Elaine and I met at the beginning of Ninth Grade.  I was bullied a lot in middle school by a group of girls, so my parents thought it would be best if I went to a completely different high school than them.  And that's when I ran into Elaine.  On the first day she welcomed me with open arms into her friend group and got my accquainted with all of them.  They even inspired me to take music, which I found out was a subject I love!  Anyway, I always imagined Elaine as the Rosemary Fairy.

The 'Rosemary Fairy' series were books I read as a little kid about this one girl going on adventures with the Rosemary Fairy, who was basically portrayed as a Saint.  Always exceptionally kind and knew how to help anyone, even the baddest of villains.  And since Elaine could practically read my mind, know what I was feeling, and  knew how to help me, I always thought she resembled the Rosemary Fairy- apart from the fact that the Rosemary Fairy was a brunette and Elaine is a blonde, like me.  Anyway, right now I needed help from the Rosemary Fairy a.k.a. Elaine more than anything at the moment!

I dialled her number on my phone and Elaine answered with her usual, "What's up?"

"My grandparents are here right now.  Both sets of them!" I exclaimed breathlessly.

"Is everything okay?  Are you anxious?" Elaine asked.  Told you she knew what I was thinking!  I lowered my voice so nobody would hear and said, "I am anxious, I already feel the tension in the air."

"That must suck," Elaine replied.

"And," I added, "On the car ride back my Grandma was asking about my friends and what religion they are!  Can you believe it?"

"What did you say?"

"I said I have an awesome friend named Elaine." I answered.  

I heard her giggle and say, "Thanks!"  But that lead me to a question I wanted to ask Elaine.  Something personal, and related to the talk we were having on the way home from the airport with Grandma and Grandpa.  You probably know what it is by now.  "Elaine, what's your religion?" I blurted suddenly.

"What?"

"Are you Christian, Jewish-?" I asked, rattling off some religions I know.

There was a pause and I assumed Elaine was thinking hard.  Finally she said, "I never thought about it, I guess.  I mean, my family puts up a Christmas tree every year, but we don't go to a church every Sunday.  I don't know if there is a term for people like me who are kind of indecisive."

"Maybe there is," I wondered aloud.

Another pause happened and I could hear Elaine sighing on the other line.  I should have taken that as a warning sign, maybe to stop talking about religion, but I didn't.  I didn't notice that she was uncomfortable, so I just kept going.  "If you had to pick one religion," I asked, "What would you pick?"

"I don't know, Paige-"

"Like, if you had to choose." I emphasized, "If you had to choose between being a Christian or being a Jew, which religion would you pick?  Be honest."

Suddenly, Elaine got very annoyed.  "Listen, Paige." She said, kind of coldly, "I know it must be difficult to have your grandparents around, but please stop asking me to pick a religion.  It's not very nice."

And that's when I got annoyed.  How is it not nice?  I'm just asking her a simple question, it's not rocket science!  I began to feel like I felt in Grade Eight.  Hurt and unappreciated.  Elaine was not providing any support for me at all with my grandparents, and now it seems like she wanted to start a fight!  Anyway, I replied just as coldly, "Well, you don't have to get so mad about it!"

"I'm not mad!" Elaine protested bitterly.

"You sound mad." I contradicted because it was true.

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

Elaine sighed and muttered, "I'll see you later, Paige."  And before I could say anything, she hung up on me.  I was fuming.  Was nobody in this world on my side?  Now my best friend has her back turned on me?

But, one thing's for sure:

Elaine is definitely not the Rosemary Fairy.