Sad love songs hit differently when someone breaks your heart. Harper is blasting them from the speakers at the highest volume possible. Specifically for my benefit of course. Sisters, I tell ya.

Today is going to be awful. Considering that my life just crumbled to the ground yesterday. Harper and I had a long discussion last night. Harper sides with Will, which is ridiculous in my personal opinion. How can she side with the guy who is bit by bit, shredding my heart into pieces? She keeps telling me that I shouldn't believe what Mark says, that I should take his words with a grain of salt. But she doesn't know Will as I do. She hasn't been watching him like I have.

" Excited for today?" she asks sarcastically.

" Nope."

" You know, sometimes you have to give me my hoodie back."

" No." I'm surviving on as few words as possible.

Harper had turned down the music to talk to me, but I turn it back up, signaling that this conversation is over. I don't want to talk. Whenever I try to talk, my voice gets choked and I break down. I broke down about five times last night when Harper and I were talking.

I guess it's hitting me now that I have no best friend. That love is just a figment of the imagination. Because what is love when it can be broken so easily? People say that love is one of the strongest powers on earth. Well, it isn't. Just ask my heart

When we enter the theater I'm already inside my shell. I put my head down and fast walk to the auditorium. I sit in a corner on the floor absentmindedly scrolling through my photos on my phone.

I can tell when Will walks in because everyone greets him with 'good morning!' And, ' hello!'.  Everyone loves him, everyone is blinded by his charm. Well, I used to be as well, but now I know better. I quickly exit the auditorium out the backstage door so I don't have to face him for at least a little space of time. When I'm outside I breathe in gulps of air, but it doesn't help the constant burning in the back of my throat.

    I hear someone walking towards me and realize it's Mark, " What are you doing?" he asks.

    " Just taking a breather," I say, not looking him in the eye.

    " Right, well I have a proposition for you, more of a suggestion really," He leans against the theater's brick wall.

    " Yea?" I awkwardly shuffle my feet and pick at my nonexistent nail polish.

    " Break off your friendship with Will, actually break off everything. Get him banned from the theater I don't care, it'll help your mental state,"

    " My mental state?" I spit, anger boiling up inside of me, " since when did you care about my mental state, since when do you randomly start irrational conversations so... So flipping quickly." Well self, that was dumb. I think.

    " I've always had Skye! And as for starting irrational discussions, aren't all our discussions kinda irrational? Plus I saved you from that creep the first time I ever laid eyes on you! I signed up for a hellhole of a week just to protect you, I even put up with you and Will's relationship even though I was dying inside. Then I realized all these things about him, the way he looks at you, the way he touches you, and then I overheard that conversation-,"

    " Wait, dying inside? Why-,"

    " I love you,"

    My heart stops. " Love?" I choke on the word.

    " Yes," he whispers, " I've loved you since the first time I have ever laid eyes on you."

    " How is that possible?" I say, feeling as if I'm in a dream, a very, very bad dream... wait. Flashbacks flood my mind. That dream... how can somebody who loves me scare me? He even scared me not in just my dream but real life! I think. I try to say something, but Mark continues.

    " So, I feel the need to protect you, I didn't know that it would hurt you so bad that Will is a player, but I promise to protect you from such things from here on out."

    Somethings wrong, terribly wrong. Every word he's saying is rehearsed. I can tell. I've heard memorized words poured into my ears my whole life. He can't fool me, how did I let him fool me before? How did I let him manipulate my life? Shucks, I should've listened to Harper. Well, at least I caught him in the act more quickly than he'd ever think. " You don't love me," I say in a monotoned voice, standing straighter, pulling out of the slump I've been in for the past forty-eight hours.

    " How can you say that?" Mark's eyes start tearing up. But I know that he's faking it this time. " Can't you see that I'm trying to help you?"

    " No, you're just trying to destroy my life, and Mark, stop faking tears, I'm an actor, and let me just say your acting skills suck." That should lower your pride a bit.

    But it doesn't. Actually, it makes everything worse. Because what Mark does next haunts me for the rest of my life.

                                   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

    It's funny what a drastic change my emotions have undergone in the past few days. Love, joy, then heartbreak, and now, now fear. But I'm angry too, angry at the position I'm in. Because Mark has done something unforgivable, and I can't do anything about it.

    I no longer walk around with my head down, stuffed inside Harper's hoodie. I walk with purpose, power coursing through me fueled by anger and fear. Besides, that's how Mark told me to act so what else can I do? You are probably wondering where I'm headed. Well, I'm on my way to Will to break off all ties with him, that's right you heard me. I'm dreading every second of it, yet, I do it without hesitation.

    I find it weird that just an hour ago I thought that love held no power. But the thing I'm about to do is because of love. Mark knows that. I know that. He tried to rip the idea of love out of me, but what he doesn't know is that what he is making me do now just causes my love to grow stronger.

I find Will after asking several people and checking all over the building. Turns out, he's sitting outside in his car. I guess he wants to get out of the mid-morning rush of all the kids arriving at camp.

