The Girl Gang

*Piper Ocampo*

When we exited the locker room, I encountered stares coming from all over the room.

Why was this happening to me? Was I bitten by the unlucky bug?

Celia and I started walking around the court again and the looks stopped after a few minutes. Everyone went back to their regularly scheduled ignorance.

"What's that about?" I heard Celia say.

"People probably heard what happened between Liv and me." She nodded her head and shifted side to side awkwardly.

Piper declared, "Yeah, I heard too. I mean, you know I was like right there. But, if you want to talk about it I'm available. I got the, 'you two like the same dude' part. You can elaborate if you want to or not if you don't want to. I just want to be supportive."

I couldn't tell if she wanted to talk about it for my sake or if it was to be nosey. "She's been dating my best friend for a few weeks or months. I guess I didn't realize how I felt about him until he was gone."

"Your best friend left you for that girl." Piper seemed irritated.

I nodded, "I've never had a problem with Liv until now. I don't think she even knew I existed. It's like she moved here and decided she loves my best friend and despises me. She hates my guts and I didn't do anything to her, but exist."

I looked over to a corner of the gym, where the ball rack was. Liv and her friends were stretching or something. Some girls walked by us on the side of the court and I could hear them whisper about me.

"Liv is so pissed at her," one of them said.

"I don't think I've even heard her speak before." That remark made me cringe. It was something I had heard too many times before.

They kept walking on past. "People love to talk about other people," Celia stated.

I looked at the girls as they strolled away. "I agree, but if she had spilled the beans they would be whispering about something else entirely."

"P.E. has to be over soon. My legs are killing me," whined Celia after about twenty minutes of walking and talking about anything other than the elephant in a full face of makeup on the other side of the room.

I said flatly, "Yeah."

"Do you think your parents will be cool with Piper and me coming over after school?" I nodded my head, "I believe so and my mom always wants me to have girls over. Probably, because the only person I ever had over was Jay. By the time we got into middle school, she was a little weird about me spending all of my time with him."

"Do you think it was for a good reason?" I looked over at her and thought about the question she asked me deeply. Before all of this, I never questioned Jay and I's relationship. Were we too close? Was it a problem to depend on one person for all of your friendship?

I discharged a sigh. "In hindsight, it's likely a yes, but I... feel like it's a no. I do genuinely believe that he is a good person and I wouldn't be the human being I am without him. I still have hope and trust in him. He has made some mistakes though, major mistakes."

Piper then asked. "Do you really think he loves you?"

I smiled remembering his declaration. "I really do. He told me as such this morning. It seemed sincere, but I don't know what he told Liv after. Whatever he said made her very confident in the relationship."

"She could have been faking it. Like, pretending that it's better than it actually is." I was about to comment back, but I was interrupted by the sound of a whistle, "Vreeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!"

"Ladies, it's time to dress back out!" Celia jumped into the air with excitement, "Finally!"

The gym floor was getting further and further away from us as we went into the depths of the locker room.

"Having Gym at the end of the day both has its perks and it sucks," Celia said as she started messing with her locker.

"I mean, if we actually have to go outside and run, we can just drive off and take a shower at home instead of having to do it here. On the other hand, by the time it gets to the end of the day, I just don't feel like going on a run or playing any games, you know." I had a distant expression covering my face as I leaned against the lockers waiting for her.

She waved my clothes in front of my face, "Earth to Daya. Are you okay?" I jumped back into reality, "Yeah, I'm just waiting on you."

"Are you calling me slow?" She said slowly as she handed me my clothes.

"Well, all the talking does take away a couple of seconds of my precious time." I feigned aggravation.

We changed back into our clothes, grabbed our bags, and headed back towards the main gym area.

"Banks texted me. I think they want to go get some food after basketball practice. Is that cool with you?" Celia asked me as she texted and walked.

"Yeah, I didn't really get to eat much." She had an enormous, discernable smile on her face the whole time she was on her phone.

"The whole gang is coming then," she still hadn't looked up. I had to grab her arm to stop her from running into people by the double doors.

"Oh, I do that, sorry." Cece, with her usual bubbly energy, turned to me with a mischievous grin. "Daya, I have to tell you something," she said, her voice low but excited. "I like Banks."

Her confession caught me off guard, and I nearly stumbled over my own feet. "You what?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

Cece nodded, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Yeah, I know it's crazy, but there's just something about him. And I saw the looks between the two of you at lunch. Is there something going on there?"

