Celeste's POV

I still often think about the first day of 10th grade. I was just walking down the halls when someone stupidly walked straight into me. Their apology seemed so insincere as well, she only mumbled, "Sorry," without even looking me in the eye. She didn't even look up. She was too busy fumbling with her tie. 

I'd never seen her before, and I could tell she was new. She was probably the newbie who had made it in on scholarship since she didn't even know how to tie a tie. I briefly considered making a scene like those typical 'mean girls' and start yelling at her.

But wait... 

Her voice... 

Could it be her?

No, it couldn't be. Or was it?

The girl finally fixed her tie, then hastily looked up.

It was her.

Alexsis.

I couldn't hide the fact that I was surprised. I guess I'll need to work more on my poker face.

It was obvious that she was also extremely shocked.

She matured a lot, the last time I saw her being when she was 9. Now, she was 14. I'll admit it, she was pretty attractive. She was tall, lean, and slightly muscular. She must be very strong. I could tell from her biceps and how comfortable she looked in her uniform. But it wasn't like I liked her or anything. Whatever. Maybe it was normal to feel this way.

These feelings always resurfaced when I was with her. They were so confusing, so I pushed them down once again.

I knew that I needed to maintain my reputation here, so I said coldly, "Next time watch where you're going, newbie," before walking off. I hoped that she couldn't tell how fast my heart was beating and that I was sweating... 

Wait, why was I like this?! I'll just blame it on puberty, I guess...

I still regret breaking off our friendship.

I really do.

Every day, every moment.

I never should've let my parents influence me into breaking off our friendship.

But of course, they'd planned for that all along, knowing the type of people they were.

Those damn manipulative imbeciles.

7 years ago

When I was 8, they forced me to focus even more on my studies, even though I already had private lessons with highly experienced tutors 5 hours a day.

1 hour each for English, Math, Science, Socials, and History.

I also had to practice 2 hours of flute each day.

I already barely had any time to hang out with Alexsis, yet they wanted to make me do even more.

It was just a seemingly normal Saturday morning. I was just about to go out and meet with Alexsis when my mother stopped me in the living room.

She asked, "Are you going out to see Alexsis, Celeste?"

"Yes mother, I am."

"We want you to break off your friendship with her."

Those 10 words felt like spikes protruding into my heart.

She couldn't be serious, was she? Alexsis was all I had.

"What-? You're joking, right?" I felt betrayed, and numb.

"Sadly, we aren't." My father walked in, holding his daily coffee.

I whirled around and gaped at him while he calmly sipped his coffee.

This couldn't be happening.

I refused to believe it.

During the moment of silence, my numbness wore off, and suddenly, all I felt was anger. I threw a big tantrum and told them that I would run away from home and live with Alexsis.

When they heard that, they started laughing.

"Celeste, do you think they have enough money to care for you even if she wanted you to live with her? Or that we wouldn't call the police to say that you were brainwashed and get you back without even moving a finger? There are countless ways that we can get Alexsis's family in huge trouble and get you back." 

My father flashed his trademark smile as he took another sip of his coffee. It made me want to yank the cup out of his hands and smash it into a wall and punch him in the face at the same time. He wasn't even finished. 

He continued, "Stop being foolish now and cut this childish act of yours. Millions of children who want tutors can't even afford half an hour with one. Do you not know how lucky you are? You need to study more, or else you'll never make it into Sir Winston Stilton Academy." 

My parents were always very blunt and straightforward.

Of course, hearing this only made me more upset.

"You don't understand! I don't care and I don't want to have more tutors! You can't take Alexsis away from me like you took Madeline away!"

They snickered, then said, "You don't have any time to spend with Alexsis. Cut off your friendship with her now. We only humoured you when you were 5 because you needed to learn how to be social. We have no use for her now."

"No! She's my friend! Stop it!" I was screaming at this point, while my parents calmly stood next to me, with eerie smiles on their faces.

"It's alright, we get what you mean. It's natural to feel an attachment to someone you've been friends with for 3 years. But now it's time to let her go. You have no time for her, how do you think she'd feel waiting for you yet never seeing you again? It'll hurt less for both of you to break things off now while you're both still young. She'll be able to move on and find other friends, just as you would, with children from more respectable families."

