My Boyfriend's Best Friend

by Pixie Perkins

  “I can’t believe you hit him!” Delanie exclaims from inside the dressing room. “Don’t get me wrong, the jerk deserved it…I’m just surprised.”

  “My locker door hit him,” I insist for the umpteenth time, “it’s not like it was intentional!”

  “We understand, Britt.” Liv looks up from her magazine. “You wouldn’t do something like that on purpose.”

  I smile, grateful for her sanity. “Thanks, Liv.”

  “Either way, he got his,” Delanie says, coming out of the dressing room. “What do you guys think of this?”

  I study her as she does a little turn…showing off the short, light-blue halter dress that she’s wearing.

  The dress that is also incredibly sparkly.

  “Uh…” I squint an eye. “It’s sparkly.”

  “Yeah,” Liv agrees, “like overkill sparkly.”

  Delanie shoots her a look. “Positive comments only.”

  Liv rolls her eyes and Delanie turns to me. “Britt?”

  “It’s not really you, Del,” I choose my words carefully, “you’re more of a—”

  “Sparkles?” She scoffs. “What was I thinking?”

  “Obviously she wasn’t,” Liv comments after Del goes back into the dressing room. “Her mind’s elsewhere.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “You don’t mean because of Darren, do you?”

  I know they’re back together, but it’s hardly like Del to be distracted by a guy while shopping.

  “No way,” I say, shaking my head, “I don’t buy it.”

  “Okay,” Delanie sighs, coming out again, “how about this one?”

  “This one” is a spaghetti-strapped, powder pink dress that’s about the same length as the sparkly one.

  But powder pink is so not Del either.

  “Forget it!” she exclaims before either of us can even voice an opinion. “I’m not feeling it!”

  I turn to Liv once Delanie disappears into the dressing room again. “Powder pink?”

  “Told you,” she says, not looking up from her magazine. “Darren.”

  “Did someone say my name?”

  I look behind me to see Darren and Derek standing side-by-side with mischievous grins. “What are you guys doing here?”

  Of course I know what they’re doing here…I’m the one who told Derek where we were going to be.

  I didn’t know that he was bringing Darren though.

  Derek shrugs. “I put a tracking device on you.”

  “Ha-ha,” I reply sarcastically as he sits next to me, “very funny.”

  Actually, that’d be creepy.

  “How’s—” An immediate scowl appears on Delanie’s face upon her seeing the two of them. “Why are you guys here?”

  While Darren’s too busy checking her out to answer, Derek drapes an arm over my shoulders. “Came to see my girl.”

  My girl? Really?

  “How sweet.” Delanie rolls her eyes before turning to Darren. “Darren, close your mouth already.”

  Darren’s mouth clamps shut. “I wasn’t—”

  “This is the dress, girls,” she announces to us, ignoring Darren. “I’m buying it.”

  The lavender-colored dress is short, which isn’t surprising because all of the other ones have been too, and it’s also sleeveless.

  I’m not going to lie though, it suits her pretty well.

  “Here, Britt.” Del gives me a dark green bundle. “It’ll bring out your eyes.”

  Even though I’d rather not, I go into the dressing room and try the dress on.

  The top part (which has a sweetheart neckline) is like a smoky color and the dress’s skirt is green with some type of blackish print/design.

  Surprisingly enough, I love it.

  I walk out of the dressing room and Delanie claps her hands together. “I knew it!”

  “Wow,” Darren comments as his eyes skim over me, “you look good, Britt.”

  “That’s enough, Darren,” Delanie snaps at him. “Remember who your girlfriend is.”

  He rolls his eyes. “How could I forget?”

  I was honestly expecting Derek to say something.

  Not Darren.

  Am I disappointed?

  No, of course not.

  Still…

  “What do you think, Derek?” I ask, mentally cringing at how unsure I sound. “About the dress?”

  He looks me up and down, then shrugs.

  And only shrugs.

