“Green Tea” by Kayla M.

     As I walked with Ari, one of my closest friends, for a few moments I forgot about the heartbreak. Then we happened to come across the same spot that caused all of my memories to flood back into my mind. At that same table at starbucks, we shared so many secrets and made so many memories. I always bought vanilla bean, and he always got green tea. In a moment I flashed back to our first visit. We walked here after school. It wasn’t a long walk, it was perfect. I was so nervous the first time because I was only a freshman. I was still afraid of breaking any rules too. Aside from this, I secretly had the biggest crush on my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were kids. Our moms had also been great friends before we were born so naturally, we were raised together, but it didn’t take long to develop real feelings. I could never let him know. I didn’t think he liked me the same way.
     Ari noticed my mood shift as we walked past the same starbucks that housed so many memories. We continued inside to finish some homework and spotted the same road that my best friend and I used to walk along too. There’s this big ravine with a little hole that we used to try and throw rocks into. He was pretty close most of the time, and I was not. In the blink of an eye he replaced Ari. He bent down to pick up a good sized stone, as did I. He turned to see what I had picked up. “Well no wonder you never make it! A small rock like that ought to get carried away.” I shook my head. “And with what wind?” I countered. I went first and chucked the little stone towards the dirt hole. It landed a little short with a thud. He went next and made it in. Finally. He jumped up with excitement. “Oh! Did you see that? What did I tell you? What did I tell you?” He teased. I smiled at how happy he was and shook my head. “Shut up.” I said laughing. “You only got lucky. But You couldn’t make it again if you tried.” I said. He raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? And what if I threw you?” I thought he was joking. That is until he swept me off my feet. Literally.
     Ari and I found a table at the starbucks. “Listen, I know it sucks, I just want you to know that I’m here for you.” I didn’t look at her. I was afraid she’d notice the tears welling up in my eyes. “Thank you, but I just need some time...” I told her, staying silent.
     Suddenly, I was sitting in my bed texting him. I had just gotten into a huge fight with my parents and tears were streaming down my cheeks. But he could make me smile like it was easy. We eventually fell asleep sometime around 4am. The next day after school, I was waiting for my ride to pick me up when he stopped by in his car. “Get in.” He told me. The next thing I knew, we were at Baskin Robbins eating ice scream and laughing at the silliest little things. Those were the moments that I know I’ll never forget.
     Then as easily as the good times came, they left. He met someone, and they hit it off. But she was a snake. He never saw the bad she did, she only revealed the good to him. She started getting jealous and slowly worked her poison into our lives. I still remember the night so

vividly that he texted me at 12:30am. He asked if I was awake, and I responded. The next words broke my heart. He said, “I’m crying.” Then I started crying. I asked why and he responded saying that his new girlfriend was mad at him, and he wouldn’t give me a reason. I remember trying my best to lift his spirits while I was trying to hold myself together. My mom came in and asked what was wrong. I told her I didn’t understand why I would be hurting so much over my best friend crying. And she uttered the words I’ll never forget. “Because you love him.”
     July 3, 2018, she set me up. His girlfriend texted me from his phone pretending to be him asking if I had feelings for him. I thought maybe this time I could be brave. For the first time, I’d tell the truth because this was the only thing I ever lied to him about. After all these years and late nights, we had come to tell each other everything, so when we ran out of things to talk about, we played silly games. But this time I wanted to tell him the truth, and I did. I told him that I had feelings for him, and I had for a while, but I didn’t want to ruin anything for him. But he texted back saying that I was blocked, and that was when I understood. She then messaged me separately threatening that if I ever tried to contact him again, I would regret it.
     At the time, I never believed he would give into this. He was my best friend, I was his, and he would figure this out with her. Later that night, I got a call. His name lit up on the screen and I eagerly answered the phone. “Hello?...Hello?” Nothing. I heard nothing on the other side, then it hung up. That was the last time he would ever reach out to me. I’ll never understand why he never came back to me. And my heart was shattered into a million pieces.
     “What would you like to order?” The cashier at starbucks interrupted my flashback as I snapped back to reality. “I’d like a green tea please.”