Chapter 1: life
"Hi I'm Alexis. I was born in England or something – honestly, I don't pay much attention to stuff like that. What matters more is that I just turned twelve last month, and today's my first day at saints High."
I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, repeating the words like a script I'd never quite memorized. My hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail that refused to stay put, and my new uniform felt scratchy around the collar. High school sounded so grown-up when Mom talked about it, but walking through the gates that morning, all I could see was a sea of faces that already knew each other – laughing, shoving, talking in groups so tight they might as well have been glued together.
I found my way to homeroom and slid into an empty desk in the back corner. The chair creaked as I sat down, and three heads turned to look at me before going back to their conversations. Just as I was pulling out my notebook and pretending to be very interested in the cover design, someone tapped my shoulder.
"Hey, is this seat taken?"
I looked up to see a girl with curly dark hair tied with a bright blue scrunchie, grinning like she'd been looking for me all morning.
"Uh – no. All yours," I mumbled under my breath.
"I'm Natalia," she said, plopping down beside me. "Just moved here from academy high, My dad's a doctor and got transferred to the hospital in town."
We spent the rest of homeroom whispering about how weird the teacher's mustache looked, and by lunchtime, we were already planning to meet up at the park after school to build bird houses by the pond. Natalia was everything I'd ever wanted in a best friend – she loved the same books, made terrible jokes that still made me laugh, and never seemed to judge me for things like how I still slept with my old teddy bear that I got when I was 8 from my dad which left when I was 9.
Over the next three months, we were inseparable. We'd text each other before bed, share snacks in class, and even started a secret club where we wrote stories about a world where cats could talk and run the government. Natalia called it "The Feline Republic" and drew elaborate maps in the back of her math notebook.
"One day we'll publish these," she'd said, tapping her pen against the page. "Best friends who write books together – that's how it's supposed to be."
Chapter 2: The Silence
It started small. She didn't reply to my text about the new book in our favorite series. Then she said she couldn't make it to the park because she was sick. A week later, I saw her in the cafeteria – sitting with a group of older girls, laughing like she'd never met me.
I walked over, my lunch tray shaking in my hands. "Hey Nat, I've been texting you – are you okay?"
She looked up at me, but her smile was different. Stiffer. "Oh, Alexis. Yeah, I'm fine. Just… hanging out with some new people."
The girls beside her glanced at me, then back at Nat , and one of those bratty girls snickered. I stood there for a second longer before turning and walking back to my old corner table, where my sandwich suddenly tasted like cardboard.
After that, it was like I'd become invisible. She'd walk past me in the hall without a glance, leave the room when I sat down in class, and even changed her seat to the other side of the room. I tried everything – leaving notes in her locker, asking if I'd done something wrong, even waiting for her after school. But she never showed up, and eventually, the notes stopped getting taken out of the locker at all.
I didn't tell Mom at first because I didn't wanna worry her after all the work she'd been doing . I'd come home from school, go straight to my room, and close the door. I'd lie on my bed and read the stories we'd written, tracing my finger over Natalia's handwriting until my eyes burned. Some days I didn't even come out for dinner. Mom would knock gently and leave plates outside my door, but I'd just push them aside until they went cold.
One night, I was curled up under my covers with my teddy bear when the door creaked open. Mom sat down on the edge of the bed, her weight making the mattress dip slightly.
"I know you think I don't notice," she said quietly, "but I do. You haven't been yourself in weeks."
I buried my face in my pillow so she couldn't see me crying. "She just… left. Like I didn't matter at all." Alexis mumbled.
"I know it hurts, sweetheart," Mom said, running her hand through my hair. "Losing a friend can feel like losing a piece of yourself. But you have to remember – her choice to walk away it doesn't change who you are. You're kind, and funny, and you care so deeply about the people around you. That's not something anyone can take away from you."
We sat there in silence for a long time, and for the first time since it all started, I didn't feel quite so alone.
Chapter 3: Taking a Step
It took another week before I could bring myself to leave my room before dinner. Mom helped me clean up the piles of books and papers that had taken over my floor, and we even baked cookies together – chocolate chip, my favorite. PS: they tasted very good hehe.
"Want to know something?" she said as we pulled the tray out of the oven. "When I was your age, my best friend moved away without saying goodbye. I thought I'd never make another friend again. But then I joined the art club, and I met your aunt Sarah – we've been best friends ever since."
The idea of joining a club made my stomach flip, but I knew she was right. I couldn't stay hidden forever.
The next day at school, I walked past the notice board in the hallway and saw a poster for the creative writing club. It said they met every Tuesday after school in the library, working on stories and sharing their work with each other. My hand hovered over the sign-up sheet for a minute before I took a deep breath and wrote my name at the bottom.
The first meeting was terrifying. I sat in a corner, clutching my notebook to my chest as everyone else introduced themselves. But then a girl named Maya – with bright pink streaks in her hair and a shirt covered in book quotes – sat down beside me.
"Hey, I'm Maya," she said. "You're Alexis, right? I think we have science together. You always have cool answers to the questions."
I felt my cheeks warm. "Oh. Thanks. I… I write stories sometimes."
"Me too!" she said, her face lighting up. "Want to read each other's work sometime?"
Over the next few weeks, Maya and I started meeting up after club to talk about our stories. She loved The Feline Republic, and even had ideas for new characters we could add. Slowly but surely, the empty space in my chest started to feel less heavy. I still thought about Natalia sometimes – I'd see her in the hall and wonder if she ever thought about me too – but it didn't hurt as much as it used to.
One afternoon, as Maya and I were walking to the park to work on our latest chapter, she stopped and pointed at the fairy houses by the pond.
"Those are cool," she said. "Did you make them?"
I smiled, thinking back to the days I'd spent there with Natalia. "Yeah. Me and a friend, a while ago."
"Can we make one too?" Maya asked. "I've always wanted to try, but I never had anyone to do it with."
We spent the rest of the afternoon gathering twigs and moss, building a tiny house with a roof made of pine cones. As I placed the final piece in place, I realized something – good friends don't just fill a space in your life. They help you build new ones.
Thanks for reading and by the way this is by me and dola AI.