The blood on my knuckles is bright red. It’s really disgusting and disturbing. Kevin is losing so much blood. I didn’t want it to turn out like this. Yes, we were in a fight, but I never wanted any blood to be shed. I was just trying to win; I can’t believe I actually did this. I wonder if he’ll ever forgive me; what if I just broke his nose? At least he’s conscious. He’s just looking at me, pain is in his eyes. I need to get him in to the house.
I guess I should take you back to the very beginning. Kevin is my best friend. I’ve known him since third grade, and we’re freshmen now. He’s helped me through my whole life, but recently he just doesn’t understand me. We’ve never been cool, but we aren’t losers. Ever since we got to high school Kevin has wanted to be cooler. He thinks that if we get more friends it makes us better, or something. He’s never been like this; he always thought being popular was overrated. I miss the old him. I guess this all happened when he met Brett and Natalia.
Brett and Natalia are brother and sister, twins actually. They are the most liked freshmen in the entire school. Brett is what most girls consider “hot.” I mean yeah he is hot, but he a rude. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Natalia is really pretty, but she has the same genes as Brett. She’s a selfish little brat. When they met Kevin and me, they thought we had “potential” to be popular. Brett said he could get Kevin to be good at getting babes, and Natalia said if I wore some makeup and borrowed her clothes I could be a babe.
At first Kevin agreed with me that the twins were ridiculous and pathetic, but then he started watch them. They had a bunch of friends, people begging them for dates, and power over people. In some ways that does seem fun, but honestly I don’t think it would help bring out the best in anyone. Kevin kept watching, and he eventually wanted what was offered to him. He wanted to be popular because, apparently, having a few true friends will never compare to having a zillion fake friends. I couldn’t believe what was happening to us. We started hanging out with the twins a lot. I liked them because they liked me, but if they hadn’t liked me they would have made it obvious. Anyone they don’t like is either ignored, or punished by cruel words.
We hung out with them a lot. After a while we saw them after school about every day, but then something happened. Natalia decided she wanted Kevin to like her. I guess she thought I was some kind of obstacle, so she made sure to not invite me to anymore group sessions. I wouldn’t have care much, except that Kevin became impossible to talk to. It was like she had him isolated from the entire female population of our school. Kevin would never like her though. I knew that for a fact. I mean, yes, she did have lots of cleavage, but Kevin liked personality with an added bonus of appearance. Before he had told me that he only put up with Natalia because she was helping him get the girl he liked.
Well, after what seemed like years without talking to Kevin, we talked last Monday. It was in between classes. I was surprised he could get that far away from Natalia, but from the corner of my eye I could see her glaring at me. She was pretty, just not when she was glaring.
“Hey Jaz,” said Kevin, as though nothing had ever happened between us.
“Hi?”
“Why the questioning tone?”
“Well, we haven’t talked in a while, so…”
“You make that sound like it’s my fault.”
“Well, it definitely isn’t mine.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you chose boobs over our friendship.”
“I don’t even like her!”
“Then why won’t you talk to me anymore.”
“Look, I came here to tell you I miss you, let’s not fight”
“Whatever. If you really missed me you would have done something about her.”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Grow up and realize that she and Brett will never be your real friends.”
“Why are you saying that stuff?”
“I’m just repeating what you used to think!”
“What do you want from me?”
“I don’t want anything from you, I want the old Kevin.”
“It’s still me! I still think they’re fake, but I get anything I want now, everyone likes me.”
“I don’t.”
“I won’t just stop talking to them.”
“Yes, you will.”
“How?”
“I’ll make you. Me, you, ping-pong, Friday, my garage, 5pm.”
“Really?”
“You’re last chance to be my friend.”
“Whatever.”
