I Fell For My Best Friend
Huffing indignantly, I purposefully ignored Alex’s smug look. He’s been giving me those looks ever since four in the morning. It annoyed me to no end, and yet I couldn’t help but notice how incredibly sexy he looked. Walking passed Alex, I grabbed the phone and dialed my number quickly. The dial tone rang for a few minutes before I heard my little brother pick up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Eric, it’s Ethan. Put mom on the phone,” I responded immediately. I heard him mutter something under his breath before he went to do what I asked.
“Ethan? Are you at Alex’s?”
“Yeah; I just called to let you know that I woke up and I probably won’t be home until the afternoon. If I’m any later, I’ll call you.”
“Alright, sweetie,” my mom replied warmly. “Are you going to go get lunch?”
“Yeah, I think we’ll get something at the mall.”
“Make sure to call.”
“I will, mom. Love you,” I replied, placing the phone on the receiver. Yawning, I sat at the table and watched as Alex started to make breakfast. My stomach grumbled at the promise of food and I could barely contain my drool. When we were in the eighth grade, we decided to take a home economics class. God, that was a nightmare! Let’s just say while Alex thrived in that class, my cooking skills were definitely below par. I am no longer allowed near a stove.
“Eat up, Ethan. We have a big day ahead of us,” Alex said, offering me a grin as he put my food before me. Normally that grin made me melt, but the glint in his eyes had me mentally crying out for mercy.
“Great. Looking forward to it,” I mumbled, nibbling on toast. Movement caught my eye and I looked at the doorway before coughing, trying to hide the laughter that was bubbling in my chest.
“It’s not funny,” Tiffany complained, trying to flatten her hair.
“What happened?” I asked her, eyeing the massive poof she called ‘hair’ yesterday.
“Well, I came out of the shower and I tried to blow out my hair, but it was a disaster,” she wailed, frowning at her orange juice. “I had wanted to do style it the way you did last time.”
“I see,” was my response. She looked at me helplessly and I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry; I’ll fix it after we eat.”
“Thank you, Ethan,” she squealed, hopping out of her chair to glomp me.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it. Where are you going that you need your hair done?”
A light flush spread across her cheeks that had Alex and me exchanging glances. “I was going to go watch a movie with Eric,” she muttered. My eyebrows shot above my hairline.
“Eric? My little brother? That Eric?”
“Yeah,” Tiffany said, her face still slightly flushed. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
“If it wasn’t that big of a deal, you wouldn’t be all flustered like this,” Alex said tightly. I could practically see the muscles in his face twitch.
“What movie are you going to see, which theater are you going to, and what time will you both be going?” I asked quickly before Alex could say something stupid and before Tiffany could go ballistic. Hothead older brother plus hothead younger sister equals disaster. My self-preservation instincts were flaring up.
“We were going to go see Kung Fu Panda at the theater on Marcy Avenue. We’ll catch the 2:30 show,” Tiffany responded, eyeing Alex. I glanced at the clock on the wall; 9:52 a.m.
“Finish your breakfast and I’ll do your hair before we leave,” I told her. She beamed at me and Alex almost glared at me. “Alex, I need to talk to you upstairs.”
He caught the hint and grudgingly turned off the stove. I walked up the stairs and into his bedroom, Alex trailing behind me. As soon as he closed the door, he practically burst.
“What the hell, Ethan? You’re actually letting her go?” he asked incredulously.
“Alex, she’s going to the movies with my brother,” I responded calmly. Ah, I knew he’d react like this.
“He’s older than she is!”
“By a year! Besides, you know how Eric is. Do you really think he’s going to hurt her or anything?”
“It doesn’t matter if Eric’s your little brother,” Alex said tiredly. “He’s still some guy that wants to take my little sister out on a date and didn’t bother asking me!”
“I get your point, Alex, I really do. However, if Eric had come to you, what would you have done?”
“I would’ve told him no,” was the immediate response.
“Exactly! You would’ve told him no or threaten to pulverize him if he kept on insisting. You wouldn’t have given him a fair chance to explain why he wants to take your younger sister out on a date.”
“She’s twelve-years-old! She doesn’t need to think about boys or dating or anything!”