See what I mean? So damn manipulative. It still pisses me off thinking about it today.

But I hated how they were partially right. They would force me to have more classes with those tutors no matter what until I didn't have any time to spend with Alexsis. It would be very unfair to give her false hope. It would hurt both her and me considerably.

I didn't fold that easily though, I was stubborn and saw Alexsis as not just my best and only friend, but also my one last tie to freedom. My parents knew that and wanted to sever that tie. They didn't want me to have any freedom.

I shrieked, "No! You're lying!"

"Now, now, why would we lie to you, Celeste? We're your parents, we only want the best for you. Just do as we say before things get worse. We don't want a repeat of what happened with Madeline, do we?"

I was still young and I got scared. "You-you won't dare.. I... I'll call the police on you!"

"You still don't get it, do you Celeste? Do you think the police mean anything to us? When we're infinitely more influential than them? Especially when we didn't even do anything illegal? Also, do you not know how bad it is for not only your reputation but also ours to have connections with a family like that? Say what, just do as we say and you can play only 1 hour of flute a day. How does that sound? We know that you're getting sick of it."

The way that they put it, it was as though Alexsis had just been a distraction.

I said nothing, only seethed with anger as I racked my brains for something else to rebuttal them with.

I knew that the main reason they wanted to break off our friendship was because when Father been around my age, he had a friend, who was also only average, just like Alexsis. Things were going great until he started ghosting him. He was mad that he didn't see the signs that he'd been dropping about not wanting to be friends anymore.

Sure, it was sort of sweet that he was looking out for me, but the situation with Alexsis was different. We still wanted to be friends. It was unfair how he was unjustly forcing me to do what his friend had done to him but in a worse way. I don't think he saw things as the same as his old friend had done to him, but as avoiding future complications and saving time.

They finally gave me an ultimatum: "We'll give to until the end of February, after your ninth birthday. If you don't sort things out by then, you'll see how merciless we can be."

I think we all know what happened shortly after.

The day after Alexsis bumped into me, I realized that we had to talk. The thing that was nagging at me the most was if she told anyone about our past friendship. My reputation would be seriously ruined, and if my parents caught wind of that, then they would deal with her as they'd dealt with Madeline. 

I didn't want to hurt her any more than I already had. And I must say, I was pretty proud of her for getting in here by scholarship. It really isn't easy.

I was also pleasantly surprised that she also went to band, and that we had band together. At least I would get to see her once every weekday.

I saw that she plays clarinet, a woodwind instrument like the flute. She plays so well! I overheard her telling the band teacher, Mr. Reeves, that she only learnt it for 2 years.

2 years?! It took me over ten years to get to the level I am today, and I was sure that clarinet is harder than flute. No way. She really was talented. 

After loads of consideration, I decided to just give her a note during band, since that's the only time I even see her. I decided to her a week to settle in before dropping the bomb on her. 

So, I prepared my note beforehand on Monday and bought it with me to band, but I kind of chickened out before I could give it to her. What if someone saw? What if I dropped it on the ground instead of her lap?

On Tuesday, I tried again, but couldn't find the right moment. I didn't want anyone to see that I was giving her a note. It kept stressing me out, the fact that she might've already told others, even though I knew that she wasn't the type of person to do that. I guess I'm just insecure.

But on Wednesday, I finally succeeded in giving her the note. It was just the right moment; everyone was setting up their instrument. I had to walk by her to get to my seat, so as I approached her, I swiftly pulled the note out of my blazer and dropped it directly onto her lap, the sound of my heart pounding filling my ears. I wanted to see her reaction, yet couldn't afford to without seeming suspicious. 

As I walked away, I could practically feel her eyes beaming a hole into my back. For a second, I was afraid that she might just ask me right there what the note was, or would just start reading it there. I quickly snuck a peek at her as I sat on my seat, my curiosity getting the best of me. I knew her well enough to know that she could be trusted though, and as expected, she quickly stuffed the note into her trouser pockets. 

Thank goodness I finally got it done.

Now all I had to do was wait.