As I saw him walking down the hall, I wondered if walking away from me is as easy as walking out of my life. He’s done both with almost no hesitation. I almost broke down crying. How could anyone walk away from their best friend, but I guess we weren’t best friends anymore. It felt good to at least have talked to him though. Even if I got him to stop talking to the twins we would never be best friends again, I realized that a while ago. I couldn’t just be friends with him, and not because of what he did to me. I couldn’t be his friend because I had feelings for him. I like him, a lot. When I stopped talking to him regularly I felt empty. When I saw him with Natalia I would get so jealous. I never noticed I’ve liked him before, but I guess you don’t realize what you have with someone until you lose it.
Friday after school I rushed home. I needed to set up my ping-pong table. I didn’t really expect him to come, but I was always an optimist. I’m not really a good ping-pong player, in fact I barely know anything about it. The reason I chose ping-pong was because even though I knew nothing about it, neither did Kevin. I guess we’re at an equal level of ping-pong knowledge and skill. We both knew the basics of playing, but we also both knew we couldn’t play. I guess this was kind of a fair game to choose. At least no one had an advantage.
It was 5 o’clock, and no one was over. Just me, in my house, with my ping-pong table. I was ready to give up, to just forget that I had ever even known a Kevin that wasn’t obsessed with being popular. One thing I must say, though, is that after everything that happened to him, he was still a good person. He never once helped the twins make fun of a kid; he usually stopped that from happening. I guess at least he hadn’t lost his sense of right and wrong. I just wish he would realize that he doesn’t even need them anymore. He’s long out grown the twins. He is popular on his own now, people like him because he’s a good, honest person. If he would just stop talking to them, and make time for me, I wouldn’t mind pushing aside my feelings and pretending to be his friend.
My phone started ringing. It was a text. It said, “I’m here.” My heart skipped a beat. He actually cared enough to come and play a stupid game of ping-pong to determine his social-life. I went and opened my front door. There he was, he looked like the old Kevin, but I knew it was someone more confident now. Looking into his eyes I still saw the real him. He hadn’t changed much, since I could still read him like an open book.
“Hey, you look good,” he said with a half smile.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah just go to the garage.”
As we got in the garage we decided we should work out our rules and conditions. It was all simple. We would play regular ping-pong. If I won, he would stop talking to the twins and make time for me. If he won he gets to do whatever he wants. I really hope he didn’t magically become good at ping-pong because “doing whatever he wants” did not involve me, Jasmine. Now that the conditions had been set we got to the playing.
I can honestly say that anyone who has ever seen a ping-pong game would cry at how badly we played. It was like we both had no depth perception. I mean really, this was just sad. We played for thirty minutes before I got one point. Another five minutes and he managed to get a point, too. We decided to play until someone got five. That could of course take hours, but I don’t think he minded spending time with me again. The game was fun; we both couldn’t help but laugh the whole time. It was kind of funny; I mean neither of us knew what we were doing. It felt good have Kevin back, even if it was only for a couple of hours.
We were tied, four to four. It was game point, and I was serving. If I had to pick between winning and losing, at this point it wouldn’t matter. I think Kevin missed spending time with me, and after this he would make time for me. Of course thinking that wouldn’t stop me from trying to win. Win or lose I would still be his friend, but winning would mean getting the twins out of the picture. That’s what I really wanted; I wanted the twins gone. I was going to win this for myself. It sounds bad, but it was time to be selfish.
I think it was the pressure of getting my best friend back, but when I served the ball it hit Kevin right in the nose. I honestly did not think I have the power to hit a ping-pong ball so hard at someone’s nose that they get a nose bleed. His nose was gushing blood; I needed to get it to stop. I got a rag I found on one of the shelves and held it tight against his nose. The blood got all over my garage floor, my hands, and Kevin’s clothes. I don’t think I broke his nose, but he’s looking at me with pain in his eyes.
“Oh. My. God. I’m so sorry!” I said with a deep breath.
“No, I’m fine.”
“You’re gushing blood!”
“I don’t think it’s broken…”
“Come in the house, I’ll get you a clean shirt.”
