Chapter 26 - Unease Between Friends

I heard a soft knock on my door.

 

“Come in,” I called.

 

My grandmother pushed into my bedroom, wearing a sheepish grin. “Hi, honey.”

 

“Hi.”

 

She sat on the edge of my bed. “How’re you doing?”

 

I sat up. “Why did you come in here? I doubt you just wanted to make small talk.”

 

She smiled. “Who’s the boy, Andrea?”

 

I groaned. “Grandma.”

 

“Oh, c’mon. I gave you a few minutes of peace!”

 

I sighed. I opened my mouth to spill my guts, but shut it again. “I’m not ready to tell you.”

 

She frowned. “Andrea, as your legal guardian, it’s my job to keep an eye on the boys you kiss on the front porch.”

 

My cheeks scorched. I smothered my pillow over my face so she wouldn’t be able to see. “I’ll tell you later. I need to talk to Skye first.”

 

“Okay.” I appreciated that she respected my privacy. She got up and walked out of my room. The second the door closed I reached for my phone.

 

On the second ring, she answered. “Hey, this is Skye.”

 

“Skye,” I panted. “I need you to come over here. Now.”

 

She sighed. “I need to study. I have a test tomorrow that I don’t understand the concept of.”

 

“Please?”

 

She sighed again. “Give me twenty.”

 

 

 

I zoomed down the stairs when I heard the knock on the front door.

 

“Is that the boy again?” my grandma shouted, and I heard her muffled laugh from the living room.

 

I yanked open the door. “Skye!” I leaned out the door and pulled her into a hug.

 

She stumbled. “Whoa. Are you okay?”

 

I hugged her tighter. “No.”

 

She ushered me upstairs, still in my embrace, and we flop onto the bed.

 

“What happened?” she asked.

 

“Nate happened. On that front porch.”

 

She took a moment to reply. “ . . . What?”

 

“Nate kissed me on my porch!” I practically screamed.

 

Skye covered her mouth with her hand. “No way! The guy you called a jerk at the mall?”

 

I nodded.

 

“Why would you let him do that?” she asked.

 

“I guess it was kind of my fault, too. I didn’t pull away.”

 

“But why did you do it if he was such a jerk?”

 

This was the moment I’d been dreading. She was going to make me admit that I liked him. I guess it should be expected, since I kissed him and all, but it felt like I should be guilty for lying.

 

I was really quiet when I said, “I liked him.”

 

She hit me playfully. “Look at you! Getting crushes and kissing jerks like normal girls!”

 

I pushed her away. “Okay, I was overreacting that day. He’s not a jerk.”

 

“That’s what you want to think. But we both know he is.”

 

“No! He’s not.” I swallowed and continued. “The other day, Chase came to school. He found me and wanted to talk with me, and . . . he told me he loved me.”

 

Skye paled.

 

“And then when I rejected him, he kicked me out of his car and Nate came and drove me home. Like a non-jerk!”

 

By the crushed look on Skye’s face, I probably should’ve left out everything about Chase.

 

“Oh, Skye, I’m so sorry,” I said. “He said it happened recently.”

 

She nodded and breathing in deep, and I knew she didn’t want to burst into tears. I hugged her again, giving her the chance to let it all out, but she stayed strong and silent.

 

“Back to Nate?” she asked me, her voice a little shaky.

 

“Back to Nate.”

 

She bit her lip. “Well, I suppose he doesn’t sound like a total jerk, but be careful, okay? I don’t want you to fall for a guy when he’s just going to drop you later.”

 

“Skye, I’ve already fallen. All I can do now is hope he’ll catch me. And doesn’t let go.”

 

She nodded thoughtfully. Then she smiled at me. “Okay, now tell me what happened. When’d you kiss?”

 

So I told her everything, from the moment he knocked on my door to the second I watched him drive away. She laughed when I was done.

 

“What’s so funny?” I questioned.

 

“I think it’s funny that you punched some chick for him.”

 

I felt my cheeks redden. “She was pissing me off.”

 

Skye annoyingly ruffled my hair. “I bet she was.”

 

“Andrea, Skye! Chase is here!” My grandma shouted from down stairs.

 

We both stared at each other, our eyes widening. What could he possibly want?

 

There was a faint knock on my door. “Andrea? Skye?”

 

Under her breath, Skye muttered, “Of course he says your name first.”

 

I pretended not to hear. “Uh, come in I guess. Unless you aren’t in the mood to get yelled at.” It was the truth: the boy was in for a yell.

 

He hesitantly pushed open the door, a scared expression on his face. The light wasn’t great in my room, so half of his face was shadowy. He shifted his gaze so our eyes met, and the second he did I felt his lips on mine again. I felt his hand on my cheek. I felt myself blushing as I remembered him whispering, I think I love you.

 

I swallowed back the panic that was building in my throat. It must be one hundred times worse for Skye. He entered my room and then closed the door behind him. I didn’t ask him to come and sit with us on my bed, and I didn’t offer him the beanbag chair I kept in the corner. I glared at him until her sat on the ground and crossed his legs.

 

“What do you want?” I growled, a little harsher than I’d intended.

 

He gulped. “I want us three to talk.”

 

“About what?” Skye wanted to know. “About how you are in love with Andrea?”

 

His eyes flickered to mine. I felt myself falling apart, and I wanted to just yell at him to get out before I said something that would ruin our friendship forever. Because the truth was, I missed our friendship. We hadn’t really talked or hung out, just the three of us, since before they broke up. It’s been more than a year. It was time for us to move on. But I wasn’t going to say anything like that. Not now.

 

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” demanded Skye.

 

He looked at me again, his green eyes sparkling. “I’m not sorry I told you the truth, Drey.”

 

“Do not call me that right now,” I choked out. This was so awkward.

 

His shoulders drooped, like he thought I’d actually get up and tell him I loved him, too, right in front of Skye.

 

“What did you want to talk about?” Skye asked.

 

“I want us to all be friends again,” he said, his gaze never leaving mine. “But I don’t know how that will work.”

 

“It won’t,” I heard myself saying. Even though just minutes ago I was thinking I wanted our friendship back, too. “We’ve all grown apart. Things have changed.”

 

“We haven’t grown apart,” Chase insisted. “We’ve been wedged apart, by a nasty breakup.”

 

Skye actually stamped her foot. “Are you implying this is my fault?”

 

“In a way, yes.”

 

Skye and I seemed to both be stunned silent. None of us said anything for a few minutes.

 

Skye spoke up again, her voice cracking. “Well, Andrea has a new boyfriend anyways.”

 

I dropped my head into my hands. Why would she say that now?

 

“You do?” Chase asked me. He’d stood up and was now in the middle of taking a step towards me.

 

“Yeah,” I admitted.

 

Chase clenched his fists and shifted his weight like he was going to punch something. But he didn’t. Just gave me a steely look.

 

“Great,” he murmured, just loud enough for Skye and I to hear. Then he ripped open my door and stomped out, making the pictures on the wall sway. I heard him slam the front door behind him, and Skye and I both watched him walk away through the window.

 

Skye was gritting her teeth, but I was glad she wasn’t chasing after him like she would’ve a week ago. 

Author's Note

another pretty long chapter:)! unlike most people, i'll probably have tons of free time to write this Christmas break, (except for a couple days) so there should be a lot of new chapters by the time school's back on again. anyways, hope ya like it, i worked very hard to produce this chapter tonight. haha, enjoy! and remember to review;)!

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[SwagMaster]

A lot means four or more to most people. So, no pressure, but you may have a mob/riot pounding on your door after Christmas break is you don't get your promised numbers in!!:D