“Alex, you know how twelve-year-olds think,” I said exasperatedly. “Hell, even I pictured my first date with a boy when I was twelve! It’s perfectly normal and you need to let her do this! It’s not like they’re planning out their wedding and how many kids they’ll be having.”
“They can’t go to the theaters by themselves…” Alex said after a few minutes of silent contemplation. I grinned at him.
“Of course not. You know the only reason they’re allowed to walk to my house after school is because my house is right down the block.” Seriously, twelve- and thirteen-year-olds traveling around New York City by themselves?
“What do you propose we do?” he asked me and I offered him a big smile.
When we came down the stairs with smiles on our faces, Tiffany looked at us suspiciously.
“What’s the verdict?” she asked quietly.
“You can go on the date with Eric,” Alex replied. Tiffany squealed and glomped him.
“But we have to take you there and supervise,” I finished, offering her a grin. Tiffany looked slightly shocked before she shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t care if you’re there or not,” she said. “I just really want to see that movie with Eric. Can you please do my hair now?”
“Alright, jeez! Go upstairs and wash it in the sink. Call me when you’re done,” I said, dismissing her with a wave of my hand. She nodded her head enthusiastically and fled upstairs.
I followed Alex into the kitchen and plopped into my seat, grabbing my breakfast sandwich and taking a bite out of it. It tasted absolutely divine and it was self-restraint that kept me from humming in delight. I mean, if I make any noise while eating, he’ll find out my weakness. Now, nobody knows this, but I think hot guys cooking breakfast for me is über hot. Call it a fetish, if you will.
“Thanks for last night, Ethan,” Alex said quietly. I looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.
“You don’t need to thank me, dope. All I did was tell you the truth.” Alex took one look at me and snickered. “What? What is it? Why are you laughing?”
He practically sauntered up to me and I practically swallowed my tongue. “You have,” he said lowly, using the pad of his thumb to wipe off something from the corner of my mouth, “something on your face.” I flushed a dark red that only got darker when he didn’t move his finger. Alex’s face seemed to be moving closer to mine and I couldn’t help but discreetly pinch my outer thigh�"for certain purposes, you understand. Like making sure I wasn’t dreaming and making sure I wasn’t hallucinating. His face was inches from mine by now and I stared at him with wide eyes. His expression was unreadable, his eyes trained on my lips, and his pink tongue darting out to lick his. My breath caught in my throat and I found I couldn’t utter a noise. Closer, closer, closer. His lips were just centimeters from mine�"I could feel his breath and it sent shivers up and down my spine�"when we were interrupted.
“Ethan, I’m done!”
We jumped apart faster than roaches scattering when the light is turned on. “I-I have to go. Tiffany and her hair, haha,” I said, flustered beyond belief. I walked backwards towards the door and scratched the back of my head. “I’ll just g-go tend to her,” I stammered. Turning around, I walked right into the wall. Blushing, I quickly walked out of the kitchen and ran up the stairs. What the hell had gotten into Alex? Not that I’m complaining (almost had a dream come true. Damn you, Tiffany!) but it’s not like him. I mean, Alex is as straight as an arrow. And if he were gay, why would he ever want to kiss me? I’m short, I have chestnut-colored hair, hazel eyes, and lack the yumminess of a man’s bod. I get teased a lot in the locker room for having, as the stupid jocks like to call them, girly curves. I disagree�"STRONGLY! Just because I’m not buff like them doesn’t make me a girl and I hate it when I’m compared to anybody. If I’m compared to a guy, it’s just to show that I don’t have a six-pack or chest hair like ‘big, strong men’ have. If I’m compared to a girl, it’s just to show that I’ve got ‘feminine curves and long, lean legs’ just like them. Screw jocks and their pathetic comparisons. Stupid no-brainers.
“What’s the matter, Ethan? Your face is red,” Tiffany commented with a cocked eyebrow. I scowled at her lightly.
“Nothing. Pass me the blow dryer,” I said dryly, willing my blush to go away.
“Right. I totally believe you,” she said sarcastically as she passed me the blow dryer. I took the comb that was lying on the counter of the bathroom sink and used it to separate her hair into sections. Grabbing the round brush, I gathered her hair at the base and brushed through it, turning on the blow dryer and aiming it at her damp hair.
