"Wendy, your friend's here to see you."

That's wierd. Vincent just texted me that he's still sick. I close my biology textbook and quickly jog down the stairs, my messy bun flopping around and undoing itself. Turning the corner, I expect to see Vincent, but instead it's Olivia. She stands shyly near the door, hands shoved in her coat pockets and legs straight with ankles touching. When she looks up and see me, she gives me a gentle but sad smile.

"Well, you girls have fun. I'm going to go buy some stuff to fix our kitchen sink, so don't use it." Dad zips up his coats and slips on a knitted hat before leaving through the garage door.

"Have a seat. You must be tired from walking." I try to casually plop onto the couch, hiding the awkwardness from our silence from the last month.

"Thanks," Olivia says, slowly sitting down next to me, but leaving enough space for another person to be between. "I actually got a car."

"Oh, that's great," I reply, a bit unenthusiastic. Maybe a month ago I would be screaming at the top of my lungs while bouncing around. But now, I feel like everything's changed in so little time.

"I'm sorry for what happened... I honestly didn't think you meant to hurt Vivian. You're not like that."

"Why does it matter anymore? Vivian and Evelyn both hate my guts."

"Wendy, please don't think that. You know Evelyn. She's super passionate. She probably got heated in the moment. If it wasn't for the fact that she only heard from Vivian's side that she wouldn't have overreacted like that."

"It's okay. Maybe it's better that they hate me. I wasn't a good friend in the first place."

"No, Wendy. That's not true. Please don't think that!" Olivia grabs into my arms, her wet eyes blinking frantically.

"Why don't you just hate me? It will make this better for you. Evelyn and Vivian are going to be pissed if they know you're talking to me," I say bitterly, my eyes staring at my lap.

"Wendy, not once did you purposely did or say a thing mean to us. Not even behind our backs. Of course you wouldn't now."

"It's okay. Its good enough that you believe me. But with Evelyn and Vivian... It's too broken to be fixed. I'm glad you came though," I sigh, giving a genuine smile.

"I don't get what's been going on with Evelyn and Vivian lately. They joined another clique and I can't stand the people in it. I wish it was usually just the four of us like old times."

"Yeah, I've noticed. But, people always change. We can't stay exactly the same."

Olivia solemnly digests my words and nods. "Actually, the reason why I'm here is because I have something to tell you."

I turn to face her directly, showing her my undivided attention.

"I-I... I actually like girls. Like in a romantic way."

Keeping my eyes on her, I slowly started to respond. "That's cool. I sort of had an idea you did. Well, my sister told me about it."

"Oh, well, I guess Wren would know. I have the feeling she likes girls too."

"She does? Jeez, am I never going to hear anything directly from you guys?" I start to laugh and Olivia joins it. Any residual ice starting to melt away.

"You're the first person I've told," Olivia admits.

"What about Evelyn and Vivian? They don't know?"

"I stopped talking to Vivian lately, and I haven't told Evelyn. To be honest, I think I like Evelyn. I want to tell her and confess to her, but I thought it would be better to do it in one go, or else I'll chicken out."

"Wren told me she's pretty sure Evelyn likes girls too. You have nothing to be scared of."

"Even if she did, there's no guarantee she has feelings for me besides friendship."

"Are you kidding me? Of course she likes you. You're great."

Olivia grabs my hands and gives me a pout. "Please help me ask her to the Winter Formal. I need someone to help me pick out a dress and make a sign."

"Of course I'll help you." I pull in Olivia to give her a tight hug.

"Let's go to the mall. You haven't picked out a dress, right?"

"Actually, I'm not going to the Winter Formal. But, I need to do some Christmas shopping."

"You aren't going with... Vincent?" Olivia hesitantly asks.

"No. We're just friends."

"Oh." Olivia thinks for a bit before continuing. "Then why is Vivian upset with you?"

"I'm not sure, but she probably has her reasons." I change the subject. "Will there even be any dresses in store when it's winter?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure."

"We should get going. It might take a while if I know anything about you shopping."

"Yeah," Olivia agrees.

We take Olivia's car and stop on the way to get some gas. Olivia still not used to owning her own car and having driver's instinct to notice if her tanks full. I had to remind her, like I sometimes do with Vincent.

Vincent. I wonder if he's still really sick. Maybe I should bring soup. No, that's too wierd. I can't keep coming to his house. Maybe I should text him. Ugh, but I already did this morning. He's probably fine... But what if he's not? What is up with me. Why do I care so much? Just a friend, Wendy. Just a friend...

"Wendy..."

"Huh?"

"We're here," Olivia says.

"Oh, sorry." I soon realize I've been blankly staring at the dashboard for a while now.

We have to wander into a few different shops before find any dresses that are somewhat flashy. Most of them had casual, fall dresses on discount. Olivia picks out a flowy blue one, a short pink one, and a dark, red, pencil-skirted one. She tries out the blue one first, but complains it's too long and will get wet in all the snow. The pink one seems a bit too tacky, so that one is out do the question. The red pencil skirt one is pretty, but it immobilizes her legs, making it likely that Olivia will face plant while walking.

