To Tell or Not to Tell?
  Written March 2003
Thank you to all of you who provided information for this story.
    Amy was walking down the hall to Geometry class with her best friend, Elizabeth, when Amanda came up to them. Amanda’s jeans were so low that Amy could hardly believe that they were school appropriate, and they were too baggy for her own good. Amanda wore a plain black sweatshirt, that Amy was sure hid a shirt that Smith, the principal, would not like. Amanda was the kind of freshman who hung out with the senior bad girls. That she would approach Amy and Elizabeth shocked Amy, as they were honors girls who stuck to their curfews and didn’t cause trouble.
    “Elizabeth,” Amanda said. “Meet us by the pine in front of McDonald’s today after school.”
   Why is she doing this? Amy thought. What does she have to do with Elizabeth? And who is ‘us’?
    “Are you in or out?” Amanda said.
    “I have a project due tomorrow…” Elizabeth started.
    “Forget it. You can do it after; it shouldn’t take long with your brains. Are you coming or not? We have something you’ll like.”
    “I guess…”
    “Good. See you there.” And Amanda walked away.
    “What was that all about?” Amy asked.
    “Nothing,” Elizabeth said as she picked up the pace so that they wouldn’t be late.

    In a few months’ time, such talk between Amanda and Elizabeth became regular, and Elizabeth often ditched the study sessions that she had after school with Amy and their friends Kelly, Matt, and David.
    “I’ve had enough of this,” Amy said to the others at the study session when Elizabeth was absent. “The next time Amanda tells Elizabeth where to go, I’m going to see what happens.”
    “You shouldn’t spy on your friend…” Kelly warned her. “If she catches you, she’ll be as mad as anything.”
    “She hasn’t been acting like herself lately. For the last month or so, in fact. There’s something wrong.”
    “I think it’s a good idea,” David said. “Elizabeth’s up to something, and we have the right as her friends to know what it is.”
    “It’s not fair of her to ditch us like that, especially for Amanda. You know how that girl is. She’s not one that any of us should hang around.” Matt put in.
    “She could have a perfectly reasonable explanation…” Kelly commented, still unsure.
    “What good could Amanda have up her sleeve?” Matt snapped back.
    “I dunno…” Kelly said quietly.
    “There’s one way to find out,” David said.
    “I’ll follow next time. That’s the only way.” Amy said, finishing the topic. “Now what’s with this Geometry problem?”

     The Tuesday after, Amy saw her chance. Amanda came up to them in the hall again, and told Elizabeth to meet them at the corner of Elm and Sample after school. Amy jotted down a note during class to explain that she would miss the study session, and passed it around to her friends.
     When the final bell rang, Amy rushed to her locker and gathered her things, then walked quickly to the street corner. It was only about five minutes away on foot. The corner was a convenient place to meet; many used it. Elm and Sample were not particularly busy streets, and there were few buildings around, other than an old shack. The best thing about it for Amy was that there was a bush just behind the sidewalk that she could hide behind. Amy got there before Amanda, Elizabeth, and whomever else who were going to meet there, and went behind the bush.
     After several minutes, the girls began to arrive. Heather, a dark skinned girl in the eleventh grade, whose style of dress matched Amanda’s and whose hair was always up in a high ponytail. Carla, a pale senior who dressed in bright, loose clothes and whose blonde hair was always perfectly brushed and down against her back. Noel, a tan, overweight senior who wore whatever suited her that day and whose red hair went every which way. Amanda and Elizabeth arrived. Katy got there last. Katy was a senior, but she was older than the rest, having failed grades twice. She wore dark, clingy clothing, and had her brown hair cut short. She seemed to be in charge. She made a motion with her hand, and the group disappeared into the shack across the street.
     There was a window in the door to the shack Do I dare try to look in? Amy asked herself. They could be facing the door and see me, but… it could be the only way. She stopped to think for a moment. The shack was old, probably built in the sixties or before. There were some places in which some of the wood was torn off, but they were high up. Amy wouldn’t be able to reach them without something to stand on, and nothing was around that she could move noiselessly. I’ll have to risk it, she decided.
