Darleen POV

When I see Skylar the next morning, she doesn't look so good. There are dark bags under her eyes. Her eyes are all red and puffy. It's obvious she's been crying a lot. She just looks dead, like a zombie.

I sneak away from the breakfast buffet and walk over to her at the front desk.

"Hey," I say.

She glances over at me.

"You okay?"

She shakes her head no.

"Did you tell her?"

She nods.

"Did she break up with you?"

She shakes her head no.

I give her a confused look.

"I broke up with her." She says.

"Oh."

"You should get back to your group." She says.

I frown.

Before I can say anything else the front doors slide open and in walks Jade. She doesn't have any makeup on and has on these big shades and a thick jacket to try and conceal her identity. Even still, I recognize her.

She doesn't even acknowledge me she just walks to Skylar behind the front desk.

"I thought about it, and I can't let this go," Jade says.

"Jade."

"No! I love you and I know you love me too."

"You're going to get me fired," Skylar says.

"I don't give two fucks. I can support you, I can be what you need. Please." She begs.

"Jade, you're making a scene," I butt in.

She glances around and everyone is looking at her.

"I don't care, please. I love you." Jade grabs Skylar's hands.

Just then the doors slide open again and in walks this girl. She's around my age. She had beach tan skin and is wearing jeans and a school t-shirt. Her hair is blond with the ends dyed a light blue. It's tied back into a ponytail. Somehow, I just know who she is without being told.

There is a tense moment of silence.

"Oh uh... hey," she tries to act casual.

"Get the fuck away from her!" Jade snaps at her.

She cringes and takes a few steps back.

"Jade stop!" Skylar says.

"Skylar is there a problem here?" her manager walks over.

"No, uh, she was actually just helping me." I jump in.

He looks at me skeptically.

"She was telling me about the rates, I'm thinking about vacationing here." I lie.

"Oh, well I can help you," he says.

"Really?" I walk with him to distract him from the mess behind him.

He proceeds to tell me about prices and specials going on. I am not even listening and just agree and get excited at the right intervals. Eventually, I am able to slip away just in time to meet everyone on the bus as we get ready to leave for our trip.

When I glance at the front desk all three girls are gone.

I frown.

I get on the bus and sigh.

Even away from home, I can't escape drama.

I get a text on my phone from Skylar, telling me her room number.

I debate on what to do, but when the chaperone gets off to go to the bathroom, I get off the bus and run back inside. Welp, there goes my internship. I go to the elevator and quickly make my way to the room number.

I knock on the door and it opens softly revealing a defeated Skylar.

"What happened?" I ask.

She pulls me inside and shuts the door behind her.

"I'm sorry I ruined your school trip. All I do is ruin everything!"

"Hey, hey, hey it's okay. Internships are overrated." I shrug.

"Oh my fucking god, you are trying to get an internship! Just fucking great." She flops down on the bed.

"It's fine! Really. I don't care about that, I care about my friends." I sit next to her.

"I'm a fucking mess!" she buries her head in her hands.

"That you are."

"Darleen!"

"What? You are. But messes can be cleaned up." I playfully push her.

"Jade loves me... like really loves me."

"Do you love her?"

"I don't know. I used to think so. Lately, I'm not so sure. It just hurts so fucking bad. I can't even think straight now. I feel like I'm going insane."

"I know the feeling," I sigh.

"You do?" she looks at me.

"Lexi's been going through some stuff. I don't want to push her too hard and have her do something she can't come back from. I feel like I'm going insane. I want to leave her, but I don't want to hurt her or worse, get her killed. I feel trapped. Trust me, I know exactly how you feel."

"Why didn't you say anything? I just unloaded all my shit on you after what, two years? We haven't talked in two years and I just piled it all on. Now I've ruined your internship and you have your own shit."

"Hey," I stop her from spiraling. "It's okay. I can handle it. Friends come first, everything else is second."

She just breaks down crying. I pull her into my arms and rub her shoulder.

"So what happened?" I asked.

"Jade got pissed at Vida and Vida left. Jade tried to get me to get back with her, but I just don't know. I'm so confused. Breaking up with her, hurt so bad. I don't know anything anymore."

"Give it time. It's only been what, a day? These things take time."

"When did you get so wise?" she playfully nudges me.

"Trust me I still have a long way to go."

"I feel so numb."

"Emm."

"I missed you. I missed being able to talk to you."

"I'm just a phone call away."

"It's not the same as having you here."

"Well if I get this internship, I'd be down here for winter break."

"What!? Well, what are you doing here with me, go!"

"You're more important."

"Darleen, go!" she gets up and drags me off the bed.

"No." I pull her back into my arms.

I feel my heart skip a beat when instead of fighting me, she just nuzzles her head into my chest. She wraps her arms tightly around me and just lets me hold her.

"Why do you have to be so great?" she asks.

"That's my job, I'm secretly a superhero." I tease.

She laughs but then her laughs dissolve into more cries.

"Did you get fired?" I ask.

"No, I just told them I wasn't feeling good, and they let me take the day off." She says between sobs.

"Let's do something together then, just you and me."

"I can't... I just can't even function right now."

"Alright, then we do nothing together."

"No, go to your internship." She pulls back.

"There will always be another internship." I smile at her.

"Damn you, why are you always like this." She pouts.

"That's just how I am. You should be used to it by now."

