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Riley — 18 years old (Summer before senior year)
“Well,” Lila chortles, raising her plastic cup of fruit punch in the air. She has her dark hair in a French braid and we’re wearing matching hoop earrings — a Galentine’s present we got each other. I press my hands over my favorite yellow dress, trying to smooth out any wrinkles. “We survived. Cheers to us!”
Yeah, we miraculously survived our junior year.
I like to think that Lila came into my life as my fairy godmother. I mean, she doesn’t have a magic wand, but I like to believe that she’s definitely magical. I read an article last month in Cosmopolitan, about how people come into our lives for a purpose – one that is not always favorable to us – because sometimes they come into our lives, bringing pain and misery with them.
But sometimes, it’s a test of time — to teach us valuable lessons of love and worth. Maryam came into my life for that purpose. She was there when I needed someone to make me see a new beginning. Although our friendship was brief, Maryam will always be the girl who transformed the dead sparrow into a monarch butterfly.
And then Lila walked into my life, with all her sass and intelligence. We were both outsiders within the walls of Berkshire Academy, and we only had each other to depend on. Sometimes, soulmates come in the form of friends. It’s not always about love and romance, which I have long given up on.
Lila slowly eradicated my bullies with her smartness and wickedness.
She’s the sweetest thing I know, but damn — Lila has a menacing side. It reminds me to never get on her bad side.
I still remember the day she calmly walked around Berkshire’s hallway after smartly locking the boy’s changing room and putting laxatives in Jasper’s bottle — which ended with him embarrassing himself publicly. I didn’t know what she had done until after the events occurred. She had been the epitome of calm, so much so that I didn’t suspect a thing. Until she herself told me what she had done. I really thought she’d get caught that day, but maybe fate was on her side. Hence why I think Lila Garcia is made of magic.
We never saw Jasper again after that day. It was rumored that he left Berkshire in complete humiliation, and had his father move him to a different state.
After that, a scandal shook the core of Berkshire Academy, which diverted the attention from me and Lila. An affair between a teacher and a student — an ex-friend of mine and Jenny’s bestie — Sasha. The teacher was fired, and while Sasha wasn’t expelled, her life was turned upside down. She was ostracized and the bullies found a new victim, until she had no choice but to leave Berkshire for good.
After Jasper left, Jenny tried to dig her claws into the next popular guy. Our infamous quarterback, and the King of Berkshire Academy, Maddox Coulter.
But Maddox had absolutely no interest in indulging her and her fakeness. When she realized she had no power over Maddox, Jenny tried to get with his best friend, Colton Bennett. I heard gossip of them sleeping together, but even that didn’t last long.
After a while, Jenny lost the power she held.
Until she became nothing and nobody.
Berkshire Academy is a shark tank. It devours the weak and the vulnerable, leaving behind a pile of bones. Lila and I survived the rest of our junior year by keeping our heads down and blending in with the crowd.
Lila taps the map on her bed, bringing my attention to it. “So, where are we going?”
“I’m thinking the Grand Canyon,” I tell her thoughtfully, taking a sip of my raspberry juice. We’re planning our summer trip. “What do you think?”
Lila hums under her breath. “Arizona. Yeah, I’ve never been there. I think it’s the perfect vacationing spot. And we can visit Lake Powell. I’ve always wanted to go there after seeing all those gorgeous photos online.”
“I’ve never been there either. My family owns a cabin in Arizona, near the Grand Canyon. So, we can stay there for a few weeks.” The perfect opportunity for me to avoid my parents as much as I can during the summer.
My modeling and pageant career ended after what happened at the Christmas gala and then I had to leave for rehab, which put a full-stop on my social activities. My mother tried to get me back into the business, but no one wanted to be associated with the disgraced daughter of Thomas and Nora Johnson.
My mother’s disappointment and my father’s belittling still echo in my ears. It hurts not having their understanding or support. They still refuse to acknowledge my eating or anxiety disorder. But I, for once, am happy with not having to fit into the role of the perfect and poised Riley Johnson anymore. The one who has to uphold her mother’s name and her father’s image.
My father still has a tight control on my life. He decided I will be going to Yale for my undergraduate education and he gave me two options for my major— a B.A in Ethic, Politics and Economics or a B.A in Political Science. I knew the right choice, per my father’s interest, would be Political Science. So I chose Ethic, Politics and Economics instead. A little act of rebellion, even if it didn’t matter a whole lot.
It somehow made me feel in control, even though I wasn’t. Because if I truly had a choice, I would have chosen an undergrad degree in English and Literature.
“Oh, by the way, I finished Famine by Laura Thalassa,” Lila tells me. She gets off of her twin bed and moves to her tiny bookshelf. “Here, thanks for lending me the book. I made sure not to fold the corner of the page this time and used a proper bookmark.”
I am proud to say that I got Lila into reading romance books. She used to like murder and mystery novels, but, of course, I had to point her down the right path of literature. Romance.
And tragedies, because I love those too. But mostly romance, with happy endings.
She hands me back my book, and I gladly take it. “You didn’t dog-ear my paperback this time?”
Lila rolls her eyes. “Nope. Your precious paperback is safe and sound.”
“Thank God.” I release a relieved sigh.