“You don’t have to believe me. You just have to be cooperative while I’m doing your hair so you look nice and pretty for Eric,” I retorted, flashing her a grin. Tiffany rolled her eyes.
“You’re so mean to me!”
“Well, you’ll get over it, won’t you?” I smiled at her widely when she pouted and mumbled under her breath something about mean gay older brothers that didn’t like keeping their younger sisters well informed. Chuckling at her antics, I rolled my eyes and continued to blow out her hair in silence.
“It’d be pretty cool if you and Alex got together,” Tiffany said innocently. “That way we could all double date.”
My eyes bulged and I looked at her like she was insane. “Me and your brother? Please, Alex is as straight as they come! Besides, if we ever got together, IF, we wouldn’t double date with a twelve- and thirteen-year-old.”
Tiffany grinned slyly. “Get serious, Ethan. The possibility of you and my brother getting together is very high; you two are always around each other and get jealous when the other is on a date with somebody else. I’m twelve, not stupid!”
“I think you’re delusional. Alex is straight and I don’t like him like that,” I lied. Tiffany gave me a look that showed how much she actually believed me, but didn’t challenge my statement. Her hair was finished in no time and I put my tools away. Sighing, I stretched and turned around only to screech and throw my fist out in reflex.
“Jesus Christ, Ethan, that hurt!” Alex howled, clutching his cheek in pain.
“You should know better than to sneak up on me,” I said, clutching my heart. I winced as I saw the bruise forming. “Are you okay? Do you need ice? Let me see it.” I slapped his hand away lightly and gingerly touched the bruise. It looked like it hurt. My eyes caught Tiffany’s as she left the bathroom. She waggled her eyebrows and gave me a pointed look. I stuck my tongue out at her and watched as she left, presumably to her room, giggling.
“I’ll be fine. Damn, you hit hard. I didn’t even do anything to you!” Alex complained, looking at the forming bruise in the mirror. “That’s going to be there for a while.”
“Come on, let’s put ice on it,” I said, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him downstairs to the kitchen. My face started to heat up when I remembered what had happened only a short time ago. Maybe he wasn’t the only one that needed ice. I got a Ziploc baggie and put a couple of ice cubes in it. “Here.”
“Why thank you,” he replied, grabbing the Ziploc from me. Was it just me or did his hand linger on mine more than usual? Grr, snap out of it, Ethan! Alex wouldn’t do that! Gosh!
“When are we leaving to the mall? Or are we not going anymore?” I asked quietly.
“We’re still going,” Alex replied, yawning slightly. “We can leave right now.”
“Alright,” I replied as I stood up. “You’re lucky I already took a shower or we wouldn’t have left until noon.”
Alex chuckled, knowing how long I spent in the shower. Hey, it’s not my fault that I’m a very hygienic person! Of course, when I’m in the school showers, I take no more than ten minutes. I’d rather not be in the same shower as all those homophobes. Puh-lease, as if they’re hot enough for me to want to hit on them. Honestly, I have eyes only for Alex. Since we don’t have the same gym class, it’s impossible for me to sneak peeks on him in the shower though. It sucks, but that’s life. At least I don’t have the same gym class as Ben Spencer. I feel bad for Alex, but I wouldn’t change gym periods with him at all. Ben is a total dickwad and teases me about my sexuality every chance he has. Last time I saw him, he threw a banana at me and told me to have fun. Like I said, dickwad! Unfortunately, he did it while Alex was in the bathroom. Probably because he knew Alex would kick his a*s if he did that in front of him. I didn’t tell him, though. I’d rather Alex not get suspended on my behalf. Besides, I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.
“Come on. We have to go to the mall and be back by 2:00 so we can take the kiddies to the movies,” Alex said. He threw my wallet to me and grabbed his keys. “Let’s go.”
“I’m going, I’m going. Keep your panties on,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“That’s your job, Ethan,” Alex grinned as he locked the door to the house and ran.
“Hey!”
prev chapter
![[send message]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/mail.png){kind=small}
![[befriend]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/friend.png){kind=small}
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Flag Writing