(Song: These Are My Friends by Lovelytheband)
ELLIE'S POV
Finally, it's Friday. This week has felt like a thousand years and today is going to feel like a million. It will be my first time seeing Kyle after our breakup, and I still have to sit next to him in math.

I sit up in my bed and wipe the sleep from my eyes before walking into my closet to look for an outfit.

I end up wearing a red and black sweater, frayed jeans, and white converse. I even do some makeup as well to make myself look nice. If Kyle was going to dump me for a terrible reason, I am going to make him regret it.

I grab my phone from my bed and walk downstairs, meeting Harry in the kitchen.

"Good morning, El. You look nice today," Harry greets as he notices me.

"Morning," I say. "And thanks."

I sit down on my chair and Harry places a plate in front of me. The smell of bacon and pancakes pervades my nose. It all looked so good. Harry must have made this because of how unhappy I was last night.

He even decides to sit down and eat with me this morning. "You excited for tonight?" Harry asks, reminding me of our party tonight with our friends.

"Yeah," I say, but it sounds a little weird because my face is full of pancakes.

Harry laughs. "I'm glad you're eating," he tells me.

"Me too. These are really good," I say, putting emphasis on the word 'really.'

"Why, thank you," Harry says as he takes a bite.

•~~~~~

The doorbell rings, which meant its time for me to go. "Bye, Dad," I say as I grab my backpack and walk toward the door.

He stands up and jogs over to the door to stop me from going out. "You really think you can get out of here without giving me a hug?" He asks.

"My bad. I forgot," I say.

I wrap my arms around him, as does Harry. "You text me if anything goes wrong," he says before releasing from the embrace.

"I know. And I will," I say. He gives me a smile, and then I turn around and walk outside to walk with my friends. I have some serious explaining to do.

•~~~~~

"Hey, Ellie. I'm excited for tonight. It's been too long since we've all been together outside of school," Ryan says as I shut the door behind me.

"Hey. And I know, we definitely need to hang out more," I say. We begin walking and I start talking. "So, I need to tell you guys something."

"What's up?" Claire asks.

"Kyle broke up with me," I admit with a sigh.

"Really? Aw, Ellie, I'm so sorry. What can we do to help you feel better?" Claire asks, concerned. I look at my other friends and they all have concerned faces as well. Gosh, my friends are too sweet for this world.

"Oh, no, nothing. I think it's best that we broke up, anyway. We're kind of different people," I explain. As much as I was mad at Kyle for what he has done to me, I would never rat him out. "And I also want to apologize to you guys..." I say.

"What for?" Rachel says.

"I just got distracted by Kyle... I should have spent more time with you guys. Having a boyfriend is no excuse to forget about your friends, and that's exactly what I did. I hope you guys will give me another chance," I say.

"You don't have to apologize at all. You didn't do anything wrong. And you totally didn't not spend time with us, either," Evan tells me. The others agree. I said it before, and I'll say it again: my friends are too sweet for this world.

"Thank you guys. I couldn't ask for better friends," I tell them. It honestly felt really nice to start fresh. I have nothing I need to tell anyone, no boyfriend I need to worry about, no one blackmailing me, and I am slowly getting more comfortable with food.

"Yeah, of course. We got your back all the time. And if Kyle gives you any shit today, then you come right to me and I'll handle it," Ryan tells me. I look over at him and he is flexing his arm, acting like he could beat up Kyle.

I laugh at his silliness. "Thanks, but I think I'd go to someone strong, like Rachel," I joke with him.

"Oh, yeah, watch your back, Ryan. I you even think about protecting my lovely friend, Ellie, then you're going down," Rachel says, joining in on he joke.

"All right, all right," Ryan says, surrendering.

•~~~~~

When we walk through the school doors, I say goodbye to my friends and walk toward my locker.

I have to admit, it's kind of sad not having someone to walk to class with and wait for me by my locker. Pushing that thought from my mind, I shove my backpack into my locker and walk to algebra with my books and a pen.

Once I arrive to algebra, I sit down at my usual seat. Thankfully, Kyle isn't here yet. It would be more awkward sitting here if he got here first.

Not even a minute later, Kyle walks in and takes his seat, right next to me. This would probably be a good time to let him know I'm quitting the play.

"Kyle?" I ask, kind of harshly.

"Really, virgin? You think you can just talk to me like that? I don't want to date you. Nothing you say will change my mind," Kyle says with anger in his voice. I look over at him, astonished he would actually talk to me like that.

"Listen, the last thing I'd ever do is date  you," I scoff. "And I'm not a virgin, you're just naïve and ignorant. What I was going to tell you is that I am done with your school musical. Find someone else," I finish and then put in my earbud, not wanting to deal with anything else Kyle says. I hear him say something, but I can't hear him over my music.

The rest of the uncomfortable class is spent watching the teacher write random stuff on the board while I act like I know what I'm doing. I just wish this school day was over.