"Try this one." I hold up a white one with a tulle skirt, short in the front and loner in the back. It has sleeves that reach above the elbows, so Olivia will at least be a little warm.

"Oh, that's cute." Olivia quickly goes to try it on.

The dress, now adorned on Olivia, looks even more pretty that I expected. I didn't notice that the neckline at straight, slightly exposing her shoulders. The hem of the skirt has some stripes of shiny ivory, which sparkles when light bounced off of it.

"I love it. I think I'm going to get this one."

"Yeah, you look really cute in it."

Olivia checks her phone and gasps, "Its only been an hour. That's a record for dress shopping. Usually, it take around three hours."

I laugh and agree.

While Olivia checks out and goes to to find a matching pair of shoes, I go to look for some Christmas presents. First, I go to buy Dad some new shoes since he refuses to buy any until the entire sole falls off. For Wren, I buy her a new baseball mitt and a drawstring sports backpack. It only takes me a while to pick out the gifts, and within twenty minutes, I'm heading towards the check-out. However, a black jacket catches my attention from the peripheral of my eye. Feeling the fabric, I notice it's a thin nylon. I check the tag. Windbreaker. It's perfect. No overheating while blocking from weather. I grab one and continue to the check-out.

Afterwards, I head to another shop to buy some lotion and body sprays. I grab three bottles of lotions and three body sprays and three soaps. Every year, I buy my friends Christmas gifts. Maybe it's false hope, but maybe they'll forgive me in time so I can do the same this year. If not, I'll have two sets left. At least I know I can give one to Olivia.

Two large shopping bags in hand, I return to the boutique to find Olivia finishing her payment. She excitedly runs up to me after she turns around.

"Do you like them?" She pulls out a pair of sparkly while heels decorated with an intricate web of straps.

"They're really pretty."

"I know right. Good thing it's winter because I got them on sale."

"Let's go get some food. I'm hungry," I say sheepishly.

"Of course you are," Olivia giggles, nodding in agreement.

We start for the food court, but are stopped by the call of Olivia's name.

Evelyn starts jogging up excitedly towards Olivia, but her face quickly turns sour when her eyes adjust to see my face.

"What are you doing here?" Evelyn turns to address me instead.

"Well..." I stall, trying to pluck any words out of my blanking mind that's going into overdrive.

Vivian slowly approaches, like Evelyn, seemly excited but quickly agitated.

"I asked Wendy to hang out with me," Olivia pipes up.

"Why? Did you forget what she did to Vivian?" Evelyn demands.

"She didn't do anything. You never gave her the chance to explain herself."

"I don't need to hear what she has to say. Obviously, she did something wrong if she never tried to explain herself in the beginning."

I dig my nails into my palms, gripping tightly onto my bags. Head down, I try to sink back away from them.

"Forget it, Evelyn. Let's go." Vivian grabs onto Evelyn, tugging her away. However, Evelyn stays rooted to her spot, eyes fixed at Olivia's eyes. They both stares with such fierceness and tension it made me nervous. I've never seen them this upset with each other before.

"Is this what you were too busy doing? This is why you didn't want to hang out with us?"

"Yes. It is. Don't you think it's too childish? Are we going to keep playing this ignoring game? She's been a better friend than Vivian for years and you know it." Vivian, who hears this not only from a long time friend but from someone as passive and kind person as Olivia, turns red and her lips purse.

"Well, people change."

"You're right... They do... Like you two."

Evelyn seems taken back by the unwavering tone coming from Olivia. "Is this it? You're going to side with the traitor."

"You're wrong. I'm siding with my friend. A real one. Talk to me when you realize the same, or otherwise, let's begin the ignoring games ourselves." Olivia looks directly at Evelyn, her eyes burning with a newborn intensity.

"Actually Olivia, I think I'm going to leave first." I turn to look at Vivian and Evelyn, who eyes purposely try to avoid mine. "I asked Olivia to meet me. It's not her fault. I promise I won't again."

My feet take off towards any direction of the mall. I have no destination in mind, only the desire to get away as far and as fast as possible. I hear the pounding of feet behind me, and a tug on my shoulder. Olivia spins me around, out of breath.

"Wendy, you didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't leave."

"No, it's my fault. I don't want to be the cause of a fight between you and Evelyn."

"Wendy, as a friend, I should've defended you in the first place. I regret it everyday. Please don't leave. Let ,e make it up to you."

Eyes rolls off of my cheek. "You believing me was enough. But you can't fix this. I broke this friendship, so it's not your responsibility to fix it. Please don't make me the reason why you and Evelyn will split as well," I beg.

"Wendy-"

"I hope you have fun at the dance. You'll look stunning." I shake away Olivia's hand and bolt out of the mall doors. Without rest, my feet pound against the pavement all the way home. A walk that would take me over two or three hours was a run less than an hour. Once in my room, I toss the bag of lotions into a corner of my closest and sat in the floor with Wilbur on my lap. With the t.v. on to entertain Wilbur and to muffle my cries, I try to quietly sob into a pillow. I was right... It was false hope.