I Never Had A Real Friend Like Me

Master Mixer

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00:00Hi, I'm Edith from Ohio. Yeah, I know, I sound like an 80-year-old woman.

00:05My dad was very close to his great-grandmother, and he insisted that his first child would be

00:09named after her. Unfortunately, that's me. Also, as you can see, I'm in a wheelchair.

00:14I had a spinal injury when I was little, and I don't even remember what it's like to walk.

00:18So, if you want to feel bad for me, it should only be because of my name.

00:22Before I continue, please like and subscribe.

00:24After me came my sisters, Louisa, Isabel, and Celine. Their names are pretty because

00:28mom chose them. We lived in a kind of poor household in a small town, with parents who

00:33were galaxies apart. My dad was a neuroscientist who lived in our basement. He was convinced

00:39he was on to some groundbreaking research that would win him the Nobel Prize. But every year,

00:44his research got rejected. It had almost become a metaphor in our town.

00:47It'll rain today, I'm sure of it. Sure is Mr. Arnstein getting rejected again.

00:52Ugh, my son has failed 10th grade again. He's really pulling a Mr. Arnstein on us.

00:57Those comments made me so mad. No one was as smart or hardworking as my dad. Mom, on the other hand,

01:04was pretty and vain. She never met a reflective surface she didn't like. All she'd ever wanted

01:09was a fancy life, so she reminded dad of his failures every day. When I met you, you made me

01:15believe you were freaking Einstein. I thought we'd be rich by now. Can't you discover gravity or

01:20something already? Like, really? How hard is it? I might figure out all the mysteries of the universe

01:25before I understand why I asked you to marry me. Ugh, I was such a fool the day I said yes.

01:31Not much has changed since. Mom unhappily ran a small flower shop to make ends meet. As the eldest,

01:37I wanted to make things easier for both my parents. I was a model student, and I tried helping out at

01:42home by making my sisters responsible. It worked when they were younger, but they were growing up

01:47to be useless. Especially my second sister, Louisa, who was a lot like mom. She was pretty, but apparently

01:54her nose wasn't rich-looking enough. What does that even mean, girl? I've got this flat button nose,

02:00and rich people have cute upturned noses. Ah, okay, gotcha. They look like they can smell cow dung all the

02:06time. Exactly. She would sleep with a clothespin on her nose, hoping it would turn upwards. She'd also poke

02:12her cheek with a pencil while doing her homework, thinking if she did that every day, she might get

02:17a cute dimple. Such a moron. The other two weren't much better. Isabel wanted to be a dancer, and I've

02:24never met anyone so uncoordinated. Celine was also super untalented, but she kept trying new things all

02:30the time, hoping to find her true calling soon. No one prayed harder than me that it would be

02:35really soon. Luckily, I'd inherited dad's brains, and in the 11th grade, I got a scholarship into a private

02:41school that would open up great opportunities for college. You've always been my favorite for a

02:46reason, darling. I know you'll do amazing things one day. I know you will too, dad. I was really

02:52excited to start school until disaster struck, and my crazy family was to blame entirely for it. A week

02:59before, mom came home really excited one day because she'd received a huge order for flowers at a rich

03:05client's house, and the minute my sisters heard that, they were dying to go with mom to help her. Dad was

03:10out of town, and I'd just settled in for a peaceful evening by myself when I got a frantic call from

03:16Isabel. Edith, I'm at the police station. Mom and Louisa are going to jail. What? What do you mean

03:21they're going to jail? Louisa stole a necklace from the rich lady's room and got caught. Mom begged and

03:26cried, but the lady called the police. Please, you have to go talk to her. Ugh, Louisa was such a pain.

03:33Isabel sent me the lady's location pin, and I took the bus to this massive mansion. I was asked to wait in

03:39the main hall, and I just couldn't resist taking a spin on the marble floors, but suddenly, I lost

03:44control of my wheelchair and went crashing into the center table, which sent a huge fishbowl to the

03:49ground, which made the serpents running in slip on the water and land on their butts. Oopsie-daisy.

03:54Soon, I was in the library, facing the snooty owner and her carbon copy snooty daughter. Who are you,

04:01and what are you doing in my house? Again, so sorry for the damage. I'd love to repay you,

04:07but my parents are poor, so I can't. Speaking of parents, ahem, actually, my mom is the flower

04:13lady who came here today, and the girl who took something from you is my, um, sister. What?

04:19You're related to those thieves? Louisa's mentally unstable, I swear, and some days she just refuses to

04:25take her meds. Please, please don't send them to jail. What will I do without my mom, given my

04:30condition? This is very distressing, and the doctors have told me stress is really bad for me.

