I walked home. Halfway there Colleen caught up to me.

"Hey. Liza." She said. I tried ignoring her. But I had to ask her.

"Why Colleen? Why are you suddenly so friendly when we're alone? With your group, you act like a bitch. But now, you act so different." I said. She looked at me.

"Look, Liza..." She trailed off. It was weird that she called me by my real name. We came to my house. I was expecting her to just invite herself in, but she didn't.

"Could I come in? I understand if you don't want me to. I'm just asking." She said. I gave her a confused look.

"Since when is Colleen Ballinger nice?" I wondered. She gave me a small smile. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to figure out what her deal is, but I also didn't want her near me.
"Um... I don't know. Will you be annoying?" I asked. She shook her head immidiately. "I suppose you can come in."

We walked in. My mom greeted me as she heard footsteps and smiled at Colleen, who looked like she saw a ghost. My mom didn't question it. We went into my bedroom.

"What's up with you, Colleen?" I asked. "You've been really off lately." I added. She sat on my bed.

"Can you promise to keep a secret?" She asked. I nodded. It's not like there's a ton of people I can talk to. "But you will finish your story from yesterday if I tell you this." She added. I didn't know how to respond to that.

"But if you don't say to anyone." I said. She looked at me.

"I-I didn't even tell anyone about what you told me yesterday." She said. I was surprised. I didn't think she would keep a story like that to herself. I wanted to hug her but I also didn't. At the end I decided to hug her. "Why is that?" She asked.

"For keeping my secret." I said. She smiled. I didn't know anymore if we were friends or enemies.

"I would never tell anyone about that. You can trust me." She said. I raised an eyebrow to that.

"After what you did to me last year, I don't know if I can." I said. She gave me a 'I get you' look. "Can you tell me what you wanted?" I asked and she nodded.

"I think you know what I did to Gabbie last weekend. I said that I wanted to fix things with her. And I actually did want to do that, but Ariana said that she would give me 1000 dollars if I beat Gabbie up. And I did that. And I feel horrible. I should just die. I..." She trailed off as she started crying.

"Did you actually want to become friends with her?" I asked. And she nodded lightly.

"And... now... she... thinks... I'm... the... worst... person... she's... ever been... friends... with." She said between sobs. "I just wish... I had a friend... like you. All of my... friends... would never... be by my side. They... wouldn't care." She said and I hugged her. I could only hope that she wasn't faking at this point.

"Are you honest with me or are you faking?" I asked and she started crying on my shoulder even more. I think I made it worse by not trusting her.

"I'm not." She said as she calmed down. "Why would I?" She asked, but gave me the look that she didn't want to hear the answer. I hugged her tightly. "Take this. Please." She added as she handed me the 500 dollars from earlier.

"I don't want it." I said. She looked at me sadly. After that I decided to take the 500 dollars. "But this is the only time."

"Thank you." She whispered, her voice sounding weak from all the crying. "Do you want to tell me your story?" She asked. I nodded. I figured I had to after she told me her secret.

"Where were we?" I asked because I forgot where I left off.

"When Gabbie did something." Colleen said and she put her hand on my shoulder for comfort. She saw that I cried yesterday. "You don't have to tell me." She said. I appriciated that she didn't want to rush me.

"I want to tell you." I said and smiled at her. I took a deep breath before speaking. "Sometimes Gabbie would..." I trailed off. I already felt the tears building up.

"You can do it. I know you can." She comforted. This wasn't the same Colleen I knew from school. This was a different Colleen. The one that cared.

"Sometimes Gabbie would even borrow us some money so we have enough to pay the rent. She didn't want to lose a friend. She said I was her first real friend." I said and Colleen nodded lightly. I broke down and started crying into Colleen's shoulder.

"Gabbie was right to say that you were her first real friend. I was nowhere near being a friend. I was a bitch. A whore. I should die." She said and I looked up at her. I saw tears streaming down her face.

"Colleen..." I trailed off, being unsure if the question I wanted to ask would ruin everything.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Do... You care about me?" I asked. "Like a friend would." I added. I saw her expression change. I knew I ruined everything.

"Yes. I do." She answered and I hugged her tightly. "And I promise I will not hang out with Ariana and the group anymore. Even if that means I have to sit alone. I don't care. I wanna change. I want Gabbie to trust me. I want Gabbie to be my friend. I want you to be my friend. A real friend." She said and I smiled at her. She smiled back.

"Thank you." I whispered. She hugged me. "You can sit with me. You don't have to be alone." I added and she smiled at me.