Falling for Friendzone

Chapter 41

Christmas finally came, and it was simple to say the most. The usually extravagant holiday wasn't, well, extravagant. I went to Lane's house, he came to mine. There was some tension when my mom told us she invited some old friends for Christmas Day dinner. Lane was with me that evening, and I had no idea the old friends my mom was referring to was Calvin's family.

Luckily enough, everyone kept busy with eating and games. We were barely ever left alone and when we were, Lane stuck to my side like he was glued.

Calvin had subconsciously flirted with me, but I let it slide. He and I both know that he would never come in between Lane and I. I'm not sure if Lane noticed it or not, but he seemed consistently pissed through the entire night so I'm guessing he didn't notice or he would be raging.

It was now the 29th of December, and Lane and I were sitting on the couch in my basement watching TV. The cool air was filled with silence, but it was the okay kind, not the awkward silence. Every few minutes he would open his phone up to text someone. I try not to be too nosey, but the way he constantly smiled at it made something itch.

I was keeping my calm the best I could and decided to start a conversation with Lane.

"So Lane," I started and he gave me his full attention, "are you excited for Katie's New Years Eve party in a couple days!" His face lit up and I smiled.

"Yeah I'm-" his phone beeped, "super....excited...to....what were you saying?" He tried talking while texting and failed. I was growing very frustrated by this point.

Eventually I couldn't take it anymore.

"Who are you texting?" I asked.

"Why does it matter?" He glared at me. He was smirkimg as if he was kidding, but there was something hiding in his eyes that was leading me to believe other things.

"Oh, it doesn't I was just wondering." I said casually and he nodded a couple times. We talked, made out, watched TV, made out some more, and a bit more before he finally told me he had to leave. He had explained to me that his mom was taking down all of the Christmas decorations and wanted to clean, so she was forcing Lane to come home and help, which sucked for him.

"Bye babe." He smiled and I bit my bottom lip. He took his finger and gently ran it down the side of my face, causing a chill to run up my spine.

"B-bye." I stuttered out. He leaned down and gently placed his lips on mine. He ran his tongue across my bottom lip slowly and opened my mouth, granting him axcess. Our mouths moved in perfect sync. He hand his arms wrapped around me in an almost hug, and it my me feel all warm. But then...

Beep.

He stopped right in the middle of our kiss and answered his phone. He texted and subconsciously took a step outside. Right when he looked up, instead of seeing me, he saw a door being slammed in his face.

"C'mon El, really?" He whined through the door.

"Lane, just go help your mom." I sighed and walked away from the door.

I was left in my house; alone and frustrated. Who was he texting? Why were the they so important? And most aggravating of all, why wouldn't he tell me who he was texting?

I thought we were finally fixing all of our problems and now he's being all secretive. I was raging and decided to shut my phone off before I did something I regretted. I'll just give us some time and hopefully by New Year's Eve, everything will be better.

Right before I shut my phone off, I got a call from Calvin, which brought a smile onto my face.

"Hey El! What's up?" His voice chipper, but smooth at the same time.

"Nothing really, Lane just left. Why?"

"I was just wondering if you were doing anything for New Year's? Because if you aren't, you could hang out here...if you wanted." He asked, I could almost feel how nervous he was.

"Oh, I was actually going over to Katie's house for a party-"

"Oh that's okay, I can just-"

"Calvin. I wanted to invite you to it." I said with a small laugh.

"Oh, no I couldn't. They're your friends and I couldn't intrude." I could just see him shaking his head.

"Bud, they're your friends now too! Everyone loves you! And half the people that are going to be there we won't even know. I insist on you coming!" My voice comes out over enthusiastic, but I don't think he really noticed.

There was silence on the other end of the line. "Okay." He finally spoke. "I'm in, thanks for the invite." I smiled.

"Yeah, of course. No problem! It starts at around five. So I'll just see you there? I'll text you the directions." He agreed before we said our goodbyes and hung up. I texted him the address and then quickly shut my phone off. I always felt better after talking to Calvin, he had that effect on people. My mood changed dramatically and I decided to take a nice bath before bed.

Lane's P.O.V

"Stupid!" I screamed out loud to no one. I had one hand on the steering wheel of my car while the other one ran through my blonde hair. "I really pissed her off." I continued to think out loud.

I was driving home and couldn't stop mentally slapping myself for being so careless. I shouldn't have made it seem like I didn't want to be with her; hell, I love her. But I promised Peyton I'd pick her up. She and her brother went to her grandparents house but she needed to leave early to get ready for a party she was going to, so I told her I could take her home.

I was late picking her up, which is why I got the constant texts. I'm just lucky Ellie wasn't too suspicious. She'd be pissed if she found this out. I still can't believe she didn't find out about that party I went to a couple weeks or so ago with Peyton and some of my friends from her old school. I didn't want to go, but she convinced me to stay for a while.

She tried to get me to come to this party as well, but as politely as I could, I declined her. So I dropped her off, she gave me another hug, and left. I can't believe I had to lie to Ellie like that. Why can't she just accept that Peyton and I are friends! I love her but she can be so infuriating! Maybe she can lighten up and stop being such an ass for the party tomorrow.