Crossroad
Two Years Ago
Karyn Black felt a soft sigh escape her lips as she absentmindedly turned the dial on the combination lock. As she slid her locker door open, she moved closer to the alcove, hoping that it would somehow shield her from the prying eyes of others. She was not, as a rule, an incredibly social person. In the grand ball that was life, Karyn Black was even too shy to talk to the wallflowers. All she wanted, all she needed was for another school year to pass by. It was difficult to believe that this was going to be her last year here in the Junior High. On one hand, it seemed as though the whole of her life had driven her to this point far too quickly. On the other hand, she couldn't help but think that it hadn't been nearly quickly enough. Every so often, the young blond would turn her head, just ever so slightly; just enough to see what was going on around her. Like an ostrich burying its head in the ground though, as soon as it looked like somebody had noticed her, she shifted her gaze back to the locker. She did this so quickly it was a wonder she didn't suffer whiplash.
It hadn't always been this way for the teen. Making friends had never been extremely high on her list of marketable skills, but she'd managed it once. There had been a time, she thought as she wondered why her mind was traveling this path, when she'd had at least one very good friend. Of course, like all good things it had come to an end. For Karyn, it had been an extremely frustrating end. There'd been no fighting, no arguing, no real fallout of any kind. They'd simply drifted. In grade school, they'd been inseparable.
And then they'd been separable.
At least that's how it had seemed at the time. Looking back, especially over the summer when she and her family had gone out into the mountains Well, her family had gone out into the mountains at least. For her part, Karyn had spent most of her time locked away in her family's RV. The bulk of her time had been spent wondering what had gone so wrong, and when she couldn't stand thinking about that anymore, she'd escaped into the realm of Middle Earth and spent her time with Frodo and his companions. At first, things had been great between them "“ Karyn and her friend. Not, as one might infer, Karyn and Frodo. They'd talked almost every day, and they'd told each other everything, in the same way that they'd done since second grade. Then they'd stopped talking quite as much. There hadn't seemed to be any reason for it. Maybe if she'd been a little more socially conscious, spent a little more time around people instead of her books and music, she would have recognized it for what it was.
They'd simply started drifting apart. It was a natural part of friendship on some level, but it hadn't been something that she'd been aware of. Up until that point, the only stable relationships in her life had been the ones that she shared with her family. So, she'd spent a fair amount of time, as her friend had started hanging out with a new crowd, the popular girls, trying to figure out exactly what she'd done wrong, and what she could do to fix it. The fact that she had done something wrong, something to drive her friend away, was the only thing that Karyn had been sure of. Now, afraid that she might repeat the same unknown mistake, she tended to avoid people. She had a way of blending into the background, a way of cloaking herself in a kind of social-invisibility field. At least that's what Karyn, like many others in her closed down state of mind, believed.
She shook her head slowly as she grabbed her English book and shut her locker. She didn't even turn all the way around before she nearly ran headlong into somebody.
Karyn looked up and her eyes went wide. "Natalie?"
Her former friend smiled. She had such a beautiful smile and it had been so long since Karyn had seen it that she'd nearly forgotten what it looked like. Natalie tilted her head slightly, holding her books up over her chest. Her long dark hair was done up in a ponytail, and her bangs were combed down and around to frame her face. Her dark eyes seemed to sparkle. Now, it's entirely possible that Karyn's impression was slightly exaggerated. After all, it had been a time since they'd talked, and almost as long since Natalie Gibson had even acknowledged her, and it had been a friendship that some would say Karyn had placed far too much stock in. In that regard, Karyn couldn't help but idealize the encounter, at least to a point.
"Hey Kare," Natalie said softly. "How was your summer?"
For a fraction of a second, the red headed girl found herself flustered. "It was okay," she finally said, shrugging. She decided it would be best to try and play it cool. People tend to think of words like clingy and obsessive more in regards to boyfriends or girlfriends, but the term applied to friendships too. That was part of what she'd felt she'd done to drive her friend away. Now, it was time to show her that she wasn't the center of Karyn's world. "Went with the 'rents to the Rockies," she paused, "They say it's beautiful and pure, and other things like that, but I just really don't get it Nat." She shook her head slowly for effect.
"Sounds better than mine," Natalie said casually. "Spent the entire summer up at my aunts, helping her with the garden."
Karyn snickered, "How is Aunt Flo?"
Natalie rolled her eyes. "She's fine, though I can't say the same for her garden "
"Yeah," Karyn added, "Why does she keep it up? I remember that summer I went out there with you." Karyn nodded wistfully, "She couldn't even grow a weed in that mess to save her life. Dandelions were afraid of her yard."
"Don't tell her that though," Natalie said as they rounded a corner. So caught up in the euphoria of talking to somebody she'd started to think of as a former friend. They stopped at Natalie's locker. As the taller girl started to open her locker, she turned to Karyn. "Hey, I'm glad I found you though. I wanted to see if you wanted to spend the night tonight, kinda a slumber party thing, just us?"
