Falling In Love With My Best Friend (Watty Award 2011)

Chapter 7

“I asked Brooke to the dance.” I mentioned in a casual tone, flipping slowly through the pages of my English book as if I were intently searching for something.

The long ten seconds of silence that followed seemed to drag on endlessly.

“That’s cool. I figured you were going to. Paul asked me to go with him.”

She wasn’t angry. All this time I was worrying about her being upset over this and, in fact, she was the complete opposite. Her complete lack of interest stung.

What did I expect? For her to protest me dating all of a sudden?

“You don’t care?”

“No...I already told you it was okay.” Sounding confused, she looked up at me with narrowed eyes for a moment before looking back at the stack of papers she was sifting through on the table. Finding what she was looking for, she closed her book.

“I just didn’t want you to be mad at me or anything. You two aren’t exactly friends.”

“No…We’re definitely not…” She trailed off and laughed dryly.

“It won’t change anything with me and you. Brooke’s just going to be a friend…with a few benefits…minus the friend part.” I added, mischievously grinning when Gracie looked up at me from her paper with an unenthused expression.

“You’re disgusting” was all she said on the matter.

The same thing she told me every time I told her anything regarding my love life. It was really more of a sex life than a love life. I guess that’s the part she found “disgusting.” Still, she seemed to be growing accustomed to this lifestyle because her response was becoming milder every time. After finishing our assignments and preparing what we planned to start on next, I decided to nonchalantly speak on the topic that had consumed my mind since she first announced it.

“So…You and Paul.” I teased as I inhaled deeply and leaned back in my chair to stretch, arms extended over my head.

My comment and suggestive tone made her cheeks lightly flush pink. When she finally made eye contact with me an excited grin spread across her face causing me to exhale sharply in a short fit of laughter despite my disapproval of her choice in dates. When I gained control of my laughs, I still couldn’t help but continue silently smiling at her. She radiated innocence and I was unwillingly drawn to her like a gravitational pull. I refused to allow my insignificant, and most importantly NOT mutual, crush on my best friend to ruin her new relationship so I feigned happiness for them.

“It’s about time you settled down with just one guy.” I jeered.

I wasn’t a very serious person and tended to make light of heavy situations. To me, this was a heavy situation. So I sprinkled humor over my conflictions and hoped for the best; hoped the butterflies would finally die of old age and never come back; hoped that I could get through this last year of high school with my heart and sanity still intact.

“Hey, I’m loyal,” She shot back without missing a beat. “I’ve stuck with you for ten years.”

Giggling, her aqua eyes sparkled at me across the table. And with that, my stomach knotted up like a pretzel. I forced a smile and looked back down at the papers scattered in front of me, focusing my attention back to my school work. She did the same and we worked across from each other in silence that, for the first time ever, wasn’t so comfortable.

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“I really need to get my driver’s license.” Gracie complained when she climbed into my truck after school.

“Ask coach.” I suggested as I started the engine.

“I’ve been asking him for months but he still hasn’t taught me to drive!”

“I’m sure he’ll let you get it soon.”

“He’s going to have to. Who else is going to be my chauffer when you’re gone?” She joked.

“I guess I’ll just have to be replaced.” I said back in a joking tone that matched hers but there was truth to my words. I would most likely be replaced when I went to Ohio. It was one of things I dreaded most about the transition that lay ahead.

“Impossible.” She said, as I pulled onto her street speedily. She seemed so sure of it that it almost made me want to believe it too. I pulled to the side of the road in front of her house to spare the seconds it would take to pull in the driveway. She hopped out and shut the passenger’s door. Even though I was in a huge rush to get back to practice, I watched her make her way up the paved driveway at a leisurely pace, dig through her purse until she found her keys, fumble with the keys until she found the right one and unlocked her front door to ensure sure she got inside safely. Once the door was open widely and she turned to wave me off, I hauled ass back to the football field before I was late and ended up running laps.