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© 2017 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.
The Buddies Rule
Chapter 19
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Yes, maybe I had known about Alan's feelings for some time now; Lewis had made that abundantly clear that first day of school. But even considering all the facts, all the feelings that had gone unnoticed for these last few months, I still wasn't expecting Alan to make a move like that.
It was so rash, unexpected, strangely exhilarating, and utterly mind boggling all at the same time. But that was Alan master plan. He knew what little experience I had with guys, and now, he was using his surprise kiss against me.
The initial shock wore off, however, and now, with Alan's lips pressed firmly against my own, all I could feel was confusion. Why kiss me here? Why right now, in front of all these people? Why this moment as opposed to the many others we had shared?
I ripped myself away from him, unable to shake away the shiver that ran up my spin the second after his lips left my own. I bit into my bottom lip nervously before walking towards the edge of the stage.
"Can we take five?" I called, barely catching Lewis' attention over the many hoots and hollers of the other crew members.
"That's five, everyone!" Lewis laughed.
I rolled my eyes, and without looking back at Alan, I hopped off the stage and raced towards the exit. I needed fresh air, and I needed it quickly.
I pushed through the auditorium doors, the cool air hitting me the instant I did. Allowing the doors to swing shut behind me, I walked slowly around the side of the building before falling back against a nearby tree. I felt unsteady, and weirdly unsure about where my life would be taking me next.
After all this, I had somehow gotten myself stuck in between these two guys; two guys that happened to be two of my best friends.
I could feel my face scrunching up in annoyance as the doors swung open once more. I was half expecting Lewis, ready for more gossip, but instead I found Alan strolling out. I shook my head and hugged my arms tighter around myself. I wasn't wanting to deal with him right now.
"I'm taking five," I hissed.
Alan nodded before pushing his hands into his pockets, "me too. I just wanted to talk."
"What's there to talk about?" I scoffed, standing up a bit straighter. "You pulled the ultimate dick move back there. I'm not ready to talk to you yet."
"Well you pulled a pretty petty move too, Bree." Alan huffed in aggravation. "Asking Chase to fill in for me when I was only a few minutes late? You were practically begging him to kiss you."
"It was Lewis who asked him to fill in!" I yelled back, my chest heaving with anger as I did. "I had nothing to do with it! I actually tried to stop it. You know why? Because it's weird kissing my friends! Especially in front of an entire room of people."
"That doesn't make it any easier to watch," Alan muttered.
I rolled my eyes, "you want to know what wouldn't be easy to watch? My friend walking up and kissing me out of spite, right after I'd gotten done with another stage kiss."
"Oh please," Alan shook his head. "That was no stage kiss. I know I just caught the tail end of it, but I know a real kiss when I see one."
I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to go back and forth any longer. Alan had made it clear, even if he hadn't said it in so many words. He was upset that Chase and I had kissed, just as he was this past weekend. I could see the same look of pain flashing over his eyes now as when we were sitting in the booth at the pizza place. He hated the mere thought of Chase and I together.
I didn't blame him for that, though. He had feelings for me. But what I did blame him for, was acting like a jealous boyfriend when he obviously wasn't.
"Why were you late?" I asked, breaking the small silence that had fallen over the two of us.
Alan shrugged, keeping his sight trained in on the ground. "I had to help a friend."
"Astrid?" I filled in. When Alan gave me a short nod, I continued. "What was wrong, anyways? She seemed off when I ran into her at lunch."
"She mentioned that," Alan mumbled. "She was more embarrassed about that than anything. She didn't want anyone to see her crying."
I could feel the awkwardness setting in once again as we stood there, silently, just outside the auditorium. It felt weird that no one had rushed out and attempted to pull us apart yet. It was even weirder that Lewis wasn't peeking through the doors, either. The guy had some major problems when it came to butting in on situations like this.
He must have been an outcast as a child, got some pent up feelings of loneliness or something.
"Why was she so upset?" I ventured again, half expected Alan to brush the topic aside once more.
"It's nothing, really," Alan said. "She's just, she's got a pretty messed up family. I'm basically the only person she's confided in."
I took a step towards the small bench set up a few feet from the tree. "Well, every family has their secrets." I took a seat on the bench, patting the spot next to me for Alan to sit down.
"Her family doesn't have secrets, Bree. Their secrets got them all arrested," Alan sighed. He gave me a weak smile before taking a seat next to me, allowing his hands to rest neatly in his lap.
It took all I had not to make some twisted face at the revelation. "That would justify her breaking down at lunch," I thought out loud.
Alan merely shrugged, "the whole situation, it wasn't pretty. Astrid was the only one that made it out. Coming here..." He trailed off. I could feel myself leaning in, trying to anticipate what he would say next. "She needed a fresh start. Berkeley was that fresh start."
Astrid Free had always been a mystery to me, even for the short time that I had known of her. She had moved here from somewhere across the country, I had known that much, but I had never known why she had traveled so far.
