Sorry it took so long, my computer magically deleted the chapter I had written :/
NOT COOL.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow, this is such a buzz-kill."
Ignoring him, I shifted on the bed, moving to snuggle closer to him.
"You have no idea how turned on I was. I was so looking forward to tonight, and you totally just let me down."
I didn't have to look up at his face to know that he was pouting.
"I mean, you dragged me up the stairs, all sexy and in charge. It was a total turn on. And now," I felt him shake his head. "This. I'm rather disappointed with you."
I held back the smile threatening to appear on my face, still looking at the tv. Sighing, he reluctantly curled his arm around my waist. I happily burrowed my face in his shoulder, not breaking my gaze from the screen.
We were watching the best movie of all time, which also happened to be Conner's least favorite movie that he hated with a burning passion.
The Notebook.
This was probably the ninety-seventh time we had watched it since Conner had gotten it for me last Christmas.
And I'm pretty sure he was in physical pain right now.
"Come on S." He groaned. "No more!"
I shushed him, still staring at the screen with tears forming in my eyes.
"S!" He whined like a two year old. "I get that you like it, but watching it more than three times a day is just plain unhealthy."
I barely heard him as I focused on the two characters, who were passionately confessing their love to each other in the middle of a rainstorm.
"Selena! Can you even hear me?" He waved a hand in front of my face. "Wait, are you crying?"
I only sniffed in response.
"You've seen this movie dozens of times before! You already have the entire thing memorized! How can you be crying?"
I barely heard him. The two lovers ran at each other, clinging to the other needfully, and ever so tenderly kissing.
I was about to sob, when the tv click off.
I turned to Conner, who was just putting down the remote on the nightstand. "Hey! That was the best part!"
He rolled his eyes at me.
"I think that's enough 'The Notebook' time for today."
"I was watching that!"
"And you were crying." He agreed.
I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly. "You probably only turned it off because you didn't want to cry in front of a girl."
"Oh believe me, I was crying on the inside. Just not for the same reasons as you."
I glared at him. Only he could ruin 'The Notebook' for me. I had been obsessed with it since it had come out, and up until now I hadn't had a problem with watching it over and over until I went blind. But Conner was my best friend, and annoyingly enough, if he had a problem with it, I automatically was forced to empathize.
Having a best friends could be such a hassle.
"Fine." I pouted. "No more until next week. But honestly, if you hate it so much, why do you watch it with me?"
He was silent for a minute, and I turned around to look at his face.
For a second, he looked utterly, hopelessly sad.
Finally, he shrugged his shoulders, and the look on his face vanished so quickly I wasn't sure if I had seen it. "I don't know. I guess I watch it, because you like it."
My heart swelled, and I resisted the sudden urge to reach over and give him a hug.
Instead, I suddenly remembered that Alex had requested a emergency girls only sleepover early today. Crap! She was so gonna be pissed if I didn't call her back.I stood up from my bed and walked over to the phone that was resting on my desk.
"Okay, well I'm having a sleepover. Soooooo, in half an hour, you will have left. Kay?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Half an hour later
"Selena!" Conner whined.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Out!" I yelled, struggling to push him out the front door.
"Why can't I stay?" He asked, completely unaffected by my effort to make him leave.
"Because," I explained, losing my patience as I grit my teeth and pushed harder "you're male! Now leave!"
He crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to budge. At this rate, I would still be trying to force him out of the door ten years from now. He was bigger, taller, and stronger than me, and I knew that trying to out strength him was pretty pointless.
I was going to have to use wit.
I reached for his stomach, and tickled him. He had a mini spaz attack, laughter and snorting included, and temporarily forgot to hold his ground as I pushed him. With a final shove, I shoved him out the door, slamming it shut behind him and locking it. I felt him bang on the door in frustration.
"Selena!" His voice was muffled through the door.
I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see me through the door. He was beating his record for the most complaining in a single day. "Leave!"
And with that, I went upstairs to my room to clean up before my friends arrived.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time the doorbell had rung, I already knew that Conner had left. The begging had stopped ten minutes ago.
I flung open the door, only to be greeted by my two female friends, arms stuffed full of candy and various other sugar containing food items, covered head to toe in black and rainbow pj's.
"Seli!" Alex cheered. She launched at me with a bear hug, her arms still carrying so much food that she probably couldn't even see her toes.
Lilly just rolled her eyes, inviting herself inside.
Once they had placed all their hibernation supplies on my living room table, we continued to create a blanket fort.
Now usually, Conner and I would make the fort, since we had created the tradition back when we were six. But when I had met Alex and Lilly, I had been glad to share the activity with them, seeing how it's awesome.
We used tall cabinets and chairs as a ceiling for our fort, draping blankets over our heads. I made sure to cover any solid object, while Lilly placed pillows around to weigh the blankets down, Alex helped me hang the huge bed sheet from my parents bedroom across the entire thing, using the ceiling face to hold it up.
