Between the Lines | ✓

Cliche 28: The Dumb Friend and the Dumber Friend

I loitered like a creeper behind the library, back pressed against the brick wall and eyes narrowed as I tried to spot Aubrey amongst the crowd of leaving students. At the end of English class, Aubrey had told me to meet her behind the sheds after school, prompting me to choke as my mind unwittingly reminded me of a very promiscuous passage in 'Say No to Bad Boys' which explicitly detailed how Xander docked his giant cruise ship in Aubrey's harbour while gagging her with his tie to silence her lewd moans. 

This Aubrey was obviously not asking me to accompany her to dance the Devil's tango on school grounds, but there was a small part of me couldn't help but panic at the girl's alternate existence. 

It was while I was adamantly trying not to remember anything about 'Say No to Bad Boys' that I felt something poke my side, making me squeak in shock, whipping around. Aubrey was behind me, slight smile on her face, though she looked a little apprehensive.

"Okay, so I've been listening to Elias give his side of his very tragic love story all day, and boy, if his version is the truth and nothing but the whole truth, you better prepare yourself because I will end you," Aubrey said seriously, dangerous glint in her eye making me swallow nervously.

I mean, Truck-kun already beat you to it, but I guess you can kill me a second time.

"O-Okay?" I stammered, Aubrey grinning with satisfaction, looping her arm through mine and tugging me out of the school. 

"Elias is at soccer training and I promised to be his shoulder to cry on afterwards, so you've only got me for about an hour and a half. I'm also really hungry, so let's go to a cafe and get some cake and coffee while we chat," Aubrey said. The way her smile widened on the last word made me shiver, because I felt that if gave her the wrong 'answers' during her interrogation, I would definitely regret it.

Aubrey and I soon found ourselves at a coffee shop around the corner from school, the protagonist getting a hot chocolate and a very decadent slice of chocolate cake while I just got a vanilla latte. I almost choked on my first sip when Aubrey leaned her elbows on the table, her blue eyes staring as an eerie smile accompanied her gaze. I felt myself breaking out into a cold sweat, swallowing my spit instinctively.

"So, what's your side of the story, Alex? Elias told me that he confessed his feelings to you and you completely shot him down by saying that he was supposed to be in love with me? And that you essentially broke his heart by not even directly telling him that you didn't like him that way, but that his feelings were somehow 'wrong'," Aubrey chirped, stabbing her fork with vigour into her cake, the poor thing collapsing with a silent cry. I gulped, clearing my throat.

Oh, God. What Elias told Aubrey does sound pretty bad... and it's not even all false. It's just that... he's misunderstanding one of the fundamental things... The most important thing, really.

"I like Elias too," I coughed out, Aubrey's fork pausing its murderous attack on the innocent cake. Aubrey just blinked at me with feigned blankness and I groaned, running my fingers through my blonde hair. "Yes, that kind of like. Romantic like. The 'I want to kiss him' kind of like. The 'I'd recite sonnets to him' kind of like. The-"

"Uh, Alex, that's been kind of obvious since day one," Aubrey dead-panned, tilting her head to the side as she stared at me, the cogs in her protagonist's head slowly turning. 

"Huh?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes slightly, letting out a dainty sigh as she flipped her auburn hair over a slender shoulder.

"I mean, we all knew you were in love with him? Only Elias didn't think so because he was too nervous to get his hopes up, but as a third-party observer with zero romantic interest in either of you, I thought it was plain obvious. Which is why I was so pissed when Elias called me saying that you broke his heart," Aubrey said, stabbing the glazed cherry that looked like it was wilting on the side of her cake.