Chapter 26 - Unease Between FriendsA Chapter by emmaI heard a soft knock on my
door. “Come in,” I called. My grandmother pushed into
my bedroom, wearing a sheepish grin. “Hi, honey.” “Hi.” She sat on the edge of my
bed. “How’re you doing?” I sat up. “Why did you come
in here? I doubt you just wanted to make small talk.” She smiled. “Who’s the boy,
Andrea?” I groaned. “Grandma.” “Oh, c’mon. I gave you a few
minutes of peace!” I sighed. I opened my mouth
to spill my guts, but shut it again. “I’m not ready to tell you.” She frowned. “Andrea, as
your legal guardian, it’s my job to keep an eye on the boys you kiss on the
front porch.” My cheeks scorched. I
smothered my pillow over my face so she wouldn’t be able to see. “I’ll tell you
later. I need to talk to Skye first.” “Okay.” I appreciated that
she respected my privacy. She got up and walked out of my room. The second the
door closed I reached for my phone. On the second ring, she
answered. “Hey, this is Skye.” “Skye,” I panted. “I need
you to come over here. Now.” She sighed. “I need to
study. I have a test tomorrow that I don’t understand the concept of.” “Please?” She sighed again. “Give me
twenty.” I zoomed down the stairs
when I heard the knock on the front door. “Is that the boy again?” my
grandma shouted, and I heard her muffled laugh from the living room. I yanked open the door.
“Skye!” I leaned out the door and pulled her into a hug. She stumbled. “Whoa. Are you
okay?” I hugged her tighter. “No.” She ushered me upstairs,
still in my embrace, and we flop onto the bed. “What happened?” she asked. “Nate happened. On that
front porch.” She took a moment to reply.
“ . . . What?” “Nate kissed me on my
porch!” I practically screamed. Skye covered her mouth with
her hand. “No way! The guy you called a jerk at the mall?” I nodded. “Why would you let him do
that?” she asked. “I guess it was kind of my
fault, too. I didn’t pull away.” “But why did you do it if he
was such a jerk?” This was the moment I’d been
dreading. She was going to make me admit that I liked him. I guess it should be
expected, since I kissed him and all, but it felt like I should be guilty for
lying. I was really quiet when I
said, “I liked him.” She hit me playfully. “Look
at you! Getting crushes and kissing jerks like normal girls!” I pushed her away. “Okay, I
was overreacting that day. He’s not a jerk.” “That’s what you want to think. But we both know he is.” “No! He’s not.” I swallowed
and continued. “The other day, Chase came to school. He found me and wanted to
talk with me, and . . . he told me he loved me.” Skye paled. “And then when I rejected
him, he kicked me out of his car and Nate came and drove me home. Like a
non-jerk!” By the crushed look on
Skye’s face, I probably should’ve left out everything about Chase. “Oh, Skye, I’m so sorry,” I
said. “He said it happened recently.” She nodded and breathing in
deep, and I knew she didn’t want to burst into tears. I hugged her again,
giving her the chance to let it all out, but she stayed strong and silent. “Back to Nate?” she asked
me, her voice a little shaky. “Back to Nate.” She bit her lip. “Well, I
suppose he doesn’t sound like a total jerk, but be careful, okay? I don’t want
you to fall for a guy when he’s just going to drop you later.” “Skye, I’ve already fallen.
All I can do now is hope he’ll catch me. And doesn’t let go.” She nodded thoughtfully.
Then she smiled at me. “Okay, now tell me what happened. When’d you kiss?” So I told her everything,
from the moment he knocked on my door to the second I watched him drive away.
She laughed when I was done. “What’s so funny?” I
questioned. “I think it’s funny that you
punched some chick for him.” I felt my cheeks redden.
“She was pissing me off.” Skye annoyingly ruffled my
hair. “I bet she was.” “Andrea, Skye! Chase is
here!” My grandma shouted from down stairs. We both stared at each
other, our eyes widening. What could he possibly want? There was a faint knock on
my door. “Andrea? Skye?” Under her breath, Skye
muttered, “Of course he says your name first.” I pretended not to hear.
“Uh, come in I guess. Unless you aren’t in the mood to get yelled at.” It was
the truth: the boy was in for a yell. He hesitantly pushed open
the door, a scared expression on his face. The light wasn’t great in my room,
so half of his face was shadowy. He shifted his gaze so our eyes met, and the
second he did I felt his lips on mine again. I felt his hand on my cheek. I
felt myself blushing as I remembered him whispering, I think I love you. I swallowed back the panic
that was building in my throat. It must be one hundred times worse for Skye. He
entered my room and then closed the door behind him. I didn’t ask him to come
and sit with us on my bed, and I didn’t offer him the beanbag chair I kept in
the corner. I glared at him until her sat on the ground and crossed his legs. “What do you want?” I
growled, a little harsher than I’d intended. He gulped. “I want us three
to talk.” “About what?” Skye wanted to
know. “About how you are in love with
Andrea?” His eyes flickered to mine.
I felt myself falling apart, and I wanted to just yell at him to get out before
I said something that would ruin our friendship forever. Because the truth was,
I missed our friendship. We hadn’t really talked or hung out, just the three of
us, since before they broke up. It’s been more than a year. It was time for us
to move on. But I wasn’t going to say anything like that. Not now. “Do you have anything to say
for yourself?” demanded Skye. He looked at me again, his
green eyes sparkling. “I’m not sorry I told you the truth, Drey.” “Do not call me that right
now,” I choked out. This was so awkward. His shoulders drooped, like
he thought I’d actually get up and tell him I loved him, too, right in front of
Skye. “What did you want to talk
about?” Skye asked. “I want us to all be friends
again,” he said, his gaze never leaving mine. “But I don’t know how that will
work.” “It won’t,” I heard myself
saying. Even though just minutes ago I was thinking I wanted our friendship
back, too. “We’ve all grown apart. Things have changed.” “We haven’t grown apart,”
Chase insisted. “We’ve been wedged apart, by a nasty breakup.” Skye actually stamped her
foot. “Are you implying this is my fault?” “In a way, yes.” Skye and I seemed to both be
stunned silent. None of us said anything for a few minutes. Skye spoke up again, her
voice cracking. “Well, Andrea has a new boyfriend anyways.” I dropped my head into my
hands. Why would she say that now? “You do?” Chase asked me.
He’d stood up and was now in the middle of taking a step towards me. “Yeah,” I admitted. Chase clenched his fists and
shifted his weight like he was going to punch something. But he didn’t. Just
gave me a steely look. “Great,” he murmured, just
loud enough for Skye and I to hear. Then he ripped open my door and stomped
out, making the pictures on the wall sway. I heard him slam the front door
behind him, and Skye and I both watched him walk away through the window. Skye was gritting her teeth,
but I was glad she wasn’t chasing after him like she would’ve a week ago. © 2011 emmaAuthor's Note
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Added on December 20, 2011Last Updated on December 20, 2011 AuthoremmaCanadaAbouti'm emma and i watch a lot of TV and movies and read a lot of books and come talk to me about that i would love to talk with you also: i write things every once and a while more..Writing
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