It's tough, being best friends with the person you love. Especially if the feeling is... mutual?
Wait, what?
Truly, neither Mason Byrd nor Cody O'Neill wanted to be just friends. It's just that Cody was fast in the swimming pool but not so much...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Mason
I entered Zoey's house through the always open front door, and was instantly greeted by the roaring guitars of AC/DC. Courtesy of Zoey's mom, a rocker lady who was stuck in the eighties both music and clothing wise. Very unwilling to accept she wasn't twenty anymore either (much to Zoey's chagrin).
I wasn't too bothered by it. I could sympathise with her. And her loud music was indefinitely better than listening to Noel making kissy sounds every time he saw me.
Giving Zoey's mum a quick wave through the glass separating the living room from the hall, I immediately headed up the stairs. I stopped in front of Zoey's room. Her door had a chalkboard layer on it, and Zoey decorated it with new drawings all the time; today the theme appeared to be gothic my little ponies.
I breathed in deeply.
Zoey's mum's AC/DC music would be nothing compared to the sounds Zoey was going to produce when I told her what I told Cody.
It's not like I did it on purpose! It was Cody asking all these questions: 'so you really like her.' And 'you're sure?' Why would he explicitly ask such things if he didn't fully believe me? I'd panicked, and the date thing came rolling out.
Deciding I shouldn't prolong the inevitable any longer, I finally knocked and then stepped inside Zoey's room.
Zoey was behind the computer. Her desk, and pretty much everything else in her room looked like a unicorn had vomited all over it. Her bright, bright blue drawer almost made my hair look boring (it had to be the only place where my hair colour would be considered camouflage).
Yue was sitting on the bed in between various pillows and teddy bears, with her laptop. She shot me an arrogant look, flipped her black hair over her shoulder, and continued typing. Still sour about not choosing her to fake crush on I'm guessing.
"Oh hey Mason!" Zoey turned in her desk chair to flash me a smile, and then turned back to the screen.
"You total idiot! Worthless piece of crap! Retreat! Don't feed them, don't feed them!" she yelled into the microphone.
A series of impressive profanities followed, and I found myself just staring at her. Jesus. Better not disturb that. I sat next to Yue on the bed instead.
"I can't believe you didn't pick me to fake crush on."
Yue slowly turned to me with pursed lips, and I reached out and rubbed her shoulder.
"I know, I know. Next time I'll definitely fake crush on you. Promise." I grinned at her.
Yue's eyes narrowed and she slapped my hand off her. "Oh hell no. There better not be a second time."
"Yeah!" Zoey spun around in her desk chair. She took off her headphones, evidently done yelling at her poor teammates. "Yue and I talked about this and decided--"