He sits with his head slightly down, re-reading our script and making little notes in the margins. For a moment I sadly stare at him through the window. I stare too long apparently because Will senses my presence and looks up. He waves through the window and motions for me to hop in. I climb into the passenger seat. It reminds me of the day we went to The Cosmic Cup, where this whole friendship started. And now I have to destroy it.

" Hey," Will says. I notice that his shoulders are slightly tensed, a sign that he's uncomfortable. An act. I think then I backtrack, Wait no, not an act, Mark told you that after he... I block the thought out of my mind and smile weakly at Will.

" Hey, still working at that script?"

" Yep." That's all he says, going back to focusing on the page in front of him.

" So, I need to tell you something." Better to just spit it out before it gets too nasty in my mouth.

" Mhm,"

" I- we-," I rub my hands along my forehead, this is harder than I thought it would be. " Will, I think it would be best if we stop being best friends." There. I said it. But the look on Will's face makes me want to take back every word.

But I'm not emotionally prepared for what he says next, " I know."

" You... know?" I ask.

" It would be best." Will starts packing up his papers and I just stare at him, dumbfounded. After he's done, Will opens his door, steps out, and leaves me there, feeling stranded.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I call another emergency meeting but this time, strictly with girls from the theater. We meet at a small diner close to the theater. Lena immediately gives me a huge hug, and Elisabeth follows suit. It's comforting knowing at least they care about me. Harper is also here, considering that she is present at every one of my emergency meetings. We head into the diner and take our seats at a small private booth.

" What's up Skye?" Lena asks, " You haven't been yourself lately, I've been worried about you."

" Oh trust me, she has definitely not been herself. Last night she took a two-hour-long shower and the whole family tried to get her out but it was useless." Harper complains.

" Oh c'mon, it wasn't that long," I say rolling my eyes at Harper's exaggeration.

" But why are we here Skye?" Elisabeth says, getting us back on track.

" Start from the beginning." Harper directs.

So I do, only excluding a few parts from my last conversation with Mark. When I finish they all stare at me with evident shock on their faces. Even Harper is shocked when she hears everything pieced together.

" I don't even know what to think," Elisabeth says, finishing off a large milkshake she has been glugging through the entirety of my speech.

" So, you finally believe now that Will likes you," Harper says.

" And that Mark is dumb," Lena adds in.

"But why did you break off the friendship with him? I mean, now that you know he likes you..."

" He's a player, that's why," I say. I still believe that, but now, that's the least of my problems, I'm just using that to cover up what Mark actually said.

Suddenly, Lena sighs, and sets down her cup, " Will's not a player." We all stare at her, confused looks on our faces. " I think it's time I tell you something, Skye. Will told me not to tell you, but this is an emergency. That girl we were talking about, that he thinks will never love him... that's you."

" There's no way, Mark told me that Will was talking about someone he broke up with."

" He never said that, Mark was making that up. I was the one having the conversation trust me, I know."

" Then-," I break off, not wanting to go farther.

" Then why did he agree to break off your friendship?" Harper finishes for me.

" I have no idea, but I promise you he meant what he said when he told me he was interested in you," Lena says.

" There must be some reason for all this Skye, I suggest just trusting Will," Elisabeth says.

" I can't! Over the past two days, I've almost lost trust in everybody!" I put my head in my hands. Why does my life have to be so complicated?

We sit in silence for a while, me trying to figure out my life, and the others trying to figure it out for me. There has to be something that makes sense. Some fragment I can hold on to, but even though I scour my brain for ideas, I come up with nothing.

" I have a proposition," Elisabeth says, causing us all to jump because we have all been in such deep thought. " Tomorrow, we each take a section of time in the day to watch Will. We watch his every move, where he goes, what he does, who he talks to especially how he acts around Skye."

" I like it!" Harper says, " That way we can keep tabs on him to show Skye that he's a person she can trust."

I snort. " I told you already, I don't-,"

Lena cuts me off, " we know, you don't trust anybody."

I just frown and cross my arms, " fine, do what you like, but it won't fix anything."

" What if we also watch Mark?" Harper suggests, " Besides, he's already done some questionable things, why wouldn't he do more?"

" I agree!" Elisabeth says, " All in favor, give me a fry!" Three fry's land in front of her. They all look at me expectantly. I shrug, pluck a fry from my plate and give it to Elisabeth. " the jury has voted, meeting adjourned." Elisabeth pounds the table with her empty milkshake cup and we all stand, shaking each other's hands like distinguished gentlemen.

Authors note

Hello faithful readers!

Just for fun, I have decided to write some more fun facts about myself.

Age: fifteen

Height: 5'10

Harper is based after my real sister.

Lena is based after a friend from my theater.

The Pretentious Young Lady's is an actual one-act that I did in theater camp.

And last, but not least, I REACHED 1,100 READS!

Thank you all so much for reading!

-heavengrace55