  Does he not like the dress? Or is it me in the dress?

  This is ridiculous!

  Why should I care what Derek thinks anyway?

  “Britt—” Delanie sighs. “Go change so we can find a dress for Liv.”

  I lick my lips as Derek pulls his phone out and then I go back into the dressing room…mentally ranting as I change clothes.

  Would it have killed him to say something?

  Anything?

  Blake would’ve liked the dress.

  He’d say something like—

  “Britt!” Delanie interrupts my thoughts. “Come on!”

  After looking for almost twenty minutes, Del finds a dress for Liv.

  And after finding the dress, we spend another fifteen minutes or so looking for shoes and jewelry.

  Derek and Darren have probably been bored out of their minds.

  “And this is where the guys will come in handy,” Delanie says as all our stuff is being bagged, “oh, boys?”

  They look our way and Delanie motions for them to come over. “Come here!”

  Derek gets up first, then walks over to us and Darren follows suit, with an exasperated sigh. “What?”

  “You want to come on the shopping trip…” She gives them each three bags. “You’ve gotta help on the shopping trip.”

  Darren’s eyebrows crease. “What the—”

  “Come on, girls.” Delanie puts her sunglasses on. “Let’s go.”

  I can’t help but smile at the sight of them carrying pink and white shopping bags as we walk through the mall.

  It’s kind of cute.

  “How much farther, Del?” Darren grunts as we enter the parking lot.

  “Shut up, Darren,” she retorts with a scowl, “it’s not like the bags are heavy.”

  I can understand Darren’s curiosity, because I honestly don’t remember parking this far.

  We met at Del’s house after school and then came here in her car. We also nearly got pulled over—nothing new there though.

  “Del—”

  “Wait,” she cuts Darren off before looking around, “I don’t see my car.”

  She doesn’t see it?

  How can—crap, what if it’s been stolen?

  Could that have happened?

  “What do you mean you don’t see your car?” Darren asks in a tight voice. “There’s no way to lose a car.”

  And after that, the two of them begin arguing back and forth until Liv manages to get Delanie’s attention. “Del, this isn’t the aisle we parked in.”

  Ah.

  Delanie’s lips purse. “I knew that.”

  Darren snorts. “Sure you did.”

  “Zip it.” She narrows her eyes at him. “Or I’ll—”

  “You’ll what?” he cuts in. “Break up with me? The day before your party?”

  Del curses at him and then huffs off toward the next aisle and Darren sighs before going after her.

  And this could end in two ways.

  A: She’ll snap at him even more and get madder.

  Or, B: She’ll get over it and they’ll start a make out session.

  Yeah, that’s how Del works.

  “Aren’t we going to follow them?” Derek asks after a few minutes.

  Liv laughs some. “Not unless you want to see them making up.”

  “So…” Derek trails off, “we’re just going to wait for them? For how long?”

  “If we’re lucky it might rain,” Liv comments, glancing at the sky with a thoughtful look. “Del hates getting caught in the rain
.”

  “Well then…” Derek grins. “I hope it pours.”

  They both laugh and I suddenly feel out of place.

  I shouldn’t though.

  I’m his—his what, Britt?

  His girlfriend? Not really.

  Not at all…you’re his fake girlfriend, that’s it.

  That’s your place.

  You want Liv and Derek to get together, so what’s the problem?

  Is there a problem? No, they seem to get along well.

  So what would be stopping them from being together?

  Then it hits me—the problem.

  It’s me.

  ——————

  After dinner I call Derek.

  I have to talk to him.

  It’s obvious that I’m the reason he hasn’t moved forward with Liv and he’s just too nice of a guy to tell me so.

  A few rings later his voicemail comes on: “Hey, this is Derek, leave a message.”

  “It’s Brittany,” I say after the “beep”. “Um, call me once you get this message…all right? Okay, by—”

  Beep.

  Amazing, even his voicemail cuts me off.

  Why didn’t he answer?

