone that I deeply cared about at the time. I recovered from the bad experience pretty quickly.

A few months later he started hitting on Jamie, and during one of our daily afternoon calls she asked if I would mind if she dated Tom. I told her that it was okay with me and they dated for a few months after that discussion. We even all hung out together several times without any awkwardness or resentment.

Junior year had been a whirlwind of fun times for the three of us, followed by funner times! Sleepovers, dances, movies, pep rallies and bonfires, football and basketball games, getting class rings, etc. We hung out at the local burger joint and the mall. We got our driver's licenses and just drove around to waste time. We went on family trips together and ate dinner over each other's houses, and always talked and giggled like good friends do whenbthey get together.

Senior year had been more of the same--until today--now everything would be different, at least for me it would. When I caught Jamie mid-sentence, I could only wonder what else she had said about me to our lunchtime friends. That's all those two other girls were, just lunchtime friends; they weren't even part of our clique. I don't know what bothered me more; what Jamie had said and the way she said it, or who she had said it to.

Anyway, I guess that really didn't matter, all I knew was that my friendship with Jamie had changed forever in that moment and would never be the same again.

So there I stood, temporarily frozen in time, face burning and hands struggling not to drop my tray of food and spill it all over the cafeteria floor. Ceremoniously stabbed in the back by one of my best friends!

Unsure of what to do next, I just sat down and looked at the cold plate of spaghetti with the watery tomato sauce sitting on the tray in front of me. There was an uncomfortable tension around me; and it seemed like everyone was waiting for me to say something-- anything.

I decided to break the awkward silence with the first thought that came into my mind, and blurted out Jimmy Johnson's famous statement, "So how about them Cowboys?" The group giggled at my words obligatorily, and lunch finished up as it always did. Jamie and I left the lunch room side by side in the crowd, but this time instead of talking about the other girls, we walked along without saying a word to each other. I guessed she didn't know what to say, and I wasn't going to make it easy for her by acknowledging her presence. The coolness between us could have frozen water into an ice cube.

But life goes on and as we prepared to go to our separate classes when we reached the hallway, Jamie said, "See ya later alligator." And all I could muster was a lame and subdued, "In awhile crocodile."