“Christi, I have to talk to you,” urged Mara on Monday morning at school. “Let's go for a walk at lunchtime.” Christi smiled and agreed before she slumped off to math class.
Lunchtime came, and Mara waited for her friend at their lockers. They grabbed their lunch bags and headed out one of the school's side doors. As they started to cross the field, Christi spoke, “Listen, I feel really bad about what I said on Friday.” Yeah, but you said it anyway, thought Mara. Instead she said, “Forget it.”
Mara continued, “Something strange happened to me on Friday after I left your place. It's going to be hard to believe, but I swear it's true.” She told Christi the story. She detailed meeting Battery, going to the university, drinking lichen tea, and even going to the beach with Dru (although she omitted a few details).
The girls had stopped at a park where they used to play when they were younger. Each was seated on a huge tire protruding from the sand. Mara remembered attaching reins to their tires and giving them horsey names like Trigger and Speedbolt. That seemed a million years ago.
Christi chewed her sandwich and then finally spoke, “So you told your dad that you were at my house all weekend?” Mara was taken aback. Why had Christi picked up on that part of the story and not the interesting stuff?
“Well, yeah. It's no big deal; is it? I mean, how many times have you told your mum you were coming to my house when you were off with Ken and then with John?”
Mara urged herself to remain calm. She wanted Christi to believe her, not to get defensive.
“Does this Dru go to St. George's?”
Mara dropped her head. St. George's was a local school. Her best friend did not believe her.
“Christi, just stop for a moment. Think about these horses. Think about the faeries we used to imagine in the forest. Remember all the magical stories we used to come up with? Don't you recall how we would wish that something amazing would happen to us?” Christi chewed her sandwich and shrugged. “Well, something magical finally happened! You are maybe the only person who would believe me. I wouldn't make it up. I would never try to trick you. You are my best friend in the world. If we were going to invent a story, we'd do it together! I wish I had some proof for you. I have a scratch on my knee and elbow from where I fell. My bike is beat up …” Mara dwindled off.
She looked at Christi. Those hazel eyes that she had always trusted, she had seen them fill with tears numerous times. And now those eyes looked empty, disbelieving. Mara felt such a deep pain that she thought her soul must be splitting.
Christi's eyes flashed through a moment of tenderness.
“Sorry,” she whispered. Then the eyes returned to emptiness. Christi jumped off Speedbolt and suggested that they head back. Mutely, they walked back.
When they reached the school, Christi moved Mara's braids back, tenderly, familiarly. She pulled Mara into a hug.
“I'll always be here for you.”
Mara wanted to scream and curse at the treachery. In her head she shouted, What do you mean, you'll be here for me? I just confided in you, and you didn't believe me! What a stupid thing to say. Mara hated duplicity and girly sentimentality. I am alone, she thought. She understood that this was not a bad thing, just a detail to be acknowledged.
I am alone. Everyone realises this at some point in his or her life. For Mara, it was that very moment.