  He’s just probably busy, Britt.

  Busy? Busy doing what?

  I don’t know.

  Ugh, I’m having a conversation with myself…

  I end up watching a movie with Mom and Dad, but all I could think about the whole time was that Derek didn’t answer.

  So once the movie is over, I tell them good night and then immediately go upstairs to see if he called me back.

  He didn’t. Why???

  I call him again…and get his voicemail.

  So I leave a similar message to the first one and then decide to just go to bed.

  After changing into my pajamas and brushing my teeth, I check my phone again.

  Nothing—I have half a mind to throw the dang thing across the room.

  Instead, I call and leave another message then set it on my nightstand like the sane person that I am.

  I climb into bed, determined to forget about the fact that he hasn’t called me back yet.

  And yet I find myself glancing at my phone.

  What is wrong with me?

  Go to sleep, Britt.

  I’m not tired though.

  I turn my head to see the teddy bear that Blake got me and I grab it before setting it on my stomach. I probably should’ve packed it. But I love this teddy bear.

  Well, that’s good.

  Focus on the teddy bear…on Blake, not Derek.

  I hug it with a sigh.

  Good night, Blake.

  Then I close my eyes and fall asleep.

  ——————

  Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

  “Mmm,” I mumble into my pillow.

  Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

  Ugh, stupid phone.

  Phone?

  Half asleep, I feel for my cell phone and then “accept” the call. “Hello?”

  “Brittany?”

  “Mmm, yeah…” My eyebrows crease. “Who’s this?”

  “It’s Derek.”

  “Derek?” I echo in a groggy voice. “Derek, Derek, Der—”

  “Britt? Britt, you there?”

  “I’m here.” I let out a loud yawn. “Who’s this?”

  “Derek,” the voice answers. “Are you okay?”

  “Am I okay? I’m fine, I just—” I stop and sit up some. “Did you say this was Derek?”

  “Yes, it’s Derek.” He sighs. “Britt, what’s wrong?”

  I blink and try to see what time it is.

  Is that a three?

  “Britt?” Derek’s voice turns urgent. “Britt? Answer me!”

  I scrub a hand over my face. “Why the heck are you calling me at three in the morning, Derek?”

  “Because you told me to,” he replies, sounding annoyed, “remember?”

  Why should he be annoyed?

  I’m not the one that called him at three in the morning.

  “Britt,” he says, clearly becoming anxious, “what’s wrong? I got your messages.”

  “My messages?”

  “Yes, Britt!” He groans in frustration. “You left messages on my voicemail.”

  “Right,” I drawl, “your voicemail…that was hours ago, where’ve you been?”

  “I couldn’t—that doesn’t matter.” He sighs. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” I yawn again. “You know, despite the fact that you woke me up.”

  “I was worried. You sounded weird in the messages.”

  “Thanks,” I reply, my voice dripping with sarcasm, “that’s what every girl wants to hear.”

  “Well, next time I just won’t call back,” he snaps, “how’s that?”

  “Fine,” I retort, “don’t. I’m going to—”

  Then of course he hangs up, like always.

  What the heck is his problem?

  I set the phone back on my nightstand and lie back down, trying to get comfortable.

  Three in the morning, unbelievable…

  Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

  Again? Seriously?

  If it’s him, I’m not answering it.

  But I do.

  “What do you—”

  “I’m sorry, Brittany,” he interrupts me. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you, I was just worried…forgive me?”

  Once again, he sounds sincere.

  “Okay,” I sigh, too tired to hold a grudge, “but only if you forgive me.”

  “Deal.” He laughs some. “Good night.”

  “Don’t you mean morning?” I joke with a yawn.

  “Night, morning—whatever,” he says, and I can picture him rolling his eyes. “Sleep well.”

  “You too…” I smile some. “Good night-morning.”

  “Good night-morning, Britt.”