      Amy went up to the door as quietly as possible, and peeked in. What she saw she was not prepared for. She had heard rumors that those girls smoked, but she hadn’t really believe it. They had all taken DARE back in elementary school; they all knew what happened. Amy couldn’t believe that anyone would be stupid enough to smoke after hearing all those facts. The scene before her, however, told her otherwise. The girls inside the shack were perched on boxes or other clutter around the room, or on the floor. Katy was passing around cigarettes, and those girls who already had—Carla, Noel, and Amanda—were lighting them and starting to smoke. Amy saw Katy give cigarettes to Heather and then Elizabeth. Elizabeth! Amy thought. Is she smoking now? The answer came soon enough. Noel passed her a lighter, and Elizabeth lit the cigarette and stuck it in her mouth. Elizabeth was smoking!
    Amy had had enough. She ran away from there, not caring if she made noise. Elizabeth was smoking! Amy ran down Elm, turned left onto Bates, and right onto Orchard. Two houses down, turn. Amy knew the route by heart; she didn’t need to pay attention to where she was going. Her mind was racing. Elizabeth had always been just as against smoking as Amy was, what had made her change? Peer pressure could possibly do it—but why from those girls? What did Elizabeth find wrong with Amy, Kelly, Matt, and David?
    Amy reached Kelly’s house, where the study session was held. She ran in, not needing to knock as she was there so often. Amy ran straight up to Kelly’s room, pausing briefly to say hello to Mrs. Falls. She opened the door to Kelly’s room and whispered, “Elizabeth’s smoking…”
   “WHAT?” Matt yelled.
   “Oh my…” Kelly said quietly.
     David was quiet for a moment. “So that’s what she’s up to,” he said semi-calmly.
   “It’s true. I saw it myself. They were in the shack at Elm and Sample. Elizabeth was there with Amanda, Heather, Carla, Noel, and Katy. They were there, and they were smoking.” Kelly informed them.
   “We have to tell Mrs. Tarr!” Matt said.
   “No!” Kelly said. “We can’t just tell on her like that. She’ll hate us for good!”
   “We have to do something! Do you know what could happen? Yes, of course you know! You haven't gone and forgotten and smoked!” Matt exclaimed, on the way to losing his temper.
   “Just let me talk to her…” Amy suggested. “I’ll tell her what I saw, and we’ll see what she does. We have to know her view before we do anything, or it won’t help.”
   “She’s smoking! No good’s going to come to her from that! Face the facts—we need to help her!” Matt said, set on his point.
   “We can help her—just not like that.” David finally said, after been silent all this time. “We could tell, but it wouldn’t do much good unless she knew why. She could very well just think that we are being mean—how much good would that do?”
   “Just let me go about this my way. Please, guys?” Amy said. She wanted her friends’ approval on such an issue.
   “You’ll let us know what happens?” Kelly said.
   “I promise.”
   “I guess your way won’t hurt, but if it fails, we tell!” Matt said, and the others agreed to let Amy talk to Elizabeth.

     A few days later, Elizabeth came over to Amy’s house to watch a movie. After it ended, they went up to Amy’s room. Amy figured that it was a good time to tell Elizabeth what she had seen.
    The two of them sat at Amy’s desk, and Elizabeth turned on the computer. The girl was chattering away as usual, unaware of Amy’s unusual silence.
    The computer booted up, and Elizabeth sat there, waiting for Amy to do something on it.
   “I know what you’ve been doing,” Amy said instead.
   “What?”
   “I know about the cigarettes.”
    Elizabeth turned pale. “What cigarettes? I don’t know anything about any cigarettes.”
   “Yes you do. You were smoking them, with the other girls in the shack at Elm and Sample. I saw. Don’t lie to me. It won’t work.”
   “You aren’t going to… tell, are you?”
   “You need to stop.”
   “I don’t need to stop anything! It’s cool, and it’s fun. I don’t need to stop. Just don’t tell my parents; they don’t let me have any fun.”
   “Are you stupid?” Amy had tried to hold her temper, but this was too much. Elizabeth didn’t know what she was doing! “Don’t you remember DARE? You’ll hurt yourself!”
   “I don’t care. That won’t happen to me, anyway.”
   “Yes it will! You’ll get cancer! Don’t do it, girl!”
   “No I won’t! Those facts are old and unreliable.”
   “Not they aren’t. They’re true.”
   “You’re not going to stop me.”