As I got one of my dad’s t-shirts Kevin washed his face. His nose had stopped bleeding, and we determined it wasn’t anything major. We figured that one of his blood vessels mush have just popped, or something. I guess the pain must have stopped. He said he wasn’t mad and that it wasn’t my fault. I guess I have really bad aim. He helped me mop the blood off my garage floor before my parents got home. When they got home they asked me what happened; I told them everything except for why we were playing ping-pong.
This isn’t usually the way it goes, but I walked Kevin home that day. When we got to his house we sat down on his front steps.
“I’m just wondering, but…” he said with a hit of a smile on his lips.
“What?”
“Did you miss me , too?”
“Of course, you were, and still are, my best friend.”
“I only stuck by Natalia because she was supposed to help me get the girl I like.”
“Oh, how did that work out?”
“Not well, turns out Natalia likes me, so she basically tried to split me and that girl apart.”
“Wow. So why did you come to my house?”
“Well, I realized you’re a lot more important that anyone. Actually I knew that all along. I just never realized that Natalia was splitting us apart. I mean I thought you were just acting like that because you weren’t interested.”
“What?”
“Well this is awkward to admit, but you’re the girl I like.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, and I would just like to say that when I said I would do what I wanted if I won, I meant stop talking to the twins and make time for you. Natalia really made me believe that you just weren’t interested. Brett told me everything, though. He’s pretty cool, and you should give a chance.”
“I always thought he was cool, it’s just that he is really self-centered.”
“Well, I stopped talking to Natalia on Wednesday, since Brett told me everything on Tuesday. I realized people like me for me, and not just because I am friends with the twins. I think everyone would like you for you, too. I mean I really like you.”
“Yeah, I really like you too.”
“Oh. That’s cool.” He said smiling. Then he jumped up and said, “Oh, dude, I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am. I need to say this right now or I never will. Jasmine, would you go on a date with me?
“Well, obviously.”
And that was the happiest I had been all year. It was the perfect ending to a not-so-perfect day. I watched the sunset sitting next to my best friend.
The Day I Made My Best Friend Bleed
The blood on my knuckles is bright red. It’s really disgusting and disturbing. Kevin is losing so much blood. I didn’t want it to turn out like this. Yes, we were in a fight, but I never wanted any blood to be shed. I was just trying to win; I can’t believe I actually did this. I wonder if he’ll ever forgive me; what if I just broke his nose? At least he’s conscious. He’s just looking at me, pain is in his eyes. I need to get him in to the house.
I guess I should take you back to the very beginning. Kevin is my best friend. I’ve known him since third grade, and we’re freshmen now. He’s helped me through my whole life, but recently he just doesn’t understand me. We’ve never been cool, but we aren’t losers. Ever since we got to high school Kevin has wanted to be cooler. He thinks that if we get more friends it makes us better, or something. He’s never been like this; he always thought being popular was overrated. I miss the old him. I guess this all happened when he met Brett and Natalia.
Brett and Natalia are brother and sister, twins actually. They are the most liked freshmen in the entire school. Brett is what most girls consider “hot.” I mean yeah he is hot, but he a rude. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Natalia is really pretty, but she has the same genes as Brett. She’s a selfish little brat. When they met Kevin and me, they thought we had “potential” to be popular. Brett said he could get Kevin to be good at getting babes, and Natalia said if I wore some makeup and borrowed her clothes I could be a babe.
At first Kevin agreed with me that the twins were ridiculous and pathetic, but then he started watch them. They had a bunch of friends, people begging them for dates, and power over people. In some ways that does seem fun, but honestly I don’t think it would help bring out the best in anyone. Kevin kept watching, and he eventually wanted what was offered to him. He wanted to be popular because, apparently, having a few true friends will never compare to having a zillion fake friends. I couldn’t believe what was happening to us. We started hanging out with the twins a lot. I liked them because they liked me, but if they hadn’t liked me they would have made it obvious. Anyone they don’t like is either ignored, or punished by cruel words.
