She sat for a long time reading and rereading the text over and over trying to process what it said. She was flooded with emotions. She was mostly irritated but with that came anger and sadness and disappointment. She felt all of these towards herself for making Eileen feel this way but she also felt the same towards Eileen for saying something when she never said anything when she felt that way. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been feeling really excluded by you and Laurel lately.” She threw the phone across the bed but quickly retrieved it, not being able to bear the thought of her phone leaving her hands for more than a few seconds. She reluctantly pushed the blanket off of her and padded down the hall, through the kitchen and into the living room. “I don’t know what to say,” she pushed the phone into her mom’s hand. “I don’t want to sound mean, I just don’t think it’s fair of her to make a big deal about it, cause I never do and she excludes me so much.” Her mother’s soft eyes looked away from the computer for a moment to read the text.
“Well you need to respond. When did she send this?”
“Last night, but I just saw it when I woke up.” She let out a small, sad sigh and looked down.
“I don’t know what to tell you honey. Maybe say something like ‘I’m sorry I didn’t know you felt that way.’”  Her mom extended the phone back. “You just can’t say anything mean, that’s not Christian like.” The girl knew that arguing would get them nowhere and would probably end up causing more problems than there already were. She typed out her response but didn’t hit send. She didn’t want to send something she didn’t mean.
The girl kept looking at the text all day trying to decide on whether she should send her reply. She knew that if she sent what she wanted to say she would regret being so harsh later. But she also knew if she sent what her mother told her she wouldn’t mean it and would feel like she was lying. The stress of knowing this text could lead to a fight that would make or break their friendship ate away at her.
As she climbed back in bed that night she took one last look at her phone and pressed her finger on the send button, still a little wary on if she should send it or not. But eventually she released allowing the text to send, meaning what she was saying. She proceeded to turn off her phone and go to sleep not worrying about Eileen’s response until the morning.