   “I won’t, but your parents will!”
   “Don’t tell! Please!”
    The sudden change in Elizabeth’s attitude was scary. She went from sure of herself to scared. Scared of her parents. So she does know that what she’s doing’s wrong, Amy thought.
   “Why shouldn’t I? What’s stopping me? You? You and your bad habits that will get you sick? You need to stop, and they are the ones who can do it!”
   “If you tell, you aren’t my friend. Friends don’t tell on friends. You’re supposed to be my best friend! Why would you tell? You promised! You promised, way back in fourth grade. You promised you wouldn’t tell my mother that I saw Titanic, and you promised you wouldn’t ever tell anything else, either!”
    It was true. Amy had made a promise, and she didn’t break promises. But what to do? Elizabeth was hurting herself! She needed help.
   “Please, Amy? Please don’t tell? You’re my best friend…”
    Amy sighed. “I won’t tell,” she agreed, but her fingers were crossed behind her back. She would decide what to do later.

    The next day, Amy’s friends came over at her request. It was Saturday, so Elizabeth was at services and couldn’t join them. When they all got there, they went up to Amy’s room.
   “Well?” Matt asked. “What happened?”
    Amy told her friends what happened, leaving out no detail.
   “Are you saying you are going to let Elizabeth hurt herself for a stupid childhood promise?” Matt demanded when she finished.
   “I’m not sure. I told her I would. What could I do? She’s my friend! A promise is a promise.”
   “And a cigarette is a cigarette, but in the hands of someone who is willing to smoke it, it is dangerous! As is your promise—a movie is one thing, smoking is another!”
   “He’s right,” David put in. “You made your promise two broad, and you can’t keep such a promise without harming her. No one could.”
    Amy opened her mouth, but Kelly beat her to speaking. “Elizabeth trusts Amy, though. If she tells, she’ll break the trust.”
   “Exactly, Kelly! Do you guys know how much that trust is built on? If I lose it now, what’s to say I’ll ever get it back? What’s to say she’ll ever tell me anything ever again? How will we be able to help her if that happens?”
   “Unless we do something, Elizabeth won’t be able to use that trust. First abandoning us, now the cigarettes. How far is this going to go? If she keeps it up, she’s likely to get herself killed.” As usual, Matt was looking at things at their worst. Amy and the others could always count on him to see the worst in people and situations, which brought some good debates, but Amy thought he was getting annoying, tagging Elizabeth like that.
   “We don’t know she’ll do that. She’s smarter than those girls,” Kelly said, sticking up for her friend.
   “Smart people smoke?”
   “Matt, you’re getting really annoying,” Amy said. “Elizabeth made a mistake, but she’s still our friend. Friends don’t attack friends, as you are doing right now.”
   “But…”
   “Shut up, Matt.” Everyone started at David. He was not one to snap at others. “You think that one mistake, one bad move, makes a person bad. That’s not true. It’s far from true. Don’t go talking like Elizabeth’s a bad person. She’s the same person you’ve known all your life, and don’t you forget it.”
   “Well said, David!” Amy said praisingly. “But what am I going to do?”
   “I don’t think you should tell,” Kelly said.
   “I do. This is for her health, her safety, her life. What’s more important? A stupid promise, or the life of your best friend?” Matt made a good point, even Amy had to admit that.
   “I guess you’re right… I still don’t know, though. She’s trusting me. If she had come to me with it in the first place, there’d probably be no way that I would even consider telling Mrs. T. But now… She didn’t even tell me. She kept it from me. And now, she knows it’s wrong. I could see it in her eyes. She knows it’s wrong, and she won’t make a move herself to stop it. She has to stop! Maybe I should tell her mother, but I don’t know.”
   “Maybe you should think on this for awhile,” David said kindly. “It is your decision. We can advise you, but you have to decide what to do, and do it. We can’t do it, it’s not our place.” Kelly and Matt nodded.
   “Thanks, guys.” Amy said.
    The problem bugged Amy all weekend. She couldn’t concentrate on homework, phone conversations, or even her favorite television show. What should I do? She asked herself. If I tell, I’ll break my promise. If I don’t tell, she’s going to get hurt. I don’t want Elizabeth to get hurt, but I promised!