  Chapter 24: Buttery Chocolate Delight

  ——————————————————

  I spend most of my Saturday morning picking up my room and putting new pictures (without Blake) in my frames, which is hard…considering he’s in almost all of my pictures.

  But I put some random ones of Del, Liv, and me, then some family ones…leaving a lone, empty frame.

  I tap the side of it with pursed lips. “What picture should I put in you?”

  Shrugging, I set it on my dresser.

  I’ll save it for some special Blake-less picture.

  My phone buzzes and I nearly drop it at the sight of the picture Delanie sent me.

  It seems that her parents consented to her birthday wish.

  Crap, does it look painful.

  Ow.

  She’s obviously happy though, because she also sent: Loving it so much!

  Good for her. I don’t even know what to text back.

  Congrats? I guess.

  So that’s what I do.

  Then I set my phone on my dresser and look around my room, well—it’s clean.

  What now?

  Mom and Dad are at the gym so I have the house to myself…I just have nothing to do.

  Ugh, figures.

  My phone suddenly rings and I snatch it off the dresser.

  Derek.

  “Hello?” I ask after “accepting” the call.

  “Good morning.”

  “Well, it’s almost noon.” I laugh a little. “But I’ll take it.”

  “Good,” he says in approval, “hey—you wanna do something?”

  “Yes!” I immediately reply. “I’m bored out of my mind. I’ll have to check with my mom and dad though.”

  “I’m sure they’ll say that it’s okay.”

  I roll my eyes at his cockiness. “They’re—”

  “Brittany!” I hear Mom exclaim. “We’re back!”

  “Hold on, Derek.”

  Without waiting for him to say anything, I cover the phone with my hand and go downstairs. “Mom, can I hang out with Derek?”

  “Sure.” She nods. “You can
—”

  I put the phone back to my ear. “My mom says yes.”

  “Told ya,” he replies in a smug tone, “I’ll be there soon.”

  He hangs up and I put my phone on “sleep.”

  Mom takes a swig out of her water bottle. “So what are you two doing?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrug. “Derek likes surprises.”

  “Ah.” She screws the cap back on her water bottle. “Well, I’m going to take a shower and your dad is talking to one of the neighbors.”

  “Okay,” I say as she goes upstairs. “See you later!”

  I look down at my old, faded blue T-shirt.

  Hmm, I probably should change.

  I jog upstairs to my room and put on a pair of jeans and a newer top of mine.

  Unfortunately, I come across Blake’s letterman jacket.

  I slowly finger it, remembering when he gave it to me.

  “I have something for you,” Blake said with his arms behind his back.

  My eyebrows creased. “But it’s not my birthday—”

  “Or a holiday,” he finished, “I know. This is a ‘just-because-you’re-the-best-girlfriend-ever’ gift.”

  I blushed at that. “Blake…”

  “Close your eyes.”

  “Okay.” I shut them tight. “They’re closed.”

  “No peeking,” he teased.

  “I’m not,” I assured him, “I swear.”

  I heard him chuckle lightly and then felt something on my shoulders.

  “Open your eyes.”

  My eyes snap open and I let go of the jacket, stepping back.

  It’s not the time to be nostalgic, Britt.

  That’s fine with me…I don’t want to be nostalgic.

  The doorbell rings and I grab my purse before rushing downstairs.

  I take a deep breath, putting any thoughts about Blake aside and then calmly open the front door. “Hi.”

  “Hey,” Derek greets me back, “ready to go?’

  I nod and step down, closing the door behind me. “So this outing is a surprise, right?”

  “Maybe,” he drawls as we walk to his truck, “you hungry?”

  “Yeah…” My eyebrows crease. “But how is it maybe a surprise?”

  He shrugs. “Just is.”

  What?

  We both get in the car and I put my seatbelt on.

  Something smells good. What do I smell?

  I turn to Derek. “Do you smell that?”

  He starts the car up. “Smell what?”

  “I don’t know,” I say as he pulls out of the driveway. “It’s this buttery smell mixed with like chocolate.”