I felt a jolt of panic. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to think there was something between Banks and me. "No, you're seeing a look of disgust," I said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "I can't stand him." I honestly hadn't formed much of an opinion on him. But, I didn't want to be fighting over a guy with my new friend.

Cece studied my face for a moment before nodding slowly. "Okay, I believe you," she said, clearly wanting to end the conversation.

Piper, who had been listening quietly, gave me a knowing look. Her eyes seemed to say, 'I know there's more to this.' But I just shook my head, hoping she wouldn't press the issue.

Cece and Piper chatted about the upcoming weekend plans. I joined in, grateful for the distraction. But deep down, I knew that the conversation about Banks wasn't over. It was just beginning.

I sat down on the bottom of the bleachers and she stood up over me. I'm taller than she is and it was odd to look up at her. "What," she said in a sing-song way.

"Nothing." My eyes surveyed the room and of course, they landed on Liv. She glared at me for a few seconds and then continued touching up her makeup by using the camera on her phone.

When the bell rang, Celia and I walked over to her car. I took my phone out, texted Denny, and told him, 'I am getting a ride home. Tell mom I'm having friends over.'

To which he replied, 'Why didn't you text her this? I guess I'll tell her.'

'I'll see you at home. Love you and mom.' And I put my phone back in my pocket.

Piper ran up to us and looked completely out of breath. "Hey, I heard what happened. Good job girly," she pinched my arm.

"What do you mean?" I said as the three of us got into the car.

She spoke with way too much excitement. "Someone probably thought a fight was going to happen, so they filmed it and put it on Snapchat."

"No, how many people have seen it?" I grabbed her phone from her hand.

Piper shrugged her shoulders, "A fight didn't actually happen, so I doubt a lot of people are going to watch it, plus the audio sucked."

I hoped so. Liv would be outraged if this embarrassed her. I wondered if Jay saw it and how he'd react.

"It's really not that big of a deal. You will be fine," Celia said as she reached into the back seat to rub my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," I said and disagreed with myself as soon as I did. She backed out and drove us out of the parking lot.

When we got to my neighborhood, I was lost in thought and let Celia drive past the road we needed to turn down.

"Oh, you missed the turn," I said nonchalantly.

They had been talking to each other the entire ride home, while I was trapped inside my own mind and looking out the window.

"Daya, I hope you aren't still worried about the Liv situation." I didn't react to her comment at all. Honestly, I stopped listening to them after 5 minutes of the ride.

"Daya," Piper said a little louder as if I didn't her Celia the first time.

I said as I leaned my head against Celia's seat. "I don't know. I really don't. I want this whole thing to be over."

"Well, why don't we come up with a plan instead of moping," Piper said honestly.

"What? If she wants this to end, we should make it end instead of waiting for something to happen," Celia must have mouthed something to her.

"Is this the right road?" Celia asked after we circled the block again.

Looking out the window, I said, "Yeah, my house is the third one on the right."

We all got out of the car and walked up to my front door.

"Your house is beautiful," Celia cooed. I half-smiled at her, put in my keys, and opened the door to my home. My mom and Dennis hadn't arrived home yet. "Let's go to my room."

Celia and Piper sat on my bed, whereas I sat on the daybed. After a few minutes of silence, Piper said, "I think that you should tell people what happened before she does. You know, expose yourself so she doesn't have the opportunity." I sighed and tilted my head back. That wasn't going to work.

"Okay, what did you even do, Daya?" Piper implored like she was annoyed with the subject matter.

"Only if you want to," Celia finished. When I made no attempt to spill she continued, "We can talk about something else."

I heard a knock on the door and got up to answer it.

"Hi sweetie," my mom said as I opened the door.

With shock, my mom said, "Hey girls." She had a wide smile on her face and lifted her shoulders.

She smiled at them. "It's nice to meet you both."

"You too, Mrs. Johnston. I'm Piper and this is Celia." Celia nodded along with Piper's words.

"Oh, it's nice to see you around other people. She's been cooped up for so long." I rolled my eyes at her remarks. "Well, I'll leave you girls to it. Are you staying for dinner?"

I shook my head. "We're going out to eat dinner. Is that okay?"

"Of course, Dennis and I will miss you though," my mom was leaning against the door handle.

"Maybe, we can stay for dinner another night," Piper smiled back.

My mom practically clapped at the idea. "That would be wonderful. Oh baby, wouldn't that be great." She miled a knowing smile at me, "I will see you later Mom."