    Finally, Tuesday morning she made a decision. Amy decided to let Elizabeth’s mother in on what was going on. She decided to break her promise and tell on her friend.
    That afternoon in Geometry class, she sent another note around to her friends. Elizabeth was going to Hebrew school, so Amy would go to her house after school to talk to Mrs. Tarr. When Amy’s note got back to her, she saw written on it notes of good luck and telling her that she could do it. I hope so, Amy thought.

    Amy walked the fifteen minutes from her school to Elizabeth’s house as soon as school let out. She walked there deep in thought, nervous about what she was about to do. What will Mrs. Tarr do about Elizabeth’s smoking? What will Elizabeth think of me? I’ll have broken a promise, I’ll have told on her and gotten her in trouble. It’s not too late—but no. I have to tell, she thought.
    Instead of going right in as usual, Amy rang the bell and waited for Mrs. Tarr to come to the door. As she waited, she gathered her courage. I know what I have to do, she told herself one last time, and I’m going to do it.
   “Amy! Hello! What are you doing here? You know that Elizabeth’s at Kol Ami. You can come back at six if you want, though.”
   “No, Mrs. Tarr. I need to talk to you. About Elizabeth.”.
   “Oh, ok,” she stuttered. “Come, come in.”
    Amy followed her friend’s mother to the living room. “Sit,” Mrs. Tarr told her, and she did so. “What do you need to talk to me about?”
    Amy took a breath. Though Mrs. Tarr was an old family friend, it was hard to begin. “Have you noticed anything… different about Elizabeth lately?”
   “Yes, I have. She’s staying out later, and on school days. She comes home smelling of smoke—though she swears that it’s from the mother of one of her new friends. Who are these new friends of hers? I haven’t met them or their parents.”
   “Those new friend of hers… you remember Matt complaining about that group of girls who were getting on his nerves? That’s who they are.”
   “Surely that’s not true!”
   “It is. I saw Elizabeth with them. Mrs. Tarr, she’s lying to you. It’s not the parents who smoke; it’s the kids. Her among them. She’s smoking.”
   “She wouldn’t.”
   “She is.”
   “My Elizabeth wouldn’t do such a thing.”
   “Look at her! Mrs. Tarr, I’m telling you the truth! How often do you hear her talking about Kelly, Matt, David, and me anymore? She doesn’t hang out with us anymore! She hangs out with them! She’s abandoned us for them. If they smoke, how long do you think she could hold out? She’s strong, but not that strong!”
   “My Elizabeth wouldn’t smoke. She’s against it. She may be hanging out with them, but she would never smoke with them”
   “She was against it! Mrs. Tarr, why would I lie to you? I’ve seen her smoke with my own eyes. I would have brought the camcorder with me, or would you have not have believed photographic proof? That’s it, I’ve done my best. I’ve told you what I came here to tell you. I’m just trying to help my best friend. If you won’t help your own daughter, we’ll find some other way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you find out the truth.
    Amy stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind her. When she got outside, she started crying. Mrs. Tarr wouldn’t listen to her! It had never crossed her mind that Elizabeth’s mother might not believe her. All I want is her help, she thought. It’s good that she trusts Elizabeth, but she doesn’t see the truth! What can be done? What?

* * *

    Mrs. Tarr looked out the window. She didn’t quite believe what Amy had said about her child—her little Elizabeth—but Amy had planted a seed of doubt in her mind. Elizabeth had been due home an hour earlier, but had yet to show. Elizabeth was late quite often, and when asked where she was, she answered, but with half answers. And she never quite said what she was doing, ever. She just said she was hanging with her new friends.
    What if Amy was right? Mrs. Tarr thought. She wouldn’t smoke. No, Elizabeth’s better than that… isn’t she? I would know if she was smoking. Yes, Amy was wrong. Elizabeth is fine. Yet, Mrs. T stayed at that window. She had full right to. It was her house, after all. No harm in looking out the window on a sunny day.
    She saw Elizabeth. Elizabeth was turning the corner onto Hollow. There was something in Elizabeth’s hand, though Mrs. Tarr couldn’t tell what it was. Other than the hand and the top of Elizabeth’s head, the girl was invisible, surrounded by five other girls. At times even the hand was invisible, but Mrs. Tarr was sure that it was her daughter.
