Us Mutants Prefer the Term "Special"

x16x

"Don't you want to meet my best friend?" I asked.

"Sure I will, but...how exactly are you going to explain me?"

That sort of made me laugh as he closed the distance between us and I still leaned on the door.

"You're not some unexplainable freak, Zaine," I muttered.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," I said. He looked normal and he acted normal. I poked his arm and he looked down as if confused by the motion. "You don't seem to have three arms or five eyes or blue skin, so...I don't see the problem."

"Yet," he said as if there was legitimately something wrong with him. "I should just go now, before I screw everything up."

"How would you screw everything up? We're going to visit my best friend. It's not like she has some special radar on you," I laughed. However, I think she'd pin point the attraction I had for him. The attraction that I didn't know was 100% returned or not.

Ten minutes later, I was standing in the same position with my arms and body compressed as Kiely and I hugged each other. Each second that passed, I heard her start sniffing and she began crying.

"Come on," she said, grabbing my forearm and pulling me inside with Zaine behind me. I entered her house and we fled quickly into her room, where everything looked about the same. Except the fact that all of our cheerleading medals and trophies were taken down and the corner where she used to praise her cheerleading uniforms, was replaced by a place of emptiness.

"What happened to all of the—"

"Cheerleading wasn't the same without you," she said. "We started that together and I didn't want to continue without you."

"Kiely..." I said, feeling appreciated, yet disappointed, because she was a better cheerleader than I was and I didn't want her to quit. She sadly smiled once more before hugging me again.

"So who's the hottie?" she whispered in my ear and I pulled away and felt awkward. Something turned in my stomach, at the fact that maybe she liked him in a different way I wanted her to.

Awkwardly, he held his hand out to Kiely.

"I'm Zaine," he said. Kiely didn't take his hand and I guess he dropped it reluctantly. Kiely crossed her arms and from there, I knew she had assumed the best friend role.

"So how did you meet Aspen? How long have you known her?"

"Well—"

"Don't interrupt me," she silenced, as if offended. I just sat down on her bed and laughed. "Have you ever broken the law? Can I trust you? Can she trust you? What did she tell you about me? Huh?"

Zaine kept looking between us, as if wanting me to bail him out, but I had stopped laughing and the room fell into a feigned seriousness that made normal guys start to worry.

"We're just friends," I laughed, saddened.

"Well I'm kidding."

"Good," both of us replied. Kiely smirked and then looked down to me.

"Do you mind if I talk to him real quick?" she asked me. Umm...

"Sure..." I said, even though I didn't want to leave him alone with her. Not that I didn't trust her, but that I sort of liked being the only person he trusted at this point.

Not to mention all the dirt she has on me from years and years of friendship.

=XXX=

Forty five minutes later, Kiely's bedroom door opened and my body froze when I saw them clasped with interlocked fingers. Kiely was smiling as if she was some girl walking out of seven minutes of heaven, but Zaine's eyes were away from mine. I felt more than just jealousy; I was mad and possessive and UGH.