"Done!" Lilly called, checking her watch. "Four and a half minutes, a new record!"
We plopped down in the pile of blankets and cushy pillows laid across the rug, facing each other. I sat hugging my knees to my chest, feeling myself growing nervous under my friends calculating expressions.
I guess it's a little too late to just now realize that my friends are all wierdos.
"Sooooo...." Lilly broke the silence.
She and Alex glanced at each other, before bursting into squeals. They were jumping and dancing around the fort, their squeals filling my living room. I just sat there, utterly lost in the commotion. Usually, I would have expected such erratic behavior from Alex, but I never expected Lilly to join. They were flinging their arms around wildly, and I had to duck multiple times to avoid being punched in the face.
"Am I missing something?" I asked.
They stopped to look at me, before continuing to jump around like kindergartners in a bounce house.
"You're in love with Conner!"Alex rolled her eyes at me. "Duh!"
I studied my toes. "So?"
"Sooooo." Lilly chirped. "You guys were totally made for each other!"
I stayed silent. Even though I knew that it was only pretend, I still felt oddly uncomfortable talking about me and Conner as being more than friends.
"Yeah totally! I mean, Conner's been our friend for ages! For you, even longer! We could all see this coming."
I gulped. They could?
"Yeah! I mean, everyone could tell you were in love with him except you!"
WHAT?!
"I was never-" stopped my defense mid-sentence, remembering the plan.
Though my mouth stayed shut, my mind was whirling. Why would everyone think I was in love with my best-friend? I mean sure, we were alot closer than most friends, but in love?
I hugged my legs tighter to my body, once again trying to preoccupy myself by looking at my toes intently.
"Yeah! You two are going to get married, and have kids, and grow old-" Alex blurted.
I held up my hands to stop her. "Wow there! Let's stick with discussing the present, okay? I mean, he doesn't even like me-"
Alex gasped. "What are you talking about?! He's in lo-"
Lilly shushed her, putting a finger to her lips. I mouthed to her, asking her what was up, but she didn't even acknowledge me. She turned to us, pointing to her ears silently telling us to listen.
The room was deathly silent, and the only thing I could hear was the sound of the neighbors mowing the lawn across the street.
Then I heard the static.
It was the type of static from broken radios and tvs, a grainy and rough sound. It was so quiet, I could barely hear it, but I could tell it was nearby.
A walkie-talkie maybe?
We tip-toed out of the fort checking under pillows and blankets for the source. I had reached the back of the sofa by the time I had found it.
Right under the couch, was an active baby-monitor.
I recognized it immediately. On the back, it was labeled 'S&C'. Conner and I had bought it for a health project. We had taken home a battery operated baby doll, and had to take care of it for a month. I fell bad for any kids that we have, because a week before the assignment was due, the baby was in shreds.
Apparently, one month was a little early to start teaching chores. Especially chores involving lawn mowers.
I racked my brain, trying to remember what had happened to the monitor after the project. I didn't think I had thrown it out. Had someone stolen it from me? No, I had given it to someone.... But who?
I gasped as I remembered who. The fact that they were eavesdropping on me and my female friends, was shocking. I had no idea how they could have gotten under the sofa with me noticing.
Conner was listening in on us.
As if he had heard us, the monitor immediately clicked off, and the static noise died.
Why would he need to listen in anyway? We were best friends! We told each other everything! Did he think I was lying to him about something? And most importantly, how long had it been there?
He could have been listening to us every day I had hosted a sleepover, including today.
Which meant, that he had heard our entire conversation. Including how everyone had thought I was in love with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I didn't tell them that I knew who had put the monitor there. I told them I had accidentally lost it while it was on, and due to my scatterbrained reputation, they believed me.
So there we were, back in the fort. Alex was snoring next to me, spread across the entire ground. Her left leg was draped over my stomach, while her right elbow was close to choking Lilly, who was silently dozing next to her.
I stared at the ceiling, trying to organize my thoughts before my head exploded.
Things on my mind:
1. Conner
2. What Alex was going to say about Conner
3. How to confront Conner
4. Conner
5. Conner
6. Conner
Beside me, I heard my phone buzz. As I reached for it, I looked at the screen, and realized that I didn't recognize the number.
Who would call me, that I don't know, in the middle of the night?
"Hello?" I whispered, trying not to wake the others.
"Hey." A male voice spoke on the other end.
"Conner?" I asked, nervous since he had been caught eavesdropping on us.
The voice chuckled on the other line. "Close."
"Travis." I blushed involuntarily.
"What's up?"
"Ummmm Travis?" I glance at the clock. "Why, exactly, are you calling me at two in the freaking morning?"
"To ask you out of course." I could practically feel him smirking. "Now here's the plan....."