Page 133 - The Life of A Teenage Girl (Stories About Finding Your Way)

CHAPTER 9

A
fter school, I walked home with Mark. This past week, he’d

quietly become my emotional anchor—someone I could
talk to without feeling judged. I appreciated him more than

I let on, and honestly, he felt like the best friend I didn’t know I needed.
He saw my face and realized I was down.

He asked, “What’s wrong, Charls?”

“Oh, um… I just had a weird day. My parents are getting a divorce,
and my friends were no help. Instead, they wanted to end our

friendship—with just me out of the picture.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. But I support you.”

“Really? Why? You barely even know me.”

“Yeah, but we’re kind of friends, right? And now that I know what
you’re going through, I can’t just leave—like how your friends did.”

“Thanks. But I still can’t believe they did that to me. Like, I
thought we were best friends. But I guess not.”

“Fake friends are a lot in this world. You don’t expect it to be easy
to find real friends out here.”

“Yeah. Hey, at least I have you.” I nudged his shoulder with a soft

smile.
He chuckled under his breath. “Yeah. Me too.”

I wasn’t sure why, but there was this warmth rising in my face—
and his too. We both felt it, even if we didn’t say anything. It was a