Cookie: Hmm, some of you guys might wanna kill me for this chapter...*hides from the readers* You know who you are after you read this chapter...something didn't happen like you wanted to. *hint hint*
Anywhooo on the right you'll see a fabulous black and white pic of Fay plus the song "Without You" By Mariah Carey. That woman can sing! :)
VOTE! COMMENT! la de dah
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(Fays POV)
I was about to climb in bed when the damn phone rang.
I glared at the phone on the small dresser next to my bed and sighed. Who could be calling so late at night? Don't they know that I need my sleep? Everyone knows I'm even more of a bitch in the morning when I don't get any sleep.
I snatched up the phone, ready to growl at the person on the other end but stopped short when I heard Austen's familiar voice. Even when he wasn't around, the sound of his voice was enough to send shivers down my body. I didn't see that as a good sign seeing as the feeling wasn't unpleasant. Damn.
"Vals? Hello?"
I sighed dreamily.
He such a nice voice. I could listen to it forever. You know, it was one of those silky melodic voices that just melts your bones. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself. Throw yourself at him and beg him to do whatever he wanted with you or freeze at the spot, too scared that he'd disappear.
"Vals? Are you there?"
"No."
I heard him chuckle. "Oh really?"
"Uh-huh."
Silence.
I sat on my bed, leaning my back against the backboard. The only light the brightened my room was the light coming from the full moon peaking out from my window. The image of Austen in my room looking the way he did this morning with nothing but boxers on, basked in the moonlite made me blush. I was so glad that he couldn't see me, I'd die from embarrassment. I'm becoming such a perv.
"Vals, I know you're still there. I can hear you breathing Miss Darth Vader."
I blinked. Had I been breathing that loud? "Oh har har, Austen. What do you want?"
"Nothing..."
"Nothing? So you called to disturb my rest for nothing? Boy, do you have a death wish? You know I need my beauty sleep."
He laughed. "Sorry, I just wanted to hear your voice."
That made me freeze. He called cause he wanted to hear my voice? Something must be wrong. "Austen, what's wrong? Was someone picking on you? Who was it? Tell me, I'll take care of them."
"I'm fine Ms. Hercules. Besides, from the way I was dressed today, you only have yourself to blame if I was being picked on."
I winched. Damn, he was right. I made him look like some creepy bum on his first day of school all because I didn't want them too see his new transformation. What did that lead to? Me getting into a fight with Angela, starting a food fight and almost getting busted for it. If it hadn't been for Austen...
I'm such a bad friend. I put him thru all of that and it was only his first day back in school too. Thats me, the lousy friend of the year.
"Austen..."
"I know that voice Vals, don't worry, I'm not blaming you for what happened."
"Really?"
"Yes...well... you did start it even though I tried to stop you."
I grimaced with guilt.
"I even had to protect you from that pudding, which I had to scrub out of my hair by the way."
I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Oh how very heroic of you."
"I know, right? It looked like someone had taken a crap on my head but I'll die happily knowing that I took that one for you. No thanks needed."
I laughed. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to make me feel better. Austen was just too sweet. Instead of me comforting him, he was comforting me. Now that I think about it, its always been like this. Him being there for me.
"Austen?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
I frowned at the phone. "You know what dumby."
I heard rustling thru the background, like he was adjusting himself in bed. The sudden image of him in his bed heated my face. I really needed to do something about this pervy imagination of mine.
"I don't know," I heard him say, "you need to clarify it more for me."
He wasn't going to make this easy for me. "I mean thanks for everything, for being there for me and stuff. You've been a good friend. I don't deserve you."
"Hmm, true, go on, keep praising me."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes again. He was being so mischievous. I've known that he had that side to him, even before his sudden change. Many people didn't know that Austen had a lot of backbone and could be sarcastic. I've always wondered why he was always being picked on. I assumed because he had just been so frail, an easy target for the bullies. Good thing I was there to protect him.
I frowned. Than again he could have been bullied because he was friends with me. Hard to believe, I know, but people didn't seem to like me much. Okay...so maybe it wasn't.
"Actually there was another reason why I called."
"What is it?"
"It's about our date."
