Harlee

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The day after Evan asked Rachel out, she and I went to the mall together.

She had wanted to buy an accessory with her gift card to go with the outfit she'd picked out. And since she'd ended up sleeping over at my house after the water park, I went along with her.

James had been calling and texting me nonstop for the past twenty-four hours, but I'd been ignoring him.

There was nothing more he needed to say to me.

He wanted me out of his life; his wish was granted.

I wasn't pining for him anymore. I had other friends I could focus on and hang out with.

Little did I know, this trip to the mall would result in the loss of yet another friend.

"I like hair flowers better than bows, but which one do you think Evan likes best?" Rachel asked me, holding up a bow on one side of her hair and a flower on the other.

We were standing in UltraViolet Accessories as she tried to pick out which hair adornment to purchase.

I raised my eyebrows at her question. "How about you coordinate your outfit based on what you like instead of what you think Evan does?" I said to her, smiling. "Evan already likes you. There's absolutely nothing for you to be worried about."

Rachel smiled back weakly and put the bow back onto the rack.

"You're right, and I don't want to be the kind of girl that changes myself for a boy. That's dumb."

"Exactly." I nodded.

We headed towards the counter, and Rachel bought her hair flower. Then we headed out of the shop and were heading towards the food court but were stopped by the sound of my name being shrieked at what sounded like maximum volume.

"Harlee!!" the voice called out.

Rachel and I spun around to see a distraught Farrah moving toward us from across the mall. She looked highly upset. Meanwhile, Amy was walking beside her with a satisfied smirk on her face. Rachel stayed beside me but didn't utter a word as the two approached us.

"How could you???" Farrah asked once she reached us.

I tilted my head to the side in confusion, genuinely wondering what I could have done to set her off.

"How could I what?" I asked worriedly.

"Evan just told me over the phone that he can't go on any more dates with me because he's going out with her!" she yelled as she pointed at Rachel accusingly.

I wondered if Evan had actually used the word "dates."

I guess it didn't matter, though.

However he'd worded it, it had hurt Farrah.

I had expected she wasn't going to be happy about the situation, but I didn't expect Evan to tell her that and make it worse. But he probably didn't want to feel like a player by going out with Farrah and Rachel simultaneously, so it isn't his fault, I thought to myself.

"He said that it wouldn't feel right going out with me and her at the same time," Farrah's voice said, confirming I'd been right.

Then her tone lost the fury in it and became a whisper.

"And he said that you were the one that helped get them together."

Her wounded tone struck my heart with guilt.

As much as I had wanted Rachel to be happy, I hadn't wanted to make Farrah sad. I should have been less unthinking before calling Evan, but there was nothing I could do about that now.

"Why are you blaming Harlee for this when it has nothing to do with her?" Rachel spoke up.

"Why are you even talking to me, backstabbing traitor?" Farrah fired back at her.

"Really? 'Backstabbing traitor'?" Rachel repeated.

"That's exactly what you are." Farrah folded her arms.

Any sympathy Rachel may have had for Farrah seemed to vanish right then, and resentment seemed to take its place. All of her pent-up frustration toward her had finally reached its breaking point.

"See, that's the problem with you, Farrah." She took a step toward her ex-best friend.

Farrah's blue orbs sliced into Rachel's angrily, but Rachel didn't back down.

"You think that you're entitled to everything and you get to control everybody," Rachel said. "That's why Evan doesn't like you, and it is also why we're no longer friends."

My jaw dropped at her statements.

While she had a point, her words were harsh.

Mixed feelings coursed through me. I cared about Farrah and Rachel equally and didn't want to choose a side. Unfortunately, it seemed I was going to have to.

"At least, I have other friends," Farrah shot back.

"The only reason Harlee is your friend is that she feels sorry for you. And Evan probably does too."

"Farrah!" I admonished her.

But Rachel was unshaken. "See, I knew you thought you were better than me," she said back.

Farrah paused at that like she didn't know what else to say.

Rachel was quiet as well.

I could tell both of them had hurt one another with the cruel words they'd said to each other.

They were both in the right and the wrong, the way I saw it, not just with this but concerning their whole friendship. Rachel was wrong because she seemed to always jump to the worst conclusion possible about Farrah without even trying to see her perspective on things. She'd done it the first time their friendship ended, and she'd done it when Farrah kissed Evan at his party.

Farrah was wrong because she did act entitled a lot and did try to fit people into what she wanted them to be, without even considering, how they might feel about that. She'd done it with Rachel and with Evan too.

And they were both wrong to stoop so low as to insult each other the way they just had.

Unfortunately, I couldn't point all this out to them then.

Because Farrah was still mad at me too.

"You're right, Rachel. I am better than you," Farrah said, finding her voice. "But not because I have money. I'm not shallow like you think I am." She took a step closer to Rachel, and Rachel backed up.

"It's because after I thought I'd hurt you by kissing Evan in front of you, I apologized. You don't even have the decency to see how much you hurt me and apologize."

Her point about the apology was valid. But at the same time, she had ambushed us, not allowing us a chance to explain.

I decided now would be a good time to try.

"Farrah, we hadn't meant to upset you at all. But Evan likes Rachel; he has for a while now," I told her.

Farrah looked at me like she'd just remembered I was there. Then she started shaking her head like she'd had enough of this entire conversation.

"Whatever, Harlee. At least, I know who your loyalty is to now," she replied.

"Farrah-" I started.

"I just can't believe you'd choose her over me after everything we've been through together. I thought we were friends."

"Farrah, you're both my friends!"

"Obviously, you're not my friend," she concluded.

And with that, she started to back away from us.

Her eyes gave Rachel one last glance.

The glance held sorrow instead of venom this time.

"Have fun on your date, Rachel," she said quietly.

Then she turned on her heel and started walking off. After giving me a look of disdain, Amy followed after her.

I felt horrible for Farrah, myself, and Rachel too.

"I'm sorry, Harlee; this is all my fault," Rachel apologized.

I didn't say anything for a minute. I didn't know what to say.

It was everyone's fault, but it was also no one's fault. There wasn't much that could be done in situations like these.

I almost wished there were two of Evan so both of my friends could be happy. But one thing this summer had made clear to me was that you don't always get what you wish for.

To make matters much worse, right then, I saw James and Hyland standing outside the food court.

Rachel's eyes followed the direction I was looking in, and she gasped when they started hugging each other. The hug lasted for at least thirty seconds like neither one of them wanted to let go.

My heart became even heavier at what Hyland did next.

Bending down slightly to reach James' face, she quickly kissed him on the cheek before she flounced away.

The interaction shattered me.

I felt shaken to my core.

Even though Hyland and I barely knew one another, I could not help but feel that she and James had both betrayed me. My sympathy for Farrah reached a new height, now that I could understand somewhat how she must have felt.

What didn't make sense to me was that I was feeling this jealous and broken when James and I had only been friends.

I determined it was because James had meant as much to me as Evan had meant to Farrah if not more.

That doesn't matter now.

Because you clearly don't mean anything to him, I reminded myself mentally.

The realization that I'd lost two friends in the same week hit me right then.

If this kept up, come eighth grade, I'd be friendless.

"I'm so sorry, Harlee," Rachel said, sounding disappointed.

"Don't be," I replied right away, trying to mask my misery.

"There's nothing to be sorry about."

We started walking again, my eyes still on James.

When he and I made eye contact, I finally quickly looked away.

I tried to distract myself from the aching in my heart by changing the subject. Rachel seemed hesitant to change the subject but eventually played along like all was well.

Although it wasn't well, I just had to keep hoping someday it would be.

I just had to keep trying to move on.

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