At the time, I hadn't known that she was running away from such a troubled past. Now that I did, I couldn't help but to give her a little more credit. Astrid had guts to leave her own family behind, and to move on as gracefully as she did.
Astrid was respected here, which, was one thing she couldn't achieve if she went on and blabbed about her rocky past.
"Why did she confide in you?" I asked, regretting the words the instant they left my mouth.
Alan let out a short laugh, "I don't know. I think she just needed someone to talk to."
"Sure seemed like it," I smiled. "I'm sorry, though. Not only for her situation, but for you having to be the one she goes to about this. You guys have been broken up for a while now. It seems wrong that you keep getting pulled back together."
"Or maybe it's fate," Alan shook his head. "I mean, it's not like I'm getting anywhere with you. I knew that getting into this. You told Lewis and I about your feelings for Chase from the start of our friendship, and then here I was, falling for you at the same time."
I could feel the guilt crushing over me as I thought back to that day. If I had known back then that Alan had these feelings for me, I never would have told them. It was stupid, anyhow, telling these two guys I'd only known a month about my feelings for my best friend. But I'd bottled them up for so long, it felt right to tell someone.
Then Lewis was forced to come up with the buddies rule because of it.
"Don't be stupid, Alan," I practically whispered. "Your feelings aren't completely one sided."
"They aren't?" Alan asked.
I shook my head, "no. When you kissed me up there, as sucky as it felt to have kissed two guys in one day, I felt something." I could still feel that shiver that ran down my spine after the kiss had ended. It was unlike anything I'd felt before.
Alan's mouth curved into a small smile. I could see how happy my simple confession had made him, but that didn't stop how guilty I felt that I hadn't kept it to myself.
I still had yet to tell Chase exactly how I felt about him, and yet here I was, spilling my guts to Alan once again.
"I know this kind of ruins things," Alan started as he turned to look at me. "But I asked Astrid to the donor's ball tomorrow. I thought getting out of her comfort zone a little and getting dressed up for some stupid party might get her out of her own head. It was in the moment and I shouldn't have-"
"Don't worry," I laughed, placing a hand on his knee. "I kind of figured I'd go with Lewis, anyways. We're both in a, weird place, relationship wise."
Alan smiled and rose from his spot on the bench, holding out a hand to me to help me up then after. I took his hand, allowing for him to pull me up. I could still feel a new energy between the two of us, one I had never felt with him. A part of me wanted to explore it, but another part of me, wanted to hide it in a box and never revisit it again.
I knew now just how caught up in my feelings I had been over the last few months. I felt like a high schooler.
"Should we get back in there?" I asked, dreading going back inside. Lewis would have a million questions, ones I wasn't ready to answer.
"Yeah," Alan agreed.
He dropped my hand before letting out a short sigh. He strode towards the doors ahead of me, giving me a small moment to myself, one that I definitely needed. After all the emotional charged moments I'd had endured today, I really wanted that time alone.
Not that I regretted the conversation with Alan, but it wasn't like I could get away from it all just by going home. I lived with Chase, and Lewis had been glued to my side since the beginning of the year. There was no time or place when I could just sit back and try to figure out where to go next.
"Hey," Chase greeted as I walked back into the auditorium. I could feel my stomach flip at the mere sight of him. He had a head set on, one that I was sure Lewis had instructed him to wear. His face had more paint on it than before, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up. His hands were pushed deep into his pockets, the exact way that he always did when he was nervous. He looked uncomfortable, I could tell that much.
"I'm sorry. After all that, I just needed a minute. Alan thought it'd be best if we went over lines before coming back in," I lied. I wasn't ready to admit the truth.
Chase nodded, obviously not buying my excuse. "Well I'm happy you two are ready to get back to work," he teased.
"Shut up," I rolled my eyes before pushing past him.
Chase reached out, grabbing gently into my wrist as he did. He pulled me back, capturing my attention once more. "Before you go back up there," he whispered. "I was wondering, if maybe you'd like to be my date to the donors ball tomorrow. Officially. Not like all the times in the past where we've just ended up going because neither of us had a date, or because our dad's-"
"Chase," I interrupted him with a laugh. "Of course I'll go with you. We can even match your tie to my dress."
Chase sighed in relief before adjusted his head set. "Great. I'll pick you up at your door promptly at seven tomorrow evening," he smirked. I bit my lip to contain my smile, turning away from him and racing off towards the stage.
I had a date with my best friend tomorrow night.
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Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed 😜
The next chapter will be insane! Even if Bree and Chase are testing the waters, who knows who else will want to get in the way of things... We may even get to meet their parents... 😜
The next update will be on...
February 5th!
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Thanks guys!
Ps: Updates for this next week include:
Saturday | Something Real
Wednesday | Tides
Thursday | Better on YouTube