The clock struck five.

Only thirty more minutes. I rolled my eyes and moaned.

I had wasted several hours trying to pick out something to wear to the party and getting my hair to look decent, but I just couldn’t concentrate.

Mom had given me a choice of whether to go see Dad in the hospital or to go to the end-of-the-school-year party. It was a pretty simple decision for me, for I had gone to see Dad a week or so before when he was covered in oxygen tubes and blankets, and now I was sure that I would rather have a good night with Lily and Jake and a social rank than see my dad like that again. Besides, he would get better, considering Mom had hired famous, and expensive, cancer treaters. Little did I know at the time that this decision of mine would be the first of three mistakes.

‘It’s amazing how well things work out in my life. Being rich is such a great thing,’ I thought.

With the sudden burst of ego, I just decided on something that I would normally wear to school: a tank top, short shorts, and polka-dot flip flops. I ran a brush through my long blonde hair, smeared some makeup on my face, grabbed my iPhone, and headed down the stairs of my three story mansion in twenty minutes.

Mom was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, rummaging through her purse.

“Hey Mom, what’s up?”

A frown formed from her lips. “I’m going to go see Dad. The nurses only allow one visit a week, and I just got a call from the hospital, and he is in a lot of pain at the moment, so I am leaving now. Are you sure you don’t need a ride to the party?”

I rolled my eyes, “Of course I am sure, Mom. It’s only a block down the road, and I’m meeting Lily and Jake there.”

Mom had gathered all of her things and began walking away from me and towards the garage.

“Call me and tell me how it goes!” I shouted.

“Okay,” she replied in a soft voice.

And, right before the garage door slammed, my second mistake, “Have fun!” escaped my lips as if I were saying goodbye to my friends at school.

Now, I wish I could recant those words, or erase that moment all together and think them over.

After I had left the house, and walked a block away from my house, I felt a buzz in my back pocket and hurried to grab my phone.

A text from Lily appeared on the screen: srry Christy. won’t be able 2 hang out much at party. Mom making me volunteer to help. :(

I frowned; I didn’t have any other friends that were going to the party besides Jake because they said ‘there are going to be too many unpopulars there’.

But, at least Jake would be there. It was now quarter to five, and I shrugged and continued to walk to the party.

By the time that I arrived at the party, fifteen minutes had trudged by. I hadn’t even bothered to text Lily back. I walked up to the house, which was slightly smaller than mine, and knocked on the door.

No answer.

I could hear music blasting inside, so I just opened the front door and walked in.

There were a few people dancing around in couples to slow music, an obvious sign of unpopulars. Immediately, I began looking for Jake. The house was very crowded, so I figured that I would have a hard time finding him.

In my search for him, I looked in the kitchen, bathrooms, and hallways. No sign. Grumpily, I groaned loudly and asked a girl, who was drinking Pepsi in the kitchen, if she had seen Jake, and she shrugged, “Outside. I think.”

I felt an urge to throw my arms around her in a hug, but it was strictly forbidden in Lily’s Popular’s Rule Guide to hug an unpopular, so I just thanked her and went on my way outside.

I easily traveled through the house, for I had been there for several parties before. The sun was sparkling in the sky, and a sweep of heat hit me as I walked out the back door. I began fanning myself with my hand and panting.

Then, I stopped, frozen, looking five meters in front of me, where Jake was talking to Lily.

I thought Lily was working? I smiled and guessed that she was just taking a break, so I began skipping towards them, and just as I came closer, they were drawn together into a hug.

My heart dropped. “Lily!” I yelled, not exactly sure what I expected her response to be.

They jumped apart.

“Oh my gosh, Christy. I didn’t know you were here yet. Nice to see you.”

I watched her straighten up and inch away from Jake, who was also doing the same thing.

“I thought you were supposed to be working?” I tried to smoothly change the subject, for I felt slightly uncomfortable.

Lily cackled, “Oh, the people inside said that they didn’t need me at the moment, so I came outside to talk to Jake.”

I widened my eyes to glare at her, “Why were you guys hugging then, if you were just ‘talking’?” I looked at my feet, but I knew that Jake and Lily were silently exchanging conversations amongst themselves.

Jake finally spoke up, “About that...Christy. I was going to talk to you, but I didn’t have the chance....”

Lily interrupted, “Well, I am going to leave you two alone to talk. I should probably go check to see if they need me right now, anyway.” She pointed towards the mansion, sighed, and began walking away.

Once she was out of my sight, I asked with a shaky voice, “About what, Jake?”

