May

My alarm goes off bright and early at 5:30. I roll out of bed and rub my eyes. I check my phone and a huge smile appears on my face. Today is the last day of school. I get dressed and walk to school. There's a lightness in the air as I walk down the hallway. Teachers I've never seen smile are laughing with other teachers.

I go to my locker and grab my math book. "Hey," My best friend Amelia says to me. "I can now drive people." She dangles her keys in front of my face.

I smile. "Do you want to hang out tonight?" 

She nods. "This can be the start of all our summer adventures."

I hug her and run off to class.

All the girls are in short shorts and tank tops. The teachers don't even care enough to dress code them. But I'm the only one who is still wearing my favorite hoodie and black jeans. 

"Aren't you too hot in that?" One of the preppy girls asks me. Her blond hair is pulled into a tight pony tail.

I decide to ignore her. 

"Hey," She taps my shoulder. "Aren't you like too hot in that? It's like lava outside."

I roll my eyes. "It's not that bad." 

"I just don't want my friend to have heat stroke over the summer if that's what she always wears."

"Friend?" I raise an eyebrow. She hasn't talked to me, or even acknowledged me at all this school year. 

She leans back in her chair with a smug look on her face not knowing what to say. 

"that's what I thought," I mumble as I turn back to the front.

+++++

"Get in, Emily," Amelia says. I jump in the front seat of her car. "So.... Where do you want to go?"

We stop by our friend's house and pick up Sofia. She's our other best friend.

"Get in the car, we're going shopping," Amelia says quoting Mean Girls.

Sofia gets in the car and we drive to the mall to get some new summer clothes. 

Amelia and Sofia look around the store. I stay close by to both of them. "You ready to try stuff on?" Sofia asks, with her arms full of clothes. Amelia comes over to us with about the same amount.

"Oh... Nah I'm not going to," I say. 

Sofia looks at me angrily and makes me follow her. "This would look good on you," I pull the swim suit off the hanger and give it a weird look. "Don't look at it like that until you've at least tried it on." She makes me grab a couple other things and then we go back to the fitting rooms. 

"Swimsuits first!" Sofia shouts.

I put on the bikini Sofia showed me. I look at myself in the mirror. My pasty white skin is all I focus on. I've lost some weight over the past few months, but is it enough?

"You guys ready?" Amelia shouts.

I hear both of them exit their changing rooms and start complimenting each other. I look down at my wrists. It's been about 3 months, no one will notice. The scars have healed up basically all the way. 

"Emily," Sofia says. "Come out and show us."

I muster up the courage and walk out of the changing room. Sofia and Amelia are both gaping when I come out. 

"Bro," Amelia says.

"You look hot!" Sofia says.

I smile. 

They make me try on a couple more things, and then we end up leaving and going to my house.

"Will you get in trouble for getting that bikini?" Amelia asks. None of our families are exactly for showing that much skin.

For the past 16 years I've only worn dresses that go past my knee, 1 piece swimsuits, and shorts that go to my knee in the summer. That is, until I started to go shopping with Amelia and Sofia. 

I shrug. "Probably," I laugh. 

We sit in my room and play on our different electronics. "So Teagan talked to me in class today," I say.

Both girls make a disgusted look. "What did she want?" Sofia asks.

"She started asking me if I'm too hot wearing black jeans and my hoodie. Then she went off saying how she cares about her friends." I roll my eyes. Teagan used to be my best friend. That is, until she stopped wanting to talk to me, she wouldn't even ask how I was. She got obsessed over some guy and even though he wasn't her boyfriend she would still completely ignore me when she was with him. 

"Ugh," Sofia says. 

We talk for a little longer until Sofia says, "My mom is here, I have to go." 

We say our good byes and she leaves. "I should probably get going, too," Amelia says.

"Bye," I hug her. 

"See you tomorrow probably," She says. 

I smile and she leaves. My smile quickly fades when I realize I'm now utterly and completely alone. That is, until my phone dings. I look at it, and Lucas' name appears on my screen. Lucas is my ex boyfriend. We were together for 6 months and broke up over a year ago. But we wanted to stay friends. Last summer we were enemies. I hated him, and I think he hated me. But now we're trying to be friends again. It doesn't help that his sister (Who's a year younger than me) is constantly complaining about him. But I suppose that's alright. 

I text Lucas back and tell him that I'm tired and am probably going to fall asleep. That's exactly what happened.