    What Mrs. Tarr saw next made her wish that it wasn’t her daughter. As the crowd reached the house, Elizabeth tossed a cigarette onto the road beside her. Mrs. Tarr stared at it. Could it just be a candy cigarette? No, it was really. The end of it was burned, and the tip was brown. It was a real cigarette, and Elizabeth was really smoking. Even Mrs. Tarr could see that.
    Mrs. Tarr looked down. She was wringing out her feather duster to the point in which it was shedding. I’d better do something with this, or I’ll have to go and buy yet another, she thought. She hurried to put it down, and met Elizabeth at the door.
    Elizabeth walked right past her mother. As she hit the staircase, Mrs. Tarr called out for her attention. “Elizabeth, you’re late.”
   “My friends met me at the temple.”
   “What were you doing with them?”
   “Just hanging, as usual.”
   “What were you doing as you were ‘hanging’?”
   “Oh, you know. Window shopping downtown, talking…”
   “Smoking?”
   “No. Why would you say that?”
    She never was a good liar, Mrs. Tarr thought. Her body gave her away. On the mention of smoking, Elizabeth tensed up and her face went a shade paler than it was normally.
   “Don’t lie to your mother, Elizabeth.”
   “I’m not lying. Why would you think I am lying?”
   “I saw you. You and those so-called friends of yours.”
   “Amy told.”
   “You were smoking as you walked down the street today.”
   “Amy told.”
   “Well, yes. That’s not the-”
   “I’m gonna kill that girl! Best friends, huh?” Her thoughts trained off, until Mrs. T could no longer hear what she was saying.
   “Amy is your friend. As are Kelly, Matt, and David. They’re worried about you. Those… people you are with are not your friends.”
   “Yes they are! They’re who I hang out with!”
   “Not anymore you don’t.”
   “Mother…?”
   “Elizabeth Rose Tarr, I forbid you to see those girls. I forbid you to smoke.”
   “You know you can’t control me.”
   “Elizabeth Rose! Up to your room!”
   Elizabeth went, while saying, “It’s true…” softly.
    My, she’s got a mouth on her lately. She’s right, though. How can I enforce this? Can I enforce this? Mrs. Tarr thought to herself. How come I don’t know what to do with my own daughter?

* * *

   “So?” Matt asked. “What happened?
    The friends were already gathered at Amy’s house when she got home, eyes still red. She wasn’t surprised to see them, as they would do this whenever one did something that concerned all. Amy’s friends wanted information, and they wanted it now. They wouldn’t give her time to figure out what had happened.
   “She didn’t believe me,” Amy told them all slowly.
   “She what?” Matt exclaimed. “She didn’t believe you?”
   “That’s what I said,” Amy said, and went on to tell the group exactly what had happened. “What can we do?” she finished.
   “What can anyone do?” Kelly asked.
    The girls looked at Matt. “Don’t look at me! I don’t have a game plan!”
    All eyes turned to David. He was, after all, the one who usually formed the plans. For most situations, David had a plan ready. Amy hoped that this was one of those situations.
   “I’m sorry, guys. I don’t know what to do, either,” he said, to Amy’s disappointment.
    Amy, fell back onto the bed for drama, her head just missing the wall. “What are we going to do?” she asked no one in particular.
   “I guess we have to wait until one of us comes up with something,” David said. “There’s nothing else that can be done.”

    David, Matt, and Kelly had all left Amy’s house when she heard the doorbell ring. Amy was trying to devise a plan to help Elizabeth so she didn’t want to move, but her parents were out having dinner with some friends, so Amy was forced to go down and answer it.
    She peeked through the shutters of the window beside the door, and was surprised by what she saw. Standing there was Elizabeth, with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. She looked mad, madder than Amy had ever seen her before. And judging from where she was, Amy suspected that she was the one Elizabeth was mad at.
    Amy opened the door while trying to pretend to be cheerful and wishing that she had taken acting lessons more seriously. “Hi, Elizabeth! Long weekend no see! Come on, a new episode of that court show is on tonight.” Amy moved out of the way so Elizabeth could step in.
    Elizabeth didn’t move. “You told,” she said, voice tight. “You told my mother about the cigarettes.”
   “Elizabeth, I didn’t have a choice!”
   “Yes you did. You could stick by me and keep my secret, or you could go against me and tell.”
