• I stand there, stunned. This was not Kailyn. It might as well have been a robot. Kailyn would never think of growing up. She always wanted to stay fourteen years years old at heart her whole life. We even made a pact with Taylor, Carmen, and Crisha that we would never truly mature. "Okay." I say. "That's not right. Who the hell are you?" She opens her mouth, but I interrupt her and turn to Raven. "Did you do this?" I say, anger rising. "Did you make her grow up?"

    "Emilee, I had nothing to do with that!" He says defensivley.

    "I guess some people mature earlier than others." Kailyn says, sneering.

    "Baby, dont be mean." Raven says soothingly to Kailyn. "She just hasn't seen the light yet."

    Unable to take it anymore, I storm off. Who the hell does she think she is, telling me, ME, of all people, to grow up? She could tell anyone else in this room to, and she tells her best freind?! She might as well have killed me right then and there. My life is nothing special. My life is ruined and the one hope I had of surviving, of not feeling inadequate, of not destroying my life, was coming here, to my high school reunion, according to my therapist. I walk up to the husband I dont know. "Can i have the car keys?" I ask.

    "Emilee..." He says, warning me.

    "I just wanna grab something."

    "Alright." He hands me the key to our old, beat up BMW. "Just don't go anywhere, or I'll send you bak to the therapist." I nod and walk outside, heading straight to the trunk of the car.

    I open it and find several paper bags with mostly empty glass bottles inside them. Dammit, I think. What's wrong with me? I have to hide from my husband and every one i used to love just to feel satisfied. I have to drink like mad to feel happy. My own best freind hates me. I flip one bottle completely over, a single drop escapes. And Im out of vodka! I truly am pathetic. My mind rant is interrupted by someone trying to escape out the band room door. I duck down a little, barely hidden from view of the woman in the mini skirt and fishnet stockings. Wait, fishnet stockings? Mini skirt? s**t, it's Katie Slutrie again. I duck down further till I'm practically sitting on the ground. I don't need anymore of her s**t.

    She walks past the car and looks behind her, as if she's being chased, and immediatley sees me. "Emilee? What are you doing out here?"

    "I could ask you the same question." I say all spy-like.

    She hesitates before saying, "Okay, I'm hiding from my... er... escort."

    "I'm not surprised." I say without missing a beat.

    "Yeah, well, don't act like you've never thought about hiring one, too" She says defensivley.

    "Dont start that again!" I say, exasperated. "I've been through way too much s**t today to deal with your defensiveness. Besides, I've been going steady for..." I pause and count the years in my head. "Many years." I say, smiling inwardly.

    "Really, and what's his name?"

    "Er........ well....... it's, ahm, Matt."

    "Oh. Well. Then."

    Inside I was jumping up and down and my stomach was doing backflips. I married MATT? Of all people, I married him?! I had a choice of at least twenty or thirty guys who I've been good freinds with all through high school and I choose the guy I know the least?! There really must be something wrong with me! But all I say to Katie is "Yeah, sorry 'bout that." Why am I sorry?

    "Hey, no problem, we weren't together very long, anyways, so it's very much over between us." She shrugs. "So, anyways, why are you out here?"

    "Too much drama. My bes-" I sigh. "Ex-best freind hates my guts because I'm 'not mature enough for her'" I say, putting finger quotes around "mature enough."

    "That's rough." Katie says, sliding down beside me. "What do you do for a living, now?"

    "Are you trying to change the subject?"

    "Yup."

    "Thanks. I'm a writer for the local paper." I say proudly.

    "Good for you! I know that was your dream job! Congrats!" She says exitedly, hugging me.

    "Thanks! What do you do?"

    "I work for People magazine." She says even more proudly than I was.

    "That's amazing! How is it?"

    "Well, sometimes it gets pretty stressful, but...."

    As she rants on about her important part in the magazine, I think about where my life has gone. You know that feeling after you watch a bad movie in theaters, then you walk out and sneak into a really good movie and realize just how crappy the first movie was? That's kinda how I felt while I listened to Katie going on about her life.

    "Did you hear me, Em?" She says, breaking into my conciousness.

    "Huh?" I say brilliantly.

    "I said, here comes your husband and you ex-best friend." She points to the yard in front of the main entrance. Sure enough, they were coming straight towards me, Matt pointing the way.

    "s**t."

    ```sadly, this is when i woke up```