Friend or Not?

   Melissa stood there, stunned at the fact that she had been slapped. She had never been slapped or hit before. Even her own parents had never spanked her, so for her to be slapped was a huge shock. She wasn't even sure how to react or how to respond.

   "Hellooo! Are you even listening to me?!" Exclaimed Joan, snapping her fingers in front of Melissa's face. "Are you deaf, or just plain stupid?"

   "Wha.. what...?" Stammered Melissa.

   "Hey... Come on, Joan. Let's just go," said Laura, uneasily.

   "I said that I was sorry already," Melissa said defensively.

    Joan slapped her again, twice, drawing blood with the last slap. Her hand was feeling numb from the force that she was using to slap Melissa's face, but she didn't care.

   "Bitch!" She screamed at Melissa, who flinched at the sound. "You think you can just say sorry and walk away?! You think apologizing will fix everything?!!"

   Melissa stared at Joan with wide eyes as tears began to drip down her face.

  "You think crying will save you?" Joan sneered at her, as she lifted her hand back to slap her again."How pathetic!"

    Laura stepped forward to grab Joan's arm before she could slap Melissa again. "I think that's going too far. You've done enough," she said in a worried tone.

    Joan was enraged that her own friend would take Melissa's side over herself. Without thinking, she backhanded Laura in the face, but instantly regreted it.

   Laura's head whiped to the side from the force of the blow. Stumbling, she fell to the floor as both Melissa and Joan reached out to help her.

    Joan grabbed Laura's arm and glared at Melissa, causing Melissa to drop Laura's other arm.

   Laura jerked her arm from Joan, yelling, "Don't touch me!! Just... don't!"

    "I'm... I'm sorry, Laura, it was an accident..." mumbled Joan, as she looked away with shame.

   "You're sorry? Sorry?! You HIT me! How could you hit me? I thought that we were friends!!" Exclaimed Laura, as she dusted herself off.

   Joan glanced up at Laura, then looked away, too embarrassed to look her in the eye. "We ARE friends!" She responded unhappily.

   Laura swiveled to directly face Joan and glared at her. "Are we?" She asked icily.

   Shocked, Joan looked up into Laura's light brown eyes that were cold with anger.

   "Of course we are!" Joan exclaimed, feeling uneasy about the way Laura was looking at her.

    "Are we Really friends?" Questioned Laura, stepping closer to Joan. Leaning forward, she gazed into Joan's eyes and added, "Because I don't think we are friends anymore."