Heart Of Iron (GirlxGirl)

A Boring Backyard with One Boring Tree

Dylan smiled a little too big when he saw Julie and I approaching, telling me that the eggnog in his hand had an effect. The few guys around him spotted me immediately and not so subtly ran away.

"Hey — " Dylan turned around, then back and frowned. "Genevieve you scared them off."

I didn't really care. "Whoops."

I heard Julie laugh beside me. "Gen made some new friends today."

Dylan's eyebrows rose. "Wow."

"I know."

"No." Dylan's eyes were on something out of our view. "That's wow."

I turned in time to see Alice's face pull away from some other girl's. Now, I'm real sure that she had a thing for girls and all, but it still surprised me. I don't want to seem full of myself, but she was into me a few days ago, right? Or am I extremely bad at reading people? If not, then I'm not sure this was a healthy way of coping with rejection.

"Huh."

Dylan frowned. "My chest hurts."

"Heart attack?" I asked, a small, evil part of me hopeful. Julie noticed and gave me a super weak pinch to my arm.

"No." He looked away and took a sip of his eggnog, eyebrows pulled together. "Why can't Alice just like... turn ugly."

Asked myself the same thing once.

"That why you still stick to her?"

Dylan shrugged. "No — maybe a bit, but mostly no." He looked at me. "Figured that it's healthier route than completely shutting myself away." His usual grin appeared. "I mean, take you for example."

I rolled my eyes, the feeling of betrayal crawling it's way into my chest when I saw Julie resisting the urge to smile. How dare she laugh at my edgy self?

Dylan toughened up a while later, deciding to try and find a pretty girl to talk to without me as a wingman, because I'd probably be pretty useless. I would worse than useless. I'd ruin the whole courting process before it even started. His potential girlfriend would take one look at me, get spooked, then make her escape.

Julie wished him good luck, being the genuine and super nice person she was. Finally, we were left to ourselves again.

"Cookie?" Julie held up a bright red cookie.

"What if Dylan somehow put weed in that?" I gave her a look, disappointed in her lack of caution.

"He already told me that it was safe."

Her eyes made me trust her on Dylan's word. She got a green cookie for herself. That moment, I'm sure we both had the same realization: Dylan made some good cookies.

"Next time we make cookies —"

"Invite Dylan?"

Julie furrowed her eyebrows, completely not okay with the idea. "No, we ask him for advice. But, I like your new way of thinking."

My eyebrows rose. "I thought you liked Dylan, why not invite him if he's a friend?"

Julie chewed the inside of her cheek. "Well, it's our time." She looked up at me as she slouched against the counter. "I'd like it to stay that way, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah."

My ears felt warm, and I'm going to say it's because this room is filled with too much people.

__________

I trusted Gabby and her friends with Julie while I became a recluse in the slightly less crowded part of Alice's backyard. It wasn't like I was tired of her or anything, but she looked like she wanted to spend time with them and they wanted to hang out with her as well. My weird self actually wanted people happy.