"What are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?"
No, there's nothing on your face. It's your face that I can't stop staring at.
"Sorry, I'm just zoning out." I glanced back down at my book, hoping he bought the lie my scarlet cheeks attempted to give away.
"You're doing that a lot more recently." His gentle voice was closer then it had been before, but I didn't dare look up again, afraid that he would see the truth in my eyes. "Anything in particular you're thinking about?"
I shook my head a little too quickly, and I heard the soft thump of his book closing.
"C'mon, East! You know you can tell me anything."
His long, tan fingers pulled the book away from my face, brown eyes staring at me through bangs that he had never successfully tamed in all the years I had known him. My heart beat wildly in my chest, and I broke eye contact as quickly as his eyes met mine.
"It's nothing, Ben. I was just thinking about my book." I lifted the book, that he still had a hold of, hoping the sight of it would help convince him that I wasn't lying.
"Alright. You know you can always tell me if it's ever anything more." He didn't look convinced, but didn't want to push it when I obviously wasn't about to tell him more.
"Yeah, 'course." I mumbled, and we both sank back into our spots on my bed.
I waited to get my breathing under control before stealing one last glance at his profile, while he read. Up until now I could tell my best friend anything. Anything at all. But how the hell was I supposed to tell him the real thoughts that raged inside my mind?
How do you tell your best friend that you love them?