One picture can mean way too much.

TheLonelyStar

A few years ago, I was in a different school. It was picture day. I was going to the place where group pictures were taken, with my four best friends. For this story, their names will be V, M, P, E, and I will be S. Me and V had been besties for a while, and then M, P and E had kind of teamed up with us- it was us vs the world. We hung out together almost every day. Especially me and V. So, after waiting for our turn for the picture, we went to the chair in front of the camera. But half way there, V stopped us. She said: 'Um.. I don't really want S to be in the picture.' I was shocked. We were best friends. I was sure the others wouldn't agree with it. But I was wrong. First E said. 'yeah...' I was shocked. Then P nodded. I looked at M, hiding my desperation, as I have been doing for a while now. She, being the kindest of all of us, said: 'Well... Maybe we could have one picture taken with S, and one without her.' So, then we did as she had suggested, and then we just went home.

A couple days later, I confronted V. I asked: 'Why did you not want me in the picture?' She kind of shrugged, and muttered something. Then she left and I went to my class, confused, and very sad.

V, M, P, E and me still were just like before. Going to school together, spending almost every day together, practicing our muggle-quidditch skills for our own team (yep, we all were Harry Potter fans), and having sleepovers almost every weekend. Then, we got the pictures. Of course, we compared and traded them, so we would have pictures of each other. I asked if we could compare our group pictures, acting like I had forgotten their betrayal. They acted very awkward, and they all slowly pulled the pictures out. I saw the pictures and my heart broke. They had all taken the picture without me. We had earlier said we would all take the group picture with the caption: VPMES, Forever Firehawks. Firehawks was the name of our quidditch team. My picture had all of us and the right text, but theirs had no caption. I looked at my friends and felt tears flooding my eyes. I took my stuff and left. M, being kind and sensitive, said: 'wait-' but I just started running and ran all the way home.

The next day I told my parents I didn't feel well and couldn't go to school. I didn't want to see my 'friends'. Or, actually, I wanted to, but I knew it wouldn't be like before. It wouldn't be happy mindless randomness. I stayed home crying and listening to Adele. For the whole week.

On friday, I was home alone. I heard the doorbell. I went to see if it was my dad coming home, but from the window next to the door I saw E. And behind her were M, P and V. They also saw me. I went back to my room, and hoped they would go away. Seeing them bunched up in front of the door, so much like in their picture, was too much. Of course, V knew where our spare key was hidden and they got in. They all knew my house like their own, and they could easily come to my room through the dark living room. They came to my room and I turned away. I heard P's voice. 'Look, we're sorry for the picture.' V continued: 'We didn't mean to fade you.' I replied to her with a thick voice from crying: 'Can you at least tell me why?' V looked at me weirdly, as if I was her dog who had just done something dumb but kind of funny and now was in pain because of it. 'Oh come on, it's just a picture. It's not so important.' E said: 'Look, we are sorry. If we could get a new picture we would.'

My friends didn't get a new picture. They just had their own picture. Everything returned to normal, we were best friends again. But every time I visited V I saw the picture on her desk. I never asked her why she kept it there.

Now we are all split up in different schools. M and V went to one school, P and E to another, and I am alone in a crowd of new classmates who don't even talk to me, for no apparent reason.