"You have such a sweet mom," Celia said and Piper nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, she deserves a lot more than she gets," a bereaved look was on my face.

We struggled to find a conversational beat to land on. "I didn't even know it was basketball season. Do they practice every day?" I just threw a topic out and hoped it stuck.

"They don't practice every day. Neo wouldn't have a girlfriend if they did," Piper joked.

"So, you two are together. I, uh, wasn't sure." Piper smiled as she stroked her jet-black hair, "It's been over four years, like four years and two months be to exact."

"You don't know the days, minutes and seconds. Piper! You're not taking this relationship as seriously as you should," Celia laughed and Piper elbowed her in the shoulder.

"Fine four years, two months," she looked down at her phone, "18 hours, 46 minutes, and about 13 seconds, no 14." We all laughed in unison.

Piper said in Celia's direction. "Why don't you tell her about you and Banks?"

She looked embarrassed. "Oh, is everyone booed up in this friend group or something," Celia shook her head.

"We dated for a few months. We're better off as friends anyway." She tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach her cheeks.

"She's been trying to get him back ever since," this time Celia elbowed her. "No, I haven't."

Piper could barely get the words out while she was laughing. "Don't worry Cece, Daya and I will hatch a plan to get you two back together."

Celia seemed exasperated by him. "Banks is weird. He acts like he wants to be in a relationship, but then he wants to play the field. I couldn't deal with it, so I let him go."

"Is it hard to still be around him after what happened?" I asked her sincerely.

She sighed and wiped her eye with the back of her hand. "Sometimes, it feels like he sees me as one of the guys. It was so weird to me when he got so protective over you at lunch. That never would have happened if he saw me with a different guy. He was like, go ahead, I want you to be with someone else. And not in a sarcastic way, but like he genuinely wanted me to. He flirts with everyone right in front of me like I'm not... not even there."

Cece held her phone up. "Yet, he still texts me all the time. It's nothing sexual, but I get a text from him almost every day."

She turned to look at Piper, "Does he text you like that?" Piper held her hand as a few tears fell down Celia's face, "He texts me, but not like that. It's usually about Neo, but you two are closer than we are. I'm sure he still likes you, Cece."

I tried to relate by saying, "Ever since Jay started dating Liv, it's been hard for me to be around him too. Like he wants me, but at the same time, he wants her. I feel like I need to let him go too. Now is the right time, but it's easier to speak about than the execution."

Piper looked over at me, "As the only one here with a successful relationship, I would advise both of you to give them space. Let them come back to you," Celia nodded and sniffled.

"Yeah, it's just so hard. He means so much to me. He was my first," she brushed her face with the sleeve of her jacket.

I walked over and sat by Celia on the bed. The three of us shared my third group hug of the day.

"I'll be fine. It's not the first time I've cried over him," Celia said breaking the hug.

"Um," I huffed a breath of air. "Okay, I'm going to say something but please don't judge me for it."

Celia placed her head on my shoulder. "As long as you don't judge me for wetting your shirt."

I took a deep breath and let words slip out of my mouth. "I kind of walked in on Jay and Olivia," I brought my hands together.

"You know what I mean?" They both looked at me in silence for a few seconds. Then, Celia hugged me and Piper joined in. Okay, fourth group hug of the day.

"Thanks for telling us. That had to of been hard on you." She spoke but I heard a laugh in her voice.

Piper patted my leg, "Don't be embarrassed about that. I walked in with my parents doing it one time. It happens to the best of us."

Celia turned back to Piper, "You never told me that."

"You know how Asian parents are. I was told to never speak of that day. I was about ten and I didn't even know what was happening. I didn't see anything though." I knew that the way I told it made the story seem tame, but Liv wouldn't.

"Liv is going to exaggerate so I look like a pervert. Like, I'm so jealous of their relationship that I peep at them having sex. Don't invite Daya anywhere, because she's a peeping tom." I payed down on my bed.

Piper sighed, "She's manipulative, but what she doesn't know is that you have a whole girl gang behind you and we won't let her get you down."

She grinned at me, "We're behind you," Celia said still teary-eyed.

*Thank you for reading and I love all your comments! This is a really long story and we're almost halfway done with it. Me, you, and Daya are going to be spending a lot of time together!

What are your first impressions of Piper?

Remember to comment, follow, and share! Be sure to tell me what you think. *