"Fine, if we are going to do nothing then I want you to vent to me too. It's only fair."

"Deal, come on." I pull her back to the bed.

I kick my shoes off and get comfortable. She snuggles up to me and pulls the covers close to her body.

I tell her everything.

About how Lexi has drug problems. How I've covered for her before. How I got caught with drugs in my bag during a random drug search. How I nearly got expelled and how I put it all on the line for Lexi. About Lexi going through withdrawal, about how leaving her alone gives me bad anxiety. It all just came pouring out.

"Do you love her?" Skylar asks at the end of it.

"I think so."

"You think?"

"I don't know, maybe. I just... I don't know anymore. It's like you said. It used to be so much easier back then." I lay on my back and stare at the ceiling.

"Life was easier back then, I mean the only thing we had to worry about was who would get voted the cutest couple or if our parents would catch us sneaking out and doing stupid shit."

"Yeah... hey remember when I convinced you all to go to Florida with me?"

"How can I forget? We were a mess back then too." She laughs.

"Yeah, but it was still fun. Remember we made Jade run around the pool naked."

"Haha, oh yeah. I totally forgot about that."

"Remember when we went boating with Aphrodite that last summer?"

"When she flipped off the tube! Oh my god, that was gold."

"She was so pissed that we wouldn't stop laughing."

"Kenzie shot punch out of her nose!"

We both laugh.

Slowly our laughter fades away and we both just stare at the ceiling.

"Life was much easier back then," I say mostly to myself than to her.

"I'm going to miss you when you leave again."

"Then call me, we can be long-distance emotional support buddies."

She chuckles.

"Come on, you know you want to." I tickle her.

"Ah! Stop it you beast!"

"Say it, say we are emotional support buddies."

"Okay! Darleen!" she laughs.

I missed her laughter. It makes me feel all warm inside. There is just something so magical about seeing Skylar smile.

"Say it," I tease.

"Okay! I'll be your emotional support buddy." She laughs.

"Much better. I'll even change your contact name in my phone to emotional support wifey."

She laughs some more.

"Look I'll do it right now," I pull my phone out.

"You're something else." She shakes her head.

"You have to promise to call and check on me at least once a day," I say.

"On one condition." She turns to face me.

"What?"

"If Lexi makes you feel trapped, get out of that. Jade made me feel trapped, and I don't want you to get stuck like I was. You can get her help, and even get back with her if you want after you know for a fact she is better. But don't let her weigh you down Darleen. It's not your job to be her babysitter. Go out and get that internship, don't worry about if your girlfriend is mature enough to be alone. Don't risk it all for her, worry about yourself for once. You've always done this, you get so involved with others that you forget about yourself. I'm not saying dump her, I'm saying get to a place where you feel free again. Do you understand?"

I sigh and look back at the ceiling.

"Darleen."

"Okay, I will."

"promise?"

"Only if you promise to be there for me. I won't be able to get through that alone. Promise me?"

"I will, promise. I'll be your emotional support wifey." She rolls her eyes.

I smile.

"I kinda want ice cream, you want ice cream?" Skylar asks.

"It's always a good time for ice cream."

"Let's go get some then," she gets up.

I end up spending the rest of the day with Skylar. We go get a bunch of junk food and snacks to munch on and watch comedy movies to cheer her up. She ignores her calls from Jade and Vida and just enjoys her time with me.

I call Lexi to check on her, she says she's fine and that she can't wait to see me. But there is this doubt in my head. A fear that eats away at me. What if she's doing drugs? What if she's lying to me? What if this and what if that? I panic just thinking about it.

I ended up getting into trouble with my chaperone, you see the head of the internship wanted to talk to me directly for wasting his time. So my chaperone took me to see him that night. We met up at his studio.

"Darleen Grayson?"

"Yes sir."

"Your application looked very promising. Yet you blew me off, why?"

"Honestly?"

"Try me."

"I didn't mean to, honest. It's just my friend, I haven't seen her in two years. And her life is sort of falling apart right now. I had to be there for her. I know what I did was rude and irresponsible but when a friend needs me, I'm there. I know this disqualifies me from the internship. I apologize for wasting your time. I can always try again next semester."

"I deeply apologize for her behavior, she's not usually like this." The chaperone says.

"So, you blew me off to be there for your friend?" He says.

"Yes sir," I look down.

He places a hand on my shoulder and I look up at him. He's smiling.

"You got the job." He says.

"What?" I say in confusion.

"In this day in age people are so quick to stop caring about each other. They lack empathy and become slaves to society. A true leader cares about their friends, cares about their workers, cares about people. That's not something you can teach. I love that you care about your friend more than you care about this internship. That's the way life is supposed to be. People come first, everything else comes second. Promise me you'll never change that."

"Thank you... I promise."

"I got to where I am today because people took a chance on me, people cared about me. I'm taking a chance on you. I'd love to work with you and give you an in, in this industry. People like you are very hard to come by."

"You mean that?"

"I do."

"I don't know what to say..."

"Say you'll take the job."

"Of course, I'll take the job," I laugh.

"Good, then I'll see you in a few weeks."

"Yeah. I mean yes sir. Thank you so much. I promise to work very hard and try my best."

"That's what I like to hear. Now do me and favor and stop giving your chaperone a hard time."

All three of us laugh.

So I guess it somehow worked out for me.

I guess the saying is true. Good things happen to good people.