"Really," Karyn said, trying to keep the surprise from her voice. "I mean, sure yeah." Good save, she thought to herself. "I mean, I'll have to ask my parents, but I'm sure they'll say its okay."
"Good," Natalie said with a smile, "There's one thing though." She made a show of searching her locker. "I got you something, now where did I put it?" She rummaged for a moment or two, the door itself blocking Karyn's view of the locker's interior. If she'd been a little more aware of the world around her, a little less obsessed with reviving this nearly dead friendship, she might have seen Sarah McMillan and a couple of the other popular crowd standing nearby. Several of them were spread out, simply watching, but Karyn didn't notice any of it. Her mind was too aglow.
"Here it is," Natalie finally said triumphantly.
At first Karyn didn't realize what was happening and later she would beat herself up over it, but right now things just weren't registering. Instead of lashing out, becoming angry, or exhibiting any kind of emotional response that would have been appropriate under the circumstances, she simply held her hands out like a wide eyed idiot. A moment later, when she heard the snickering, saw the cruel look on Natalie's face, she finally looked down at the rather bulky item she'd been handed. Her eyes went wide in a completely different way, and her mouth opened wide like she was going to say something, but she couldn't even find the words.
Looking around, feeling like she was caught in some terrible nightmare and wanting nothing more than to wake up and bring it to an end, she saw the faces of Sarah McMillan and the other populars. Some of them were laughing out loud, and others were covering their mouths. One or two of them were almost doubled over. Her eyes turned to her former friend, seeking any kind of explanation, wondering what she had done that was so terrible.
Finally, the package fell from her hands, and as it fell the moment started to take on a surreal quality. Suddenly, Karyn couldn't hear the others, couldn't even really see them. She could only see the package, and Natalie. The other student was wearing one of the cruelest smiles she'd ever seen. What had happened to the girl she'd grown up with? What was it about popularity that infected people, turned decent individuals into monsters? At least she knew one thing now. Natalie Gibson definitely wasn't her friend.
When the package of diapers hit the ground, the impact sounded impossibly loud. From the moment Natalie had taken them out of her locker, to the moment they'd hit the ground, only a second or two had passed. It had felt like an eternity. Finally Karyn found her words. Meek as they were, she uttered them anyway, "How could you?"
Natalie actually had the gall to sneer at her. "As if," she began. She continued in a voice loud enough for everybody to hear. "Look, I really need you to leave me the hell alone. I am so sick and tired of you trying to follow me around okay." There was a pause, and Karyn knew that every eye in the hall was on her and so she did her best to hold back the tears that were making a concentrated effort to break free. She couldn't hold back a stray sniffle or two though.
"Natalie " Karyn whispered. As everybody stared at her, but she really didn't know what else to say. Nothing was going to end this humiliation. They hadn't talked much lately, but Karyn hadn't thought it had gone this far. Until a few years ago, she'd had a problem. It had taken her longer to develop the nocturnal control over her bladder that seemed to come so easily to others. It wasn't common, but it was a real condition, and given the number of sleepovers that she and Natalie had shared, there had been no way to keep it a secret. Of course, by now she'd grown out of it, and everything was functioning normally as it were, but it didn't matter. Bringing this up in front of everybody, it was like she felt something snap inside.
Natalie didn't stop though. "So, just so we're perfectly clear here, you and your overactive bladder need to stay the hell away from me."
That was the final blow, and it was all she could do to fall gently to her knees rather than crash to the ground. She wasn't sure how long it took before she was aware of the world around her again, but by that time everybody else had gone, and she was alone kneeling on the floor next to a package of diapers.
**If anybody had been attuned to the rock, they would seen a bright flash at this point, but as nobody around was aware of it, much less attuned to it, it went unnoticed **
"Hey, are you okay?"
Karyn slowly stood up. As she looked out on the halls of the school, the blurred vision told her that she'd been crying. She used the back of her hand to wipe the tears away before she turned to face the new voice. She saw a young girl standing before her, book bag in hand and a confused look on her face. She was probably a couple of years younger than Karyn, and had long brown hair.
"I'm fine," Karyn lied.
"Are you sure " The other girl paused, "Karyn right?"
Karyn squinted as she watched the wave of recognition come over the newcomer. She shook her head slowly, "Do I know you?"
She smiled, "Not well." There was a pause, "You used to hang out with my sister a lot though Natalie Gibson?"
"Zoe?" Karyn asked. It had been sometime since she'd seen any of Natalie's family, and her younger sister had grown a fair amount in that time. Karyn hadn't even recognized her at first. As she thought about it though, and did the math, she supposed it was about the right time for Zoe to be starting classes in the middle school.
Zoe nodded. "So, I'll ask again. Are you okay?" She cast a knowing glance down at the diapers still on the floor. "Cause it looks like you might not be "
"Sorry," Karyn said softly. "There was just "
"It was Natalie, wasn't it?" Zoe asked knowingly. "She's turning into a real bitch."
The stricken teen could only nod.
"I mean, don't get me wrong, she's my sister and I love her, but most of the time I don't really like her."
Karyn just nodded. She was starting to feel a little better already