I was proud of myself for keeping my cool. The thought of being on a date with Austen...oh boy. So, instead, I saw it as a friendly outing. Yup, just two great buds hanging out together. Nothing suspicious about that.
"Uh-huh...the date."
"Where do you want to go?"
"Where do I want to go?"
"Yeah."
Why the hell was he asking me that? Did he really think this was a date? I mean, a date date. Flowers, chocolates, the whole shebang?
"Vals?"
"Um..."
There was a sudden silence before he spoke up again. "I get it, you don't want to go. I wouldn't have force you, Vals. All you had to say was that you didn't want to go out on the date with me. I would have backed off."
I blinked. He sounded angry now. Austen was hardly ever angry with me. "Uh, Austen, its not that I don't want to."
"Than what, Vals?"
"Well, don't you think its weird? You calling it a date? I mean, a date is when two people who like each other goes out alone right?"
"I know."
"Than why the hell do you keep calling it a date? I mean we like each other but not in that term."
"What term?"
Was he always going to make things hard for me?
"The romantic term, Austen."
I heard him sigh. "Vals, why are you thinking too much about that word? Yeah I call it a date, whats wrong with that? Can't two good friends go out in a date once in a while?"
"Huh?"
"We like each other right? As friends? Than can't we go out on a date as friends?"
Oh boy, this guy was confusing me. I'm sorry I even brought up the subject. It's just been bugging the hell out of me.
"Nevermind Austen..."
"No, I understand. You want to back out of your promise, no big deal. Promises are broken everyday right?"
I sat up straighter. "Why the hell are you mad at me? I was only asking why you called it a date."
"Why the hell does it matter?"
"Because its embarrassing!"
My words hung between us and I mentally kicked myself. The way I put it, it sounded like I was embarrassed to be around him. It wasn't like that. It just felt too intimate when he calls it a date. It made me feel weird things...but I couldn't tell him that.
"Would it be so bad?" he said slowly, "to be with me?"
My heart skipped a beat. What was he saying?
"Would it be, Vals?"
"I-I don't understand what you're getting at Austen."
"Vals, what would you say if I told you that I liked you?"
I laughed nervously. "Austen, you know I like you too so..."
"No, I'm talking about the other like."
I held my breath. "You mean..."
"Yes," he said dryly, "I mean that kind of 'like'."
"Austen Zander McKennzie, this isn't funny any more."
"Do you hear me laughing?"
I stared at the phone. Was he serious? Was he confessing his love for me? What the hell was going on?
"Look, I can see this isn't going to work for you." Austen blew out a tired breath. "It's fine, really. I shouldn't have brought it up. It was a bad timing. You just ticked me off with that date thing."
I kept staring at the phone. Holy shit. I was drawing up a blank. I'm completely shocked.
"Vals?"
I didn't respond.
"I don't want this to come between our friendship."
Silence.
"Vals, I know you're there. Please, say something."
Silence.
"I'm sorry, I wont bring up that subject again so if you want lets pretend this conversation didn't happen."
Thats easier said than done.
"Vals, don't do this. Don't shut me out..."
I tried to speak but words couldn't come out. Nothing. I was still too shocked to respond to him. I mean, how would you react when your best friend suddenly confesses his love to you so suddenly? Maybe I heard it wrong.
"Fine," Austen's voice became irratated. "If you don't want to talk to me I wont force you too. Forget about the date, I'll take it back so you don't have to worry about getting embarrassed being seen with me. I'm sorry that you had to out up with me being around you all this time. Bye, Fay."
Click.
What the hell? He hung up the phone on me! He's never done that, no matter how mad he was at me! Not only that, he still thought I was embarrassed of hanging around with him. That wasn't true! He had gotten it all wrong! Was he an idiot?
I slammed the phone back on the craddle, crossed my arms and leaned against the bed board. How dare he hang up the phone before we can talk it out. His confession had been so sudden of course I would be speechless! I've never known that he liked me.
"That idiot," I muttered. What felt worse...what really made me nervous was that he called me Fay, not Vals. Since the third grade he'd always called me Vals, him and no one else. For him to suddenly call me Fay, that meant only one thing. He was seriously mad at me.
How the hell did it come to this?