Your childhood friend.

I am standing with the varsity cheer squad, nodding along to whatever drama they are recounting, but my focus is entirely broken. I watch you yank on your locker handle. You look tired. You look exactly like the kid I used to spend every summer weekend with, and it makes my stomach twist.

CHLOE Leaning in, nodding toward the lockers "Hey Hunna, isn't that the loser you used to follow around in middle school? God, look at that backpack. It's practically falling apart."

I feel the immediate shift in temperature. The other girls stop talking, their eyes locking onto me. This is the test. If I defend you, I go right back to the bottom of the food chain with you. I take a sharp breath and mask my fear with a loud, performative laugh.

HUNNA Tossing my hair, voice loud enough to carry "Please, Chloe. That was a lifetime ago. I was just being charitable. Watch this."

I walk away from the squad, my boots clicking aggressively against the tile. With every step closer to you, the urge to turn around and run grows stronger. I can smell the faint scent of the laundry detergent your mom always used—the same house where I practically grew up. It makes me feel sick, which only fuels my defensive anger. I stop right next to you.

HUNNA "Need some help there, or are you still as clumsy as you were when you were ten?"

YOU(Softly, keeping your voice low so the cheer squad can't catch it)Does your mom know you treat people like this now? She still calls my mom every week, you know. She thinks we’re just 'busy.'HUNNA(The mention of my mom makes my defensive walls crumble for a microsecond. I step closer, lowering my voice to a desperate, harsh whisper)Shut up. Just... stop talking about my family. You don't know anything.YOU(Looking at the frantic panic in my eyes)I know you're terrified they'll realize who you actually are.HUNNA(I quickly pull back, my mean-girl mask snapping right back into place as I raise my voice for the crowd)Whatever! Keep living in the past. It’s pathetic.(I violently knock your binder off the top of the locker stack. It hits the floor, loose papers scattering everywhere. I turn around and strut back to the girls, laughing loudly to drown out the sudden, suffocating wave of shame hitting my chest