An Old Friend's Fix

We never got along
In those earlier years
She was friends with all the others
And liked to see my tears

I don’t know what changed it
I guess I felt alone
But suddenly we were friends
And in her a light shone

She was pretty, she was younger
She knew a lot of guys
She went to such lengths that made me sometimes wonder
Was all of this just lies?

Talent show, late nights, camping in back yards
My other friends, she pushed away
Until I was just hers

I never really saw it odd, for she was nice to me
Though I guess that was the objective
For things to feel safe for me

One day
I moved away
Though she didn’t seem as sad
As the friends I had before
I didn’t think this bad

Every day I called her up
And we discussed what was new
Every day I told her
“I'm so glad to have a friend like you”

One day an old teacher called
Worried and distressed
She said many students came to her
Saying rumors have been spread

A girl and a boy
In two different grades
spread a rumor about me
That the move was a charade

I should expect a call
From the boy and the girl
Apologies and all
For what they said to the world

Well I never would have guessed
My friend would say such things
And I never would have guessed
I had so many friends to repudiate

The boy called
I forgave him
I’ve known him for a long while
But the girl didn’t
And I could not even smile

Finally I’d had enough
And gave my friend a ring
The first thing that she said
Was subtly aimed to hurt me

My mother stood at my side
As I confronted the girl
Of the things the students said
The things she told the world

To this day it haunts me
How my friend betrayed
All those years we spent
It was all a charade.