My Boyfriend's Best Friend

by Pixie Perkins

  He murmurs something, but I can’t make it out…and that’s the last thing I remember before falling completely asleep.

  Chapter 34: I Missed You

  ——————————————————

  I don’t remember much about last night.

  All I remember is Derek picking me up before saying something and then we were at my house.

  Weird, I know.

  When I asked Derek about it on our way to school though he just shrugged and said I feel asleep.

  I must’ve been some great company.

  And now I’m putting…well, trying to put my books away before going to lunch.

  “Britt.”

  I freeze and mentally curse.

  Blake.

  Blake, Blake, Blake.

  The last person I want to see, smell, talk to, or deal with.

  So I ignore him and finish putting my books away.

  “I’m sorry about last night.”

  “Last night?” I echo carelessly as I close my locker door and turn to him. “What about last night?”

  He sighs. “Britt, don’t be like that.”

  I’ll be like however I want, you jerk.

  “Be like what, Blake?” I keep the charade up, tilting my head. “What am I being like?”

  “Acting like you’re not mad.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m not mad.”

  I am so mad.

  “See.” He motions to me. “Acting.”

  “Look, Blake,” I attempt nonchalance, “if you want me to act mad…fine, I will. Is that what you want?”

  “What?” His eyebrows crease. “Britt—”

  “I know,” I interrupt him. “You’re confused. And that’s okay.”

  “No, I—”

  “Hey, Britt,” Derek says, coming next to me. He nods at Blake. “Blake.”

  Time to make this a little interesting…

  “Hey, baby,” I greet Derek before kissing him.

  His arms automatically go around my waist and I try to keep my bad foot up while looking like I’m enjoying this.

  A difficult task, I know.

  I pull away and smile at him. “I missed you.”

  He grins. “I missed you too, babe.”

  Babe? What?

  Who said he could call me that?

  I sure as heck didn’t!

  Just because I called him “baby” doesn’t mean that—

  Blake clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable. “I uh—I probably should go.”

  “Blake.” I turn my attention to him. “You and Savannah should have lunch with us today.”

  Wait, what? Why the heck did I just say that?

  Because it seemed like a good idea at first?

  Yeah.

  It doesn’t matter anyway because he and Savannah were having problems—right?

  “Sure.” He nods. “Sounds great, I’ll see you guys in a few.”

  Well crap, okay…never mind then. What happened to them having problems?!

  The second he’s out of sight, I grab my crutches and glare at Derek. “Babe?”

  “I could say the same about you,” he shoots back, “baby.”

  “That doesn’t—”

  “And why did you invite them to sit with us?”

  “Because,” I state in an airy tone, “I want to prove that I can be mature enough to sit with my ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “And are you mature enough?”

  “I guess we’ll find out.” I tilt my head up at him. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Besides, I need to know for sure whether he and Savannah are on bad terms or not.

  I hobble down the hallway with Derek walking beside me and he motions toward the lunch line once we’re in the cafeteria. “I’m going to get our lunch.”

  “Thank you!” I call after him before making my way to where Del, Darren, and—“Where’s Liv?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know,” Delanie states in a dry tone. “She’s not answering her phone.”

  I frown, carefully sitting down across from them. “Well, that’s not like Liv.”

  Delanie takes one of Darren’s fries. “Duh.”

  “Hey!” Darren glares at her. “That was mine!”

  She bites the tip off it. “And now it’s mine.”

  While they argue over fries and what sounds like cologne brands, I try to think of where Liv could be.

  Why wouldn’t she tell us that she wasn’t going to be at lunch?

  What if she’s with someone? With someone?

  Who could she—

  My thoughts come to halt when I see Blake and Savannah walk into the cafeteria.

  Crap.

  I probably should mention…

  “I invited Blake and Savannah to sit with us!”

  Delanie and Darren’s bickering stops and Del arches an eyebrow at me. “What?”

  I clear my throat some. “I said they could eat with us?”

  “I don’t—”

  Delanie holds a hand up, stopping Darren. “Why the heck would you do that?”

  “Because I think it’s a good idea,” I try to seem confident, “it’s the mature thing to do.”

  “It’s a stupid thing to do,” she replies in a “duh” voice. “I mean honestly, Britt—”

  “I know you didn’t just call my girlfriend stupid,” Derek cuts her off, setting our trays down on the table.

  I shake my head as he sits beside me. “She didn’t mean it like that, Der—”

  “If anyone’s stupid it’s you,” Delanie snaps at him, “Connors.”

  “Well, you would know what stupid is,” Derek shoots back, “Moore.”

