Blair Silver

Part 18: One More Day

Thursdays are weird. They're like, almost Friday, but not quite. So you get that Friday-eve excitement, but that's only really because Friday is weekend-eve. You're past the worst of the week, but you're not quite at the weekend yet, and it's like an odd limbo between still having to do stuff and thinking about how you're not going to have to do stuff on the weekend, but being less productive is not justified the same way it is on Friday afternoons.

Jillian gets on the bus, interrupting my deep, philosophical thoughts about Thursdays, grinning widely and practically radiating excitement as she sits next to me. I purse my lips at her, trying to determine the source of this unexplained elation. She watches me, still smiling like the Cheshire Cat but keeping her mouth shut until I finally say, "Okay, I give up. Why are you so excited?"

"Elliot followed me back and sent me a DM last night!" she practically shrieks, shoving her phone in my face to show me. I peer at the screen, a grin that matches Jillian's taking over my face.

"Oh my gosh Jilly, this is huge!"

"I KNOW!"

We continue to freak out like a couple of overly excited children until we arrive at school, where we carefully compose ourselves to look normal again (and then make eye contact and immediately burst out laughing, and then have to try again- and again- before starting towards the school).

So far, their conversations haven't been, like, super in-depth and long (like, talking until three o'clock in the morning), but we both figure that's probably fair considering that up until last night, they knew each other only as cashier and customer. Jillian does say that the conversation came naturally, so I'm feeling a little hopeful for how this could turn out.

During lunch hour, Jillian keeps smiling at her phone, typing, then putting it back on the table, where it sits patiently for a minute before buzzing again. I can't stop grinning at her, and every time she looks up from her phone to see my giant smirk, she blushes, and it's so obvious that she's talking to Elliot.

Seeing my best friend so happy puts me in an automatic, unshakeable good mood for the rest of the day. When I text Blair that night (while simultaneously texting Jilly, who has been messaging Elliot for at least an hour now) he notices, just through the tone of my texts, and asks if there's a specific reason for my good spirits. I tell him it's classified information, since I don't want to betray Jilly's trust by telling anyone about her crush, and he responds with a Star Wars reference. I tell him he's a nerd, and he sends me a nerdy face emoji before asking if I'm sure I wanted to keep dating him know that I know he's more geek than cool. I tell him he's both, and hours later fall asleep with a smile on my face. 

The next morning, Jillian tells me that she and Elliot ended up talking until significantly later than the night before, and that she thinks he might be flirting with her. She shows me a few of the messages and I emphatically agree.

"You're my best friend, you're biased," she says, scoffing but still smiling uncontrollably.

"You're the one that asked me. Why would you ask me if you know I'm the least objective person you could possibly ask? Also I'm gay, so I don't have much experience with how straight people flirt, but it can't be that different, right? And that-" I take her phone and scroll to the message she just showed me, "-that definitely seems like he likes you."

She rolls her eyes (still smiling). "I'm going to ask Gabrielle or Rachel for a second opinion."

"Aww, you don't trust me?"

She grins. "Definitely not."

I try to look offended, but I collapse into a fit of giggles instead. Jillian follows suit only a second later.