Authors Note: This piece was assigned as a point of view essay for the book Speak. I wrote this scene as an example of what it's like to live in Melinda's life and how she feels getting abandoned by her best friend. The next piece is the same scene but from the point of view of Rachel.
Melinda.
"We'll always be best friends."
"I'll never tell your secrets."
"I won't ever abandon you."
Just a few lies your best friend will tell you. They'll say that they are, and forever will be, there for you. Whenever you need them they’ll be there, to listen to you, comfort you, help you. But at some point in your life they'll ditch you, whether you're not good enough or they found someone better, one day they'll be gone.
As I walk through the cafeteria I exchange glances with Rachel, the girl who neglected me. Mine, friendly and welcoming, was quickly answered with her nasty snarl. I opened my mouth to say something but before I could get a word out Rachel tossed her hair over her shoulder, pointed her chin to the sky and walked away. A quizzical expression began to form on my face as I watched the girl who I used to share everything with walk off. Maybe if she'd listen to what I had to say, the way she used to say she would, things would be different. But the rumors about me, everything everyone is saying are making her second guess me. The girl she's known all her life. The girl she knows everything about. The girl she said she'd be there for.
I won't lie and say the rumors aren't true, but I will be honest and say they are not complete. It's true, I lied to my parents, I went to the party, I called the cops. But what everyone doesn’t know is that I got sexually assaulted.
I always wanted to know what happens that makes people you know become people you knew. And how someone can go from being your best friend to your worst enemy without as much as a for warning. I wanted to understand what makes people feel the right to judge others without actually knowing them. Looking back at all of that, I wish I never found out.
Rachel.
Ditch your friends.
Get caught up with upperclassman you don’t know.
Call the cops.
Just a few things you should never do at a party. Melinda Sordino, the girl I thought was my best friend, obviously didn’t get it. After all the trouble I went through to get us into that party, all she had to do was play it cool and stay there; but she couldn’t even do that. Was she trying to embarrass me? Did she only take the invite because she thought busting the kids would make them respect her, even before high school started? Or was she really so naive that she didn’t understand that alcohol is as essential to a party as people are?
When I walked into the cafeteria on the first day of school, I spotted her immediately. She looked at me and smiled, almost like she was happy to see me. Like the night of the party never happened. But I was not ready to forget what she did. So I tossed my hair behind me and headed off before she could get a word out.
She thinks I’m mean. She thinks I left her. She thinks it’s my fault. It’s not. I would have forgiven her and helped her out, but she made it perfectly clear she didn’t want my assistance. She abandoned me.