  “Enough!” I finally exclaim, waving my hands in the air. “I’m sick of you guys always fighting!”

  “It seems like we came at the wrong time,” a new voice joins the conversation.

  Blake’s voice more specifically.

  I look up to see Blake holding two lunch trays and Savannah holding on to his arm.

  “Oh, you guys are fine!” I force a big, overbearing smile. “Have a seat!”

  They both sit down, Savannah next to Delanie and Blake next to Savannah as well as across from me.

  “So where’s your other friend?” Savannah asks in a cool voice. “The little leprechaun?”

  My mouth drops.

  Did she seriously just address Liv as—

  Blake sighs. “Babe…”

  “I was kidding, baby.” Savannah laughs. “It was a joke.”

  Sure it was.

  “Ha,” Delanie mocks her laugh, narrowing her eyes at Savannah, “except, no one’s really laughing.”

  “Liv,” I enunciate her name, controlling myself from flipping out on this rude witch, “had an appointment.”

  It’s better than saying that we lost her.

  “Oh?” Savannah tilts her head. “What kind of appointment?”

  My eyebrows crease. “I’m pretty sure that’s none of your business.”

  Did I just say that?

  Darren nods in approval. “Nice, Britt.”

  I guess I did.

  Wow.

  There’s a really awkward silence after Darren’s comment and then Savannah looks at Derek. “So, Derek…I was wondering, what exactly made you date your best friend’s ex-girlfriend?”

  I’d rather the awkward silence.

  Derek stiffens and I do what any good girlfriend would do.

  I hug his arm while smiling at Savannah. “It was my fault really. Derek is just so sweet and caring…” I look up at Derek with admiration. “And I fell.”

  I know.

  I’m laying this on super thick.

  But everyone’s watching and I want to rub my fake love story in her flippin’ annoying face.

  I can’t read Derek’s expression, but he seems to understand what I’m doing and he smiles. “I fell first.”

  I nudge him playfully. “You did not.”

  “Did too.”
>
  And then his lips are on mine.

  At first I’m surprised.

  I wasn’t planning on us kissing, but hey—they call it sealed with a kiss for a reason.

  So I cup the sides of Derek’s face as we continue to kiss and I mentally pray that it’ll be over soon.

  “Hey, lovebirds,” Delanie snaps, “cool it.”

  Oh good, the perfect out…

  I pull away, feigning embarrassment. “Sorry.”

  Noticing that Derek has a bit of my lip gloss on his lips, I wipe it off with a laugh. “You’ve got a little gloss…”

  This is too much.

  “Is it always like this?” Savannah asks in a bored voice. “With you two?”

  Before I can reply, Derek jumps right on it. “No way, sometimes we play hide and kiss.”

  What the—

  I hit his arm. “We do not!”

  All acting and joking aside, I would never.

  That’s not even like a legit thing!

  “He’s joking,” I assure everyone, “we’ve never played that.”

  I can’t even bring myself to say it out loud.

  “She’s right.” Derek sighs as if being caught. “I’m joking.”

  Delanie looks somewhat shocked/disturbed, Darren’s eating, Blake has a straight face and Savannah…well—she’s Savannah, enough said.

  “Hide and kiss,” she says with a thoughtful look, turning to Blake. “Remember the first time we played that?”

  What?

  No. It can’t be a real thing.

  It’s not a real thing.

  “Yeah…” Blake chuckles lightly. “That was fun.”

  I try convincing myself that I’m fine…that I can handle it, but I can’t.

  There’s no way that I can sit here while they—

  “Excuse me,” I basically mumble as I grab my crutches.

  I get up and hobble out of the cafeteria, not caring that I’m being pathetic.

  The tears start falling once the door closes behind me, and I make my way down the hallway.

  “Britt.”

  I sigh at the sound of Derek’s voice. “I don’t want to talk, Derek.”

  “Listen.” He comes beside me. “It’s okay…Britt, don’t cry.”

  I shake my head. “Just leave me alone.”

  I go into the girls’ restroom in hopes of avoiding him and then groan when I see my reflection.

  Wow, I look like crap.

  I start to clean my eyes up when there’s a knock at the door. “Britt, come on.”

  “Go away, Derek.”

  He’s seriously driving me crazy.

  “If you would just—”

  “What?” I yank the restroom door open. “What do you—”

  He draws me into a firm embrace and it’s somehow calming…him having his arms around me.

  “I’m sorry you’re upset,” he murmurs into my hair, “and if I did anything that—”

  “It’s not you,” I whisper with a slight sniffle, “it’s…”

  “It’s Blake,” he finishes, pulling away, “right?”