   “If I stuck by you, I’d be letting you hurt yourself! What kind of a friend would I be then?”
   “The kind of a friend who trusts her friend, and trusts her friend’s judgment.”
   “You’re judgment’s wrong!”
   “No it isn’t. I chose to do what I’m doing. No one made me. I’m doing it for myself, and I like it. Why can’t you people understand that?”
   “Because you’re hurting yourself in the process.”
   “I’d have been fine. Now who knows what my parents will do to me?”
   “They’ll stop you. They’ll be doing what’s best!”
   “No, it’s not what’s best. Nor was what you did best.”
   “I was helping you! Like any best friend should!”
   “That’s a best friend? Going against a promise and telling on the other person? If that’s a best friend, I don’t want one.”
   “But, Elizabeth…”
   “I never want to see you again! Stay away from me, and stay out of my life!”
    With that, she turned around and walked away, leaving Amy to think out what had just happened. She had known that Elizabeth would be mad, but not like that. Did she really never wish to see Amy again? Or would the whole thing blow off with time? Only time would tell.

~~~

    Time did tell. As her freshman year whizzed by, it became evident to Amy that Elizabeth would stick to her words—she never wished to speak to Amy again. She avoided Amy in the halls and sat away from her in class and at lunch. She quit hanging with Kelly, David, and Matt completely, trading them for her new smoker friends. When Amy did bump into Elizabeth, she could smell the smoke on the girl’s clothes—Mrs. Tarr had not made her quit smoking. Either she never found out the truth, or whatever she had tried to do never worked. Amy doubted that it ever would, the way Elizabeth was acting.
    At the end of the school year, Mrs. Tarr switched jobs and moved her family to the coast. That was the last Amy, Kelly, and Matt heard of their old friend.


~~~

    It was a cool day for August when Amy drove into Harkins College. It was her first year attending it, and she was nervous, as it would also be her first year away from home. Overcoming the nervousness, though, was a feeling of excitement. She would be getting away from home and starting something new. Though Kelly, Matt, and David would be attending different colleges, she knew that her friends were just a phone call or letter away.
    Centennial Hall. That was Amy’s dorm. The map she had put on the dashboard said that it was to the right, next to the cafeteria. She passed Memorial Hall… Campbell Hall…. Fredrick Hall… there it was.  Centennial Hall. She parked, and headed in.
    A little more than an hour later, Amy headed towards Rosen Hall’s auditorium, where all the new students would meet to be given a tour of the campus. On the way, she admired the campus where she would stay. It was beautiful, with trees all over and even flowers at places.
    When she reached it, she found a scene much like the assemblies at her old school. Students in the auditorium seats, adults lined up against the wall, and a woman behind the podium up front. The room was noisy as can be, filled with the voices of students chattering. As Amy took a seat in the back, the woman at the podium called for attention. Unlike in her old school, Amy heard the room quiet down, and she realized how much influence this woman must have on the students.
    Amy’s sister, who had graduated the year before, had told her about this. The woman would make a long speech, and just before boring everyone to death she would release the students into the hands of the adults to tour the campus. Amy sat through the speech, wondering when it would be over. Her sister had not told her that it would be half an hour long!
    Finally, the woman at the front dismissed them for the tour. Amy followed Mrs. Copewood, the adult assigned to her group, around the school. Amy wasn’t prepared for such a confusing place. Sidewalks went everywhere, diagonal and straight. They went on so many of them that Amy knew she would never be able to find her way around just from that tour. She thanked G-d for the map she had used to get to Rosen earlier. She could use that to get around until she learned it.
    The tour was pretty pointless to Amy, until they were between Campbell and Fredrick. Across a diagonal sidewalk, she spotted a girl. She was slim and tall. Her black hair was cropped short, just above her shoulders. Her bangs were long, almost reaching her eyes, and her face was covered with freckles. Amy couldn’t believe her eyes. She knew this girl, she knew she did. But what were the chances of her attending the same college as Elizabeth Rose Tarr? Could this girl really be her?
    As soon as the tour was over and Amy was back in her room, she took out the directory she had been given. She flipped straight to the T’s. Tabbit… Talley…  Tan… Tapscott… Tarr! Tarr, Elizabeth! It really was her! Amy couldn’t believe her eyes. She ran her finger across the page. Elizabeth was in Centennial Hall, room 207. Just one floor below Amy was her best friend.
