Four vertices and a square

Taken aback

Pov: Brian

I have to admit I was deeply startled. I wasn't expecting to see the David here. My best friend. I was speechless.

He was the only one who knew I had a crush on Audrey. And yet, there he was with her.

Audrey offered to drive us to the cinema as it was rather far from her house. So we got in her car. David got into the front seat, leaving me the back ones.

We spent the whole trip in an uncomfortable silence except for the occasional small talk between David and Audrey trying to break the ice.

When we got to the cinema, David announced he was going to the bathroom, leaving me and Audrey alone.

She stared at me blankly. I could feel she didn't know what to say. She was aware something was off. I couldn't help feeling bad for her so I tried my best to initiate a conversation.

"So, how you doing?

Pathetic. I know. I just couldn't come up with anything better to say.

She stared at me visibly surprised. I didn't know if it was due to the fact that I had talked for the first time in the whole afternoon or my ridiculous question.

"Fine" she answered. "Living la vida loca".

I smiled.

"Audrey I have to tell you something" I told her.

"The truth is that I have ..."

She interrupted me and with a rather sad voice said:

"Stop Brian, I know what you're gonna say. Please don't. I don't want to ruin our friendship. You know that I love you, but you're more of a big brother than a romantic interest. "

My jaw dropped. Tears were about to start flooding over my face. God Brian, you need to man up. I was crushed. I obviously didn't want to feel rejected.

"Um, OK then". "Great, but I was going to tell you that my brother got accepted into UCL:"

She looked really embarrassed. She was blushing a lot. Her face looked like a tomato.

"Oh, that's great". "Sorry, for jumping into conclusions". She apologized.

"That's fine" I told her trying to avoid her gaze.

We were silent for what seemed like an eternity, even though it was just a minute, until David emerged from the corner.

He stared at us suspiciously, (who wouldn't?) and said:

"What have you been up to?" he said trying to force us into conversation.

"Nothing much" I muttered. Nothing much? What was I thinking? I really ought to rethink my vocabulary as it's basically the only thing I know how to say.

"Ok then..." David said concerned "In that case, we should think about getting inside the theatre; the film starts soon".

At this, Audrey nodded and escaped from us.

We bought some popcorn and walked along the narrow corridors until we reached the red big doors which were the entrance.

The film hadn't started yet and we still felt uncomfortable, so when we found our seats we sat there in complete silence for what seemed like an eternity. This silence gave me the opportunity to think about the latest events. I was deep in my thoughts. Why did Audrey think I liked her? I mean, I don't think I gave any signals. I treated her the same way she treated me, that's the way our friendship worked; but If she considered that I was flirting with her, was it because she was doing the same thing? Was she flirting with me? But why, had she literally rejected me a couple of minutes before, when she thought I was gonna confess her my feelings? Was it because she liked me?, and in that case, why had she rejected me? It all remained a mystery for me.