We hung out with them a lot. After a while we saw them after school about every day, but then something happened. Natalia decided she wanted Kevin to like her. I guess she thought I was some kind of obstacle, so she made sure to not invite me to anymore group sessions. I wouldn’t have care much, except that Kevin became impossible to talk to. It was like she had him isolated from the entire female population of our school. Kevin would never like her though. I knew that for a fact. I mean, yes, she did have lots of cleavage, but Kevin liked personality with an added bonus of appearance. Before he had told me that he only put up with Natalia because she was helping him get the girl he liked.
Well, after what seemed like years without talking to Kevin, we talked last Monday. It was in between classes. I was surprised he could get that far away from Natalia, but from the corner of my eye I could see her glaring at me. She was pretty, just not when she was glaring.
“Hey Jaz,” said Kevin, as though nothing had ever happened between us.
“Hi?”
“Why the questioning tone?”
“Well, we haven’t talked in a while, so…”
“You make that sound like it’s my fault.”
“Well, it definitely isn’t mine.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you chose boobs over our friendship.”
“I don’t even like her!”
“Then why won’t you talk to me anymore.”
“Look, I came here to tell you I miss you, let’s not fight”
“Whatever. If you really missed me you would have done something about her.”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Grow up and realize that she and Brett will never be your real friends.”
“Why are you saying that stuff?”
“I’m just repeating what you used to think!”
“What do you want from me?”
“I don’t want anything from you, I want the old Kevin.”
“It’s still me! I still think they’re fake, but I get anything I want now, everyone likes me.”
“I don’t.”
“I won’t just stop talking to them.”
“Yes, you will.”
“How?”
“I’ll make you. Me, you, ping-pong, Friday, my garage, 5pm.”
“Really?”
“You’re last chance to be my friend.”
“Whatever.”
As I saw him walking down the hall, I wondered if walking away from me is as easy as walking out of my life. He’s done both with almost no hesitation. I almost broke down crying. How could anyone walk away from their best friend, but I guess we weren’t best friends anymore. It felt good to at least have talked to him though. Even if I got him to stop talking to the twins we would never be best friends again, I realized that a while ago. I couldn’t just be friends with him, and not because of what he did to me. I couldn’t be his friend because I had feelings for him. I like him, a lot. When I stopped talking to him regularly I felt empty. When I saw him with Natalia I would get so jealous. I never noticed I’ve liked him before, but I guess you don’t realize what you have with someone until you lose it.
Friday after school I rushed home. I needed to set up my ping-pong table. I didn’t really expect him to come, but I was always an optimist. I’m not really a good ping-pong player, in fact I barely know anything about it. The reason I chose ping-pong was because even though I knew nothing about it, neither did Kevin. I guess we’re at an equal level of ping-pong knowledge and skill. We both knew the basics of playing, but we also both knew we couldn’t play. I guess this was kind of a fair game to choose. At least no one had an advantage.
It was 5 o’clock, and no one was over. Just me, in my house, with my ping-pong table. I was ready to give up, to just forget that I had ever even known a Kevin that wasn’t obsessed with being popular. One thing I must say, though, is that after everything that happened to him, he was still a good person. He never once helped the twins make fun of a kid; he usually stopped that from happening. I guess at least he hadn’t lost his sense of right and wrong. I just wish he would realize that he doesn’t even need them anymore. He’s long out grown the twins. He is popular on his own now, people like him because he’s a good, honest person. If he would just stop talking to them, and make time for me, I wouldn’t mind pushing aside my feelings and pretending to be his friend.
My phone started ringing. It was a text. It said, “I’m here.” My heart skipped a beat. He actually cared enough to come and play a stupid game of ping-pong to determine his social-life. I went and opened my front door. There he was, he looked like the old Kevin, but I knew it was someone more confident now. Looking into his eyes I still saw the real him. He hadn’t changed much, since I could still read him like an open book.
“Hey, you look good,” he said with a half smile.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah just go to the garage.”