    Amy didn’t know what to do. She wanted to see Elizabeth, but she still remembered the girl’s words. I never want to see you again, Amy recalled. Had time healed old wounds? There was only one way to find out that Amy could think of. She would go down and see Elizabeth.
    She climbed down the stairs slowly. How would Elizabeth react? Amy knew that she had a problem with worrying too much, but she couldn’t help it. She hadn’t seen Elizabeth in three years, and reunions weren’t always happy.
    Amy reached the second floor. She walked down the hall. 201… 203…205… 207. She was about to knock on the door when another girl opened the door.
   “Hello?” the girl said.
   “Is Elizabeth Tarr there?” Amy asked.
   “Yeah, she is. Why? You want her?”
   “Yes, please.”
    The girl called back into the room that Elizabeth had a visitor, and left the room.
    Elizabeth came to the door within a few seconds with a phone in her hand. When she saw who it was, her eyes widened. She dropped the phone. “Amy?” she whispered.
   “Yeah,” she said. What else was there to say? Amy didn’t know. She hadn’t thought this far ahead.
   Elizabeth picked the phone back up. “Hey, I have to go, okay?” she said into it. “Bye.” She turned back to Amy. “Amy… Amy Ford? Oh, my, gosh. For real? Amy Ford? Is that you?”
   “Um, yes. Or atleast I was last time I checked.”
   “Oh, my, gosh. This is unreal!”
    Amy got tired of standing there and watching Elizabeth go into hysterics over her presence. “Are you going to leave me standing here the whole time, or can we go somewhere?”
   “Oh, I’m sorry! Come in, come in!” She ushered Amy into the room.
   Amy looked around. The room was basically like her own room, with two beds, two desks, two dressers, two closets, and a sink in the back. The only differences, really, were the personal items around the room and the fact that while her room was still pretty clean, Elizabeth and her roommate had already made a mess out of theirs. Bags were still lying around, and clothes were thrown over the bed and desk chair. “Still living in a pigsty, Elizabeth?” she commented.
   “As always. That hasn’t changed. You’ve developed a sense of humor, I see. Who did that to you?”
   “Kelly, believe it or not. She’s had one hiding behind her shy little act all along.”
    She chuckled. “Never would have expected that. Come, sit down. How have things been for you?”
    The two old friends chatted for a while, making up for missed time. The whole time they were talking, though, Amy was wondering what had happened. Elizabeth had been so stiff last time they had talked, and now she was acting as if things were the same as they always had, with age being the only difference. There was also no smell of cigarette smell around the room. What happened? Has she forgiven me? Has she actually quit smoking? Amy wondered. She decided to find out.
   “Elizabeth, what happened?” she asked slowly.
   “What do you mean, what happened?”
   “With all that happened. With the smoking. You quit, didn’t you? What happened?”
   “Do I really have to go into this?”
   “Yes.”
   “I guess I do owe it to you… okay, here’s the story.” She took a breath. “When I moved after ninth grade, I moved to the coast. Oh my gosh, it was awesome! Less than an hour from the beach… we went there all the time. Anyway, when we moved there I went to the beach a lot and made friends there. They didn’t know I smoked, though. I hid it from them. They got me into horseback riding, and I loved it! We would go for rides on a trail leading through the woods behind the barn, and wouldn’t come back for hours.
   “During one such ride, Buster, my horse, was spooked by a fox. He threw me off, and along with other injuries, I broke my rib. It lead to a collapsed lung. When the doctor learned of my smoking, he said that I had to stop.
   “My friends learned of it at that time. Between them and the doctor’s warning, I was pressured to stop. What could I do? I gave it up. It hurt, ya know? All those withdrawal things we learned about—they really do happen. The coughing, the dizziness… I wanted another cigarette, but everyone kept pressuring me not to. And I didn’t.
   “I’m fine now, Amy. I’m fine. I’m never going to smoke again.”
   “So do you forgive me?” Amy asked.
   “For that little thing? Yeah, You did the best, girl, even if I didn’t want to admit it. You did the best.”
    Amy went over and hugged her friend. Things were back to normal between them.
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