  I laugh a little. “Sometimes I wonder if you really do know everything.”

  He sighs. “You shouldn’t—”

  Then he stops as if he said something wrong or isn’t sure if he should finish and my eyebrows crease.

  “Shouldn’t what?” I ask, curious to hear what he was going to say. “What shouldn’t I do?”

  “Nothing.” He shakes his head. “You okay now?”

  “Yeah…” I trail off, “but—”

  “Good,” he interrupts me, “that’s all that matters.”

  Not good. I want to know what I shouldn’t do!

  Why does he always do this?

  “May I escort you to your locker?”

  I give in and nod, seeing as he’s not going to tell me anyway.

  “Derek,” I say as we start walking toward my locker, “where do you think Liv is?”

  He shrugs. “Somewhere.”

  “I’m serious,” I inform him, nudging his arm. “Why wouldn’t she tell us that she wasn’t going to be at lunch?”

  “Well—”

  “And why didn’t she answer her phone?” I continue. “That’s not like Liv.”

  “I—”

  “It just doesn’t make sense!” I let out an aggravated sigh. “You know? I mean—”

  “Britt,” he cuts me off, standing in front of me, “I’m sure Liv is fine…you gotta relax.”

  “I’m just worried about her,” I admit in all honesty, “she hasn’t been acting like herself lately.”

  “People change, Brittany.”

  “Not like this.” I shake my head to emphasize my point. “Something’s wrong.”

  “Britt—”

  “You know,” I comment in a thoughtful tone, wanting to change the subject, “you never did tell me the name of that girl you helped after class.”

  “We’re back on this again?” He groans. “I thought you said that you were acting?”

  “I was,” I reply with a shrug, “but I still want to know who it was.”

  “All right, it was Violet Cummings.”

  Violet Cummings…

  An image of the pretty dark-haired girl with light eyes from my literature class pops into my mind.

  For some reason, I get this weird feeling in my stomach and then I remember that I barely got a chance to eat my lunch.

  Perfect.

  “Now you know…satisfied?”

  “Yes.” I bob my head up and down. “My curiosity has been quenched.”

  As we resume walking to my locker, however, a new question comes to me.

  What if Violet’s the girl that Derek likes, and not Liv?

  That would explain why he’s acting like helping Violet wasn’t a big deal…he’s trying to play it off.

  But what about Liv? It seemed like he and her were connecting.

  And they would be so cute together.

  Are you sure you just don’t like the idea of him being with Violet?

  What?

  That’s crazy, it’s not like I have anything against Violet.

  Do I?

  Chapter 35: He’s a Dime

  ——————————————————

  I got rid of the crutches on Friday, but the doctor still wants me to “take it easy” for a few more days and do some basic stretches and exercises so I get used to using my foot again.

  That won’t be a challenge.

  I’ve learned that I love my feet and ankles, and that I’ll never hurt them again.

  It’s Saturday now, and I’m at Daisy Diner having breakfast with Zach…who’s been asking dozens of questions concerning Derek.

  “No,” I reply, cutting into my stack of pancakes, “he doesn’t have any tattoos.”

  Not that I know of anyway. And if he did, so what?

  As long as no tries to stick a needle into me—we’re good.

  “Does he have a job?”

  I shrug as I shove a forkful of goodness into my mouth and make a mental note to ask Derek.

  Mom and Dad’s method of thinking is once you move out…you start working.

  If I wanted a job of course they’d let me get one.

  But you know—I’ve been busy. Way too busy for a job.

  “What’s his career choice going to be?”

  “You sound like Dad.” I groan after swallowing my food. “Not cool, dude.”

  “Not cool is not knowing anything about this guy,” he shoots back and I roll my eyes. “Zach, you have nothing to worry about, Derek’s a good guy.”

  Every day I realize that more and more.

  “That’s the thing…” He motions to me. “In your eyes, of course he is—but in my eyes he’s the other guy in your life.”

  “Well,” I drawl after drinking some of my milk, “you come before Derek, so there…mmm! How’s it going with Jenny?”

  Jenny is the girl Zach met after breaking up with Christine, an
d even though he hasn’t talked about her much I—

  “Actually there’s no ‘going’ with Jenny,” he informs me using air quotations. “Wasn’t my type, and besides I…”

  I raise an eyebrow when he doesn’t finish. “You what?”

  He shrugs. “I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”

  “Yeah right.” I snort, stabbing a piece of pancake with my fork. “When have you ever—” I stop when I see his unchanged, serious expression. “Oh…you’re not kidding