As we got in the garage we decided we should work out our rules and conditions. It was all simple. We would play regular ping-pong. If I won, he would stop talking to the twins and make time for me. If he won he gets to do whatever he wants. I really hope he didn’t magically become good at ping-pong because “doing whatever he wants” did not involve me, Jasmine. Now that the conditions had been set we got to the playing.
I can honestly say that anyone who has ever seen a ping-pong game would cry at how badly we played. It was like we both had no depth perception. I mean really, this was just sad. We played for thirty minutes before I got one point. Another five minutes and he managed to get a point, too. We decided to play until someone got five. That could of course take hours, but I don’t think he minded spending time with me again. The game was fun; we both couldn’t help but laugh the whole time. It was kind of funny; I mean neither of us knew what we were doing. It felt good have Kevin back, even if it was only for a couple of hours.
We were tied, four to four. It was game point, and I was serving. If I had to pick between winning and losing, at this point it wouldn’t matter. I think Kevin missed spending time with me, and after this he would make time for me. Of course thinking that wouldn’t stop me from trying to win. Win or lose I would still be his friend, but winning would mean getting the twins out of the picture. That’s what I really wanted; I wanted the twins gone. I was going to win this for myself. It sounds bad, but it was time to be selfish.
I think it was the pressure of getting my best friend back, but when I served the ball it hit Kevin right in the nose. I honestly did not think I have the power to hit a ping-pong ball so hard at someone’s nose that they get a nose bleed. His nose was gushing blood; I needed to get it to stop. I got a rag I found on one of the shelves and held it tight against his nose. The blood got all over my garage floor, my hands, and Kevin’s clothes. I don’t think I broke his nose, but he’s looking at me with pain in his eyes.
“Oh. My. God. I’m so sorry!” I said with a deep breath.
“No, I’m fine.”
“You’re gushing blood!”
“I don’t think it’s broken…”
“Come in the house, I’ll get you a clean shirt.”
As I got one of my dad’s t-shirts Kevin washed his face. His nose had stopped bleeding, and we determined it wasn’t anything major. We figured that one of his blood vessels mush have just popped, or something. I guess the pain must have stopped. He said he wasn’t mad and that it wasn’t my fault. I guess I have really bad aim. He helped me mop the blood off my garage floor before my parents got home. When they got home they asked me what happened; I told them everything except for why we were playing ping-pong.
This isn’t usually the way it goes, but I walked Kevin home that day. When we got to his house we sat down on his front steps.
“I’m just wondering, but…” he said with a hit of a smile on his lips.
“What?”
“Did you miss me , too?”
“Of course, you were, and still are, my best friend.”
“I only stuck by Natalia because she was supposed to help me get the girl I like.”
“Oh, how did that work out?”
“Not well, turns out Natalia likes me, so she basically tried to split me and that girl apart.”
“Wow. So why did you come to my house?”
“Well, I realized you’re a lot more important that anyone. Actually I knew that all along. I just never realized that Natalia was splitting us apart. I mean I thought you were just acting like that because you weren’t interested.”
“What?”
“Well this is awkward to admit, but you’re the girl I like.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, and I would just like to say that when I said I would do what I wanted if I won, I meant stop talking to the twins and make time for you. Natalia really made me believe that you just weren’t interested. Brett told me everything, though. He’s pretty cool, and you should give a chance.”
“I always thought he was cool, it’s just that he is really self-centered.”
“Well, I stopped talking to Natalia on Wednesday, since Brett told me everything on Tuesday. I realized people like me for me, and not just because I am friends with the twins. I think everyone would like you for you, too. I mean I really like you.”
“Yeah, I really like you too.”
“Oh. That’s cool.” He said smiling. Then he jumped up and said, “Oh, dude, I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am. I need to say this right now or I never will. Jasmine, would you go on a date with me?
“Well, obviously.”
And that was the happiest I had been all year. It was the perfect ending to a not-so-perfect day. I watched the sunset sitting next to my best friend.