I call this chapter the "chapter-that-clears-up-what-people-misconceived". But then I wanted to keep things open, just in case I wanted to change my mind ;D
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The doorbell rang and I immediately jumped up from my compute chair. I checked my reflection once in the mirror before hurrying downstairs. I held my breath for a moment before opening the door; hopefully Lance was dressed casually too.
Lance knocked again, so I opened the door. Lance was dressed in casual clothes as well. I sighed in relief.
"You ready?" he asked with a grin.
"Yep," I responded, stepping out and shutting the door behind me.
Together we made our way down to the car. I raised an eyebrow at the Subaru Outback. Lance laughed.
"My mom's car, remember?"
"She needs a new one," I told him, getting in the passenger's side.
Lance slid into the driver's seat and shrugged. "I think it's fine."
He started the engine and quickly pulled out of my driveway, barely checking to see if anyone was coming. I nervously looked out the window.
Driving with Lance definitely wasn't one of my favorite things to do. He was a very reckless driver. He turned on the radio and flipped through the stations, barely paying attention to the road.
"The road, Lance," I snapped, batting his hand away from the radio. "Pay attention to the road!"
He laughed. "Chill, I can drive fine."
I rolled my eyes. "Right. Where are we going anyways?"
"A place downtown," Lance responded vaguely.
I immediately thought of Mr. Heywood's warning. It felt like he was foreshadowing something. I quickly shook the thought of my head. It wasn't like anything could happen inside the restaurant.
When we arrived at the restaurant I relaxed completely. It was brightly lit and the parking lot was right next to the building. We even got the parking place closest to the building.
Lance shut off the car and quickly got out. I unbuckled myself and opened the door. There was a thump and a grunt.
I looked out the window and noticed Lance standing there, rubbing his side.
"What are you doing?" I asked, waiting for him to move back a few steps before opening my door fully.
"I was going to open the door for you," he told me.
I laughed. "There's no need. I can do it myself."
Lance frowned at me. I returned his look.
"You don't..."
"Don't what" I asked.
"Oh, never mind," he said with a sigh. "I should have known."
"Should have known what?" I demanded, frowning deeper.
Lance put his arm around my shoulder. "Forget about it."
"I wanna know now."
"Too bad."
I fake growled at him. He poked me in the side.
"What are you? A tiger?"
I ignored him and he continued poking me.
"Stop poking me, Mr. Hey-" I cut myself off when I realized what I said.
I couldn't believe I had just said Mr. Heywood's name! And in front of Lance! He probably had Casey's idea in his head too.
Lance raised his eyebrows. "Mr. Heywood?"
I blushed. "Sorry. I meant Lance."
Lance's mouth turned down slightly and he sighed again. "I knew it."
"Knew what?"
"Sorry, talking to myself," Lance said with a wink.
"Lance!"
He laughed and led me to the entrance of the diner. It seemed like a pretty casual place. I didn't know what Mr. Heywood was thinking when he said this was a date. It was two friends going out to dinner together.
"Name?" a young man dressed in a suit asked almost as soon as we entered.
"Lance and Holly," Lance told him.
The man looked down at a piece of paper and after a moment he nodded. "Follow me."
"You had to make reservations at a place like this?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Believe it or not, this place is really popular."
I took in the amount of people that were in the diner. Every booth and table was filled. Lance noticed me looking around and smirked.
"Told you."
"Shut up."
The waiter stopped at our table and Lance and I took our seats, opposite of each other.
"Can I start you off with something to drink?"
"Coke," Lance and I responded at the same time.
"Jinks! You owe me a coke!" I said quickly.
"Sure. But you pay for dinner."
I frowned. "That's not fair."
Lance shrugged. "For what you did, I think it's fair."
"What did I do?" I asked.
Lance sighed, shaking his head. "Never mind."
I glared at him. "What's up with all the 'never minds', Lance."
He sighed. "Do you think this is a date?"
I shook my head quickly. "Not at all."
Lance smirked. My mouth opened a little when I realized what he was trying to imply.
"Wait. Did you mean for this to be a date?"
Lance smirked wider. "Maybe."
"Oh," I responded, staring at him. "Crap. Lance, I'm sorry-"
He held up his hand. "Save it. I figured you thought we were just going out as friends. I was just trying to be a jerk with trying to let you know what I thought. But I got it now."
"I feel bad though," I responded. "I didn't know... you liked me like that."
Lance laughed. "Wait a second. Don't think I like you like that."
I looked at him curiously. "What?"
He shrugged. "I thought I might. That's why I took you out to dinner."
I raised an eyebrow. "But you don't...?"
Lance snorted. "Even if I found out I did, it wouldn't matter."
"Why?"
"Your stupid lover boy... well man."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "I don't have a lover?"
Lance rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. Do you think I don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
"You and that teacher."
"Mr. Heywood? Whoa, no!" I responded, raising my hands. "There's nothing going on between us!"
Lance rolled his eyes again. "Maybe not. But it's obvious you like him."
"I don't!" I denied.
"You stare at him all the time in class."
I felt my face heat up and I looked down. "I do not."
Lance shook his head. "Out of all the people you could like, it had to be a teacher, huh? And not even a good teacher. There's something strange about that guy. Or dangerous. And I don't like how he looks at you either."
I snapped my head up to look at Lance. How good of an intuition could one person have? He got it straight on that I liked Mr. Heywood, but he even thought something was dangerous about him? That was crazy. That was...
Wait, what did Lance say?
"What do you mean how he looks at me?" I questioned, my heartbeat increasing slightly.
Lance scowled. "I don't know how to describe it. Sometimes it's like he's worried... sometimes it's like a mother looking at her child. And sometimes it's like how you look at him."
I stared at Lance, my eyes wide. He returned my stare, his eyes slightly narrowed.
"There's something up with you two. It may not be romantically, but there's something," he accused.
I forced out a laugh. "No, there's nothing going on between us."
"Holly," Lance started seriously, "do you really plan on lying to your best friend?"
My face fell at once. He was right. I didn't want to lie, but it wasn't like I could exactly tell him either.
"Even after you thought this wasn't a date when I thought it was?" Lance added, heaving a loud huff of air. "I see how it is."
I couldn't help a smirk spreading onto my face. "I said I was sorry about that."
Lance rolled his eyes. "You're lucky I'm not head over heels for you. 'Cause then this would suck completely."
"Do you like me or not?" I demanded, crossing my arms. "How come you can't give me a yes or no answer?"
"Because, like I said, it doesn't matter if I do or not."
"How would you know?"
"Would you go out with me if I said I did?" Lance asked.
I hesitated, biting my lip. "Um..."
"There you go."
"But-"
Lance held up his hand. "I know there isn't a way for you to like me right now. So that's why I'm going to stop myself from liking you before I can really start to."
"How?"
"You tell me you're in love with him."
I blushed again. "I'm not in love-"
Lance raised his eyebrow. "I'm not stupid, Holly. Now say it. Otherwise I'm going to fall completely in love with you and ruin all your chances with any boy until you love me back."
I scowled at him. "Ok."
Lance smirked. "I'm waiting."
I took a deep breath. I didn't want to admit this. Not even to myself. But I didn't want to lead Lance on. He was my best friend. And I didn't want to lose him.
"I'm..." I stopped, looking down at my lap.
"Say it. Look at me."
I looked up at Lance and stared him straight in the eye. "I'm in love with Chris Heywood."
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