A fair fiasco

" I have never been to the fair before"

The moment those words left my mouth i regretted it instantly. How could I tell all my friends who had all probably been to a dozen fairs countless of times that in all my 13 years on planet Earth the closest I had been to a fair was watching it on TV.

They stared at me with eyes filled with shock and mouth wide open.

" Are you being serious or are you joking" Ruth said in a mocking tone.

This was it, this was the moment I could reverse my mistake. I would just lie and say I was kidding and they would laugh about it,I can't look uncool in front of all them.
But when I opened my mouth to utter the lie i prepared in my head, the words that came out were the opposite.

"I truly haven't been to a fair before".

Ugh why can't I tell I tell a stupid lie for goodness sake. They probably don't want to be friends with the kid who can't afford a ticket to the fair. I mean look at them they all scream wealthy even though we all wore the same school uniform, they had chauffeur who drove them to school while I had to trekk all the way to school, we probably wouldn't even be in the same school if I hadn't been so smart and gained that scholarship, but now I felt like the dumbest person in the world.

They still stared at me with shocked expressions like an alien had invaded earth and i suddenly felt insecure for some reason, like they were better and I was less.

" Oh okay" Valerie said without looking at me in the eye

"I can't believe that you really haven't been to the fair, I mean why?" Said Agnes

"Do you have to ask, isn't it obvious " Ruth said

"Stop it Ruth, don't be mean" Valerie chastised.

Ruth can be very mean at times, sometimes I wondered how we became friends to begin with, if it wasn't for Valerie we probably would've been fighting all the time.

"The fair is not that expensive you know, you can just use your lunch money then pick a day and we'll all go with you"Ruth continued

" Stop it Ruth, not everyone gets extravagant lunch money you know" Agnes added.

I couldn't utter any come back for Ruth this time around like I always do, i hadn't felt so insecure before.i didn't realize I was crying until a tear slipped down my cheek, I didn't wait to see their reaction, I just grabbed my bag and ran out of the classroom to the bathroom and cried. I had always had quarrels with ruth before, so often that it felt weird when we didn't argue, but today's own hit me different.

I sat on toilet seat crying until I heard a faint knock on the bathroom door, and then a piece of paper slipped right under it. I wiped my eyes and I picked up the paper and when I held it up, it was a fair ticket. I hurriedly opened the bathroom door and I saw Ruth leaning lazily by the wall with her hands folded.

" Are you gonna come, I had already paid for the ticket like a week ago so no refunds" she said with a little awkwardness.
When I didn't say anything and just stared at her she continued.

" Ugh, I mean we were gonna tell you until you dropped the bomb that you hadn't been to one before and I got carried away"

I stepped up to her and gave her a hug. Ruth could be ruthless but she was still truthful and that was the only thing we had in common.

" I didn't mean what I said and I didn't mean to make you cry, I'm sorry" she said

" It's okay, I never liked you anyways" I said and we both started to laugh.

" So this means you guys are still friends with me right"

" Of course we are, why wouldn't we be"

" I just assumed....
" Assumed what stupid"
" Forget it"
"What shampoo did you use for you hair" Ruth said catching me off guard for the change of topic.

"Why? Do you like it"
" No it smells horrible" she said while holding her nose.

I rolled my eyes at her,Ruth is back to being her annoying self again.

"It smells Just like your perfume" I replied.

And just like that we were back to being our old selves.