November 5th
Dear 13-Year-Old Kelly,
Oh, November 5th.
You know what sucks more than what will happen today?
This is an English holiday. It's a BIG English holiday. So not only will you always remember the darkness that comes with today, you'll always remember the day because it's a holiday! There will be tweets and facebook statuses... but I won't confuse you with things you don't understand yet.
I want you to do one thing today: breathe.
I'm going to breathe, too. Because that is the only you can keep doing.
The people who you thought were your best friends, who, you thought, loved you no matter what? They're going to stab you in the back today.
They know your fears. They know your hopes. Worse, they know who you like. And that is the worst possible thing a 13-year-old girl can know.
They are going to trick you into asking said crush out. They will tell you it *has* to be today. They will tell you he *will* say yes. They tell you everything you need to hear to ask him to be your boyfriend. It works.
You go to his locker after school and in front of most of the 8th grade class [who, you're pretty sure knows what's going on], you ask him to go out with you.
Then, one of the biggest shocks of your life, he says no.
Well, like any normal girl, you freeze. Fight or flight? It's Tuesday, you have Student Council - flight.
You say, "okay." and make your way through the crowd to the cafeteria. You don't care that you're *going* to be the first one there, you just need to get out. You don't cry, you're in shock.
Slowly, you begin to realize what happened. They tricked you. But it's okay. Because you didn't love him or anything, it was just a crush. You'll carry on.
What you don't understand, what breaks your heart, your body, your soul into a thousand pieces, is why your *best friends* did this to you. It was a joke. It was a cruel joke.
Some friends come into the cafeteria, claiming that the whole school saw me run off crying. No, you correct, you just needed to come to student council. You're not crying, except for a few tears shed, you're fine. You're perfectly fine.
You just don't understand.
And oh shit, where are you going to sit at lunch tomorrow?
All my love,
23-year-old Kelly