I had an idea of what he was going to tell me, but I still had hope that he was joking with me. “Ummm. I don’t think that....I....This isn’t working, Christy. I think I have...might have fallen in love with Lily.”

My blood began boiling to my face, and I knew that I was turning bright red. “What! This is absurd. You can’t break up with me. I am supposed to break up with you! This isn’t how it is supposed to be!”

I began walking towards me. “Calm down, Christy. It isn’t that big of a deal. You will be able to find another boyfr....”

“You are joking! Jake, just shut up! What do you mean it isn’t a big deal? You are ruining my life....my popularity...my...”

He laughed, “Oh. Now we get down to it. So this is why you are so angry. Not because I am breaking up with you, but because you might lose your popularity. Christy, grow up.”

“No..haha..that is where you are wrong, Jake. You need to grow up. When are you going to learn that you can’t keep switching girls every few months?”

“I do not do that!”

I screamed, “Fine, you know what. I don’t care. Date Lily! Break her heart. I don’t care!” and dramatically threw my arms up in the air as I turned around and stomped through the party house and out into the streets. .

I managed to hold back my tears by forcing myself not to blink until I had run half a block away from the party. I hadn’t wanted to allow anyone I knew to see me crying. I kept telling myself that I just had to act natural, and the first day of the next school year, everything would be back to normal....

Except--I wouldn’t have Jake.

And then my tears were let loose. They uncontrollably began streaking down my cheeks, and I struggled for breath.

I considered walking to the hospital to check on Dad, since I didn’t have anything else to do, but instead, I continued to proceed in the direction towards my house, wiping my eyes with my arm. This decision being my tertiary and final error. Ignoring every car that passed on the road, I just kept my eyes on where I was walking.

Surprisingly, from the time that I had left the party until I reached my house, an hour had passed. My eyes had dried, but a feeling of emptiness continued to weigh down my stomach.

After I walked into my house, I noticed how silent it was. The space seemed to have been flooded with darkness since I had left a couple hours before. I walked up to my room and plumped into the red, swivel chair near my desk, sitting, frozen, in that position for several minutes until I straightened my back and opened my Apple laptop.

The bright screen flashed before my eyes, nearly blinding me, but I quickly recovered and logged onto Google Plus. (I always checked my Google account before Facebook because it was quicker to get into)

There were 7 notifications when I entered into my profile and clicked on HOME, and a long thread of comments appeared before my eyes regarding Jake, Lily, and a bunch of other kids from my school.

I rolled my eyes but felt drawn to read them posts anyway.


Jake: My Lord! Everyone must know that I am now dating Lily!

6:57 P.M.

+1 : 5


Bilcon: Really! What happened to Christy?

6:57 P.M.

+1: 1


Jake: I dumped her at the party.

6:59 P.M.

+1: 3

Lily: Yeppers. Christy caught us together and totally flipped out.

7:02 P.M.


Bilcon: AWW!! Sad....

7:03 P.M.


Lily: So not sad! She broke my top rule! --Don’t ever let the boy break up with the girl.--I can’t believe that she actually broke that rule! It is unspeakable. I don’t care if it was with Jake, but she should have noticed that he wasn’t into her anymore.

7:03 P.M.

+1: 10


Jake: No biggy though. I was just trying to find the right time to tell her anyway.

7:05 P.M.


Lily: What do you mean ‘No biggy’. She totally ruined my night at the party, and separated me from u! *sniff sniff*

7:05 P.M.

+1: 3


Bilcon: So romantic....

7:06 P.M.

+1: 6



I couldn’t read anymore because fresh sobs had begun to blur my eyes again, so I slammed my laptop shut with full force.

For a moment, I hugged my knees to my chest, shaking. But, then I began to feel hot, and I knew that I had to get out of the house for a while, so I left and began sprinting towards The Golden Gate Bridge.

I didn’t slow down until I had come to the entrance of the golden wonder. I didn’t continue walking along the bridge for long, but stopped and leaned against the railing. The echoes of the cars speeding by swirled in my ears, but I imagined them away, staring away into the depths of the ocean. Although clouds of car lights floated along the bridge, darkness of night surrounded me.

I wondered how life would be different if I were free to roam, like a bird. What would it feel like to fall from the sky? To dive into the ocean.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my ringtone. I knew that I didn’t feel in the mood to talk, but I pulled out my phone anyway.

MOM, the screen flashed.

I stomach jumped as I lifted the phone to my ear to hear the sound of sobs.
Before I had even asked her what was wrong, the sound on my side of the phone line was echoing hers.