Frenemy

FRENEMY by Lori Soard

Why would someone on the outside want the window closed on the inside? Our cheerleading retreat had started two days ago when our coaches brought us down here. Twenty girls on the squad, most of us new; three moms who were coaches (including my own) and a friend who had lent us her house for the retreat. We were a small squad, small school, small community, and a family. Life couldn’t be better, or so I thought.

Until… the window incident. I truly believe the window was what started it all, but I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the strange circumstances of the last year and a half. Still trying to understand how something that was once so right could go so wrong. Stupid window!

To be continued…

“Leave that window open,” my mom fanned her flushed face, “it’s hot in here.”

“No, we want it closed,” shouted Joy from outside.

Joy was the other mom/coach in our group. She was a lot of fun, high-spirited and basically almost like one of the other teens in a lot of ways.

“You’re outside. Why do you care if the window is open or not?” asked my mom. She had a really confused look on her face and I could see her point. Why did people on the outside care if a window on the inside was open or not? It really made no sense.

“We’re talking about something.”

I was still naive at this point and didn’t think to wonder what they were talking about that they didn’t want anyone else to overhear. Or how strange it was that a thirty-something woman would sit outside with a group of teenage girls and gossip about people on the inside. No, I still was enthralled by Joy, like all the others. I hadn’t yet come to know the real Joy. What I saw was a facade.