It’s a Matter of Trust

As soon as I got to school on Monday, I could tell something was off. Classmates were looking my way and laughing, but when I waved to them, they suddenly became silent and looked away. I felt myself turning red with embarrassment, but I didn't know what to feel embarrassed about.

When I sat down by Natalia in biology class, I was confused more than anything else. Natalia is . . . or was . . . my best friend. We've known each other since first grade and have always been open with each other. She's the last person I would expect to betray me, but . . . we'll get to that in a bit.

"People are acting really weird today, like something is funny, but I don't know what's up," I said.

"I don't know," Natalia said, flinching a bit as she flipped through a magazine. "Maybe you're just being paranoid."

"I guess I said, unconvinced. Even though Natalia was able to brush it off, the sidelong looks and barely smothered grins from my classmates didn't stop for the rest of the day.

Confused, I decided to talk to my older sister when I got home, Shauna has always been great at giving advice, especially when I don't ask for it, so I figured she'd be thrilled to tell me what to do. We sat down in her room, and I explained not only about how people were staring and laughing at me but also about how Natalia seemed to tense up when I mentioned it. Shauna sat there with her arms crossed, tapping her chin in thought until I was done speaking. Then she spun around in her chair and began looking something up on her computer tablet. "Let's see what the Internet has to say about you!" she said as her fingers began flying over the touchscreen. I was just about to ask her what she was looking for when she shouted, "Aha!" followed by a short giggle.

Shauna had pulled up Natalia's blog, and with it the proof of her betrayal. Natalia doesn't usually write about anything serious, mostly things about school, music, or funny pictures, but I didn't see anything amusing about this post. Over the weekend, Natalia had posted a picture of when we were really young from the first Halloween after we'd met. We had tried to find the silliest, most ridiculous costumes. She had worn a cow costume with a little bell around the neck, but there was no picture of that on the blog. Instead, there was only me—me, dressed in an obnoxious chicken costume with a plastic beak and fluffy white feathers. Beneath the photo was a caption: "My best friend, looking lovely as ever.”

I groaned and put my head in my hands. Natalia had promised—PROMISED—— to never show that picture to anyone. She'd given me her word, and I'd trusted her. Best friends are supposed to be there for one another—they're supposed to keep your secrets, NOT post embarrassing pictures from your childhood all over their blog!

The next day at school, Natalia said hello, but I walked right past her and found another seat in the front of class. Just the thought of her making me the laughingstock of school like that made my stomach churn. I ignored Natalia the rest of the day and refused to sit with her at lunch. By that time, she seemed more confused than ever, so it was no surprise when she approached me in the hallway after school. "Hey, what's your deal?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb, Natalia. I saw your blog, and it really hurt that you would post that picture without even asking me first," I said at last. "You PROMISED me you wouldn't ever show that picture of me in the chicken costume to other people."

"But it was funny," Natalia protested, "and I thought people would get a kick out of seeing some of our old photos. I didn't do it to upset you, I promise."

"I'm not upset about the picture so much as I'm upset that you broke your promise to me!" I shouted. People turned to look at us, so I lowered my voice a little. "If it was all meant to be harmless, then why aren't there any pictures of you in the cow costume, Natalia? Why am I the only one getting laughed at in the hallway, you backstabber?"

"Backstabber?" protested Natalia, her own voice rising a little. "You're blowing this all out of proportion. It was just a silly picture!"

I shook my head and stormed off, ignoring Natalia's protests.

That night, I was in the middle of a homework assignment when Shauna called me into her room. I rolled my eyes, expecting another big sister lecture. Instead, Shauna pointed toward her computer screen. "Natalia updated her blog again," she told me. "I thought you should see."

The picture of me was gone, and in its place was a new picture, one that looked like it had just been taken. Natalia was standing in her bedroom, dressed head to toe in a cow costume that looked about three sizes too small. Beneath the photo, Natalia had written, "Sorry for my 'moostake.' Hope we can still be best friends." I burst out laughing, grateful that I had such a wonderful best friend.

Who is the main character in the story?

Group of answer choices:

Shauna's Best Friend

The Narrator

Shauna

Natalia