04:35The lady didn't look happy, but she called the police station and asked for mom and Louisa to

04:40be released. I thanked them profusely, and just as I was leaving, I ran into a school bag lying on the

04:45floor, knocking over its contents. Do you even know how to use that thing? You should take driving

04:50classes or something. I apologized and left, but I was horrified. This girl was going to the

04:55same school I'd just gotten into. How has my life suddenly become so complicated? Oh, I'll tell

05:01you. It's because Miss Kleptomaniac here decided to steal, and I had to save her greedy butt, and now

05:07I have to go to school with this snooty girl who thinks I'm from a family of thieves. Oh, what a great

05:12start. Edith, are you done with this useless family meeting? Louisa and I have had a very tough day,

05:19and we need our beauty sleep. Maybe the girl won't remember who you are. Fingers crossed. Yeah, right.

05:24In fact, as luck would have it, that girl and I were in the same class. Her name was Haley,

05:30and the minute she saw me, her face went from shock to a wide grin. Uh-oh. And soon, Haley became

05:36my arch nemesis. Apparently, she was the smartest kid in class till I turned up. She was also beautiful

05:42and wealthy, and she was dating the star basketball player Cody. And Cody was fine. But Haley still

05:49didn't like being knocked off the number one student spot. How about we make a deal, Edith?

05:54You can act a little less smart in class, and I won't tell everyone how we really know each other.

05:59I won't be doing that. Thanks. I can make your life miserable, you know. You really want to make

06:04the wheelchair girl's life miserable? How would it make you look if I started telling people,

06:08you're bullying me? It'll tank your popularity, and you might even get suspended or worse. And Haley

06:14knew I was right. We just never got along and continued to compete in class. I always got the

06:19highest marks in subjects like math and physics, but she beat me in history and literature. She knew

06:25she couldn't openly bother me, but she tried in sneakier ways. Like one morning, when I wheeled into

06:30literature class, our teacher, Miss Agatha, was looking furious, and everyone was staring at me.

06:35And that's when I saw the chalkboard. On the lower half, it said Miss Agatha should change her name

06:40because she is not cool like Agatha Christie. In fact, she is dull and ugly and stupid. I think

06:46she was a toad in another life. She is... It went on and on, and the lovely cursive handwriting was

06:52unmistakably mine. Okay, I know what this looks like, but I really didn't do this. Detention for a week.

06:58Ugh, this Haley was good. She'd copied my handwriting to perfection. I didn't take her pranks sitting down,

07:04though. Well, I'm always sitting down, but you know what I mean. I just had a lot of accidents

07:08around her. Oops, sorry, lost control. That jacket looks new, huh? Sorry, sorry, I just didn't see

07:15your toes. You have really tiny feet, Haley. Then one day, our principal came to class to tell us

07:20about a statewide competition for which one student would be chosen from the school, and all interested

07:25candidates had to sit for a test. Also, I should add that the winner of the competition will get a full

07:31scholarship to any university of their choice. This was a chance to make all my dreams come true.

07:37I spent countless hours studying for the test. I knew Haley was preparing for it, too, even though

07:41she didn't need a scholarship. It was just an attempt to beat me. The test was tough, but I did my best,

07:47and guess what? It was good enough. I managed to come out on top, and I was over the moon. But there was

07:53one problem. The competition required a big entry fee, and I had to travel to another town and cover those

07:59expenses, too. I wanted to ask my parents for help, but that evening, I heard a huge fight between them

08:05over money, and I just couldn't. I wasn't giving up, though, not after coming this far. So, I decided

08:10to sell tacos in the school cafeteria, because seriously, I make the world's best tacos. I could

08:16cover the cost of ingredients, and I just needed to sell enough for two weeks to collect the amount

08:20I needed. I set up a little taco corner in the cafeteria, and they were an instant hit. My tacos were

08:26selling like hotcakes, till the awful lunch ladies in the cafeteria reported me to the principal,

08:31and I was informed that I couldn't sell food on school premises. So, the next day, as soon as school

08:36ended, I was ready with my taco stall right outside the school gate. Technically, not on school premises,

08:42so no one could say anything to me. Even some friends joined me in selling them, and the first few days,

08:47things were going great. But suddenly, things started going very wrong. Students started getting sick in

08:52school with similar symptoms, and parents poured in with complaints. The principal launched an

08:57investigation, and it wasn't long before they discovered the problem. My tacos! I was suspended

09:02for two weeks, but worse than that, Haley was chosen for the competition instead, and I was

09:08devastated. I didn't even tell anyone at home I was suspended. They all thought I had spring break.

09:13But three days later, the most unlikely thing happened. Cody, Haley's boyfriend, came to visit me

09:18at home. Um, hello? I'm Cody from school. I came to see if you were doing okay. Oh, wow, you're

09:24welcome. You too. What? Can I come in, or are you busy? No, no, I'm not busy. I mean, yes, I am busy.

09:31Actually, there's an avocado that's going bad, and I need to make some guacamole, but it can wait a bit

09:36longer. Not too long, though. What was I even saying? In that afternoon, Cody told me that Haley had

09:42sabotaged my taco business. She'd mentioned something about bringing you down, and I thought

09:47she was kidding. She got someone to mix something into your food, which made everyone sick. I am so

09:53sorry. I couldn't believe that someone could be so heartless, and there was nothing I could even do

09:57about it, and I just started to cry. There'll be other chances, Edith, and I can't believe you

10:02started a business and made that much money. You're really cool and brave. After that, Cody started

10:08visiting regularly during my suspension, and we'd have fun and joke around. He really made me feel

10:14seen, and we could talk about anything. Do you feel people act weird around you sometimes? Yeah,

10:19most people get so awkward when they see a wheelchair. Like, they don't know if they need

10:24to express sympathy or if they should just ignore it completely, but really, I'm fine, and I just want

10:29people to act normal. Do you wish you could walk someday? More than anything in the world, I dream about

10:34it all the time. Cody pressed my hand and smiled warmly, and my heart fluttered, and when I went

10:40back inside, my stupid sisters were waiting for me with huge grins. You like him. You wanna hug him.

10:47You wanna kiss him. You wanna... Shut up, Louisa. He's just a friend. You may be book smart, but you don't

10:53know the first thing about boys. He's not coming over every day because he likes you as a friend, and if

10:58you're not interested in dating him, I can. I mean, it would be a crime to let this rich, yummy boy go.

11:04Shut up, Louisa. He's mine. When my suspension ended, I was back to school, ready to work hard

11:09again. Actually, I was looking forward to seeing Cody more than anything, but to my disappointment,

11:14I found him right next to Haley. I gave him a small wave, and he just looked away. Well,

11:20I guess things were back to normal. Cody had just felt bad for me, and he tried to make me feel better.

11:25He was still gonna choose Haley because she was everything a guy could want. Soon enough,

11:29the spring dance was on everyone's mind, but I wasn't even thinking about it till one day in the

11:34cafeteria. I was reading by myself when Cody sat and joined me. Edith, I'm sorry I've been avoiding

11:39you. Will you go to the spring dance with me? What? But what about Haley? You... You stole my

11:44boyfriend! You act like this poor little wheelchair girl, but you're so cunning, and I'm done keeping

11:50your stupid little secret, too. Hey, everyone! Did Edith ever tell you that her sister's a thief

11:55who stole something from my house? Who knows? Maybe dishonesty runs in the family, and Edith's lying,

12:01and she can't actually walk. That's enough. I broke up with you because I don't love you, Haley.

12:06Please, just back off and stop spreading lies about Edith. No one's buying them, least of all me.

12:12Haley stared at us furiously, then screamed and stormed off. So, where were we? Oh, yeah,

12:18the spring dance. Go with me. Since you're desperate. Sure. We had an amazing time dancing away,

12:24and then we went out for a breather and shared our first kiss. Well, my first kiss ever, and it was

12:29magical. But when I got back home, I found Dad in the lounge in tears. Dad, what's wrong? Are you

12:35okay? I'm more than okay, honey. I just won a huge research grant. Oh, my God! I knew you'd do it.

12:42I'm so proud of you. What's your research about? It's about you. It's all I've been working on for

12:47years, and I couldn't give up. You never lost complete sensation in your feet, Edith, and I've been

12:52working on developing a machine that can get you walking again. I don't want to raise your hopes

12:56too high, but it's a very real possibility, and we have the money to try it out. Dad, I can't believe

13:03you did this for me. Even if it all doesn't go to plan, this means everything. Well, long story short,

13:09I was one of Dad's subjects, and within two months, he got me to stand on my own two feet. A baby couldn't

13:15be prouder of his first steps than I was, and all of my mom's and sister's dreams came true, too.

13:20We moved to a much bigger house with much fancier things, and Mom didn't have to work

13:25anymore. I knew I always made the right choice marrying you, Mr. Arnstein. I'm still wondering

13:31why I married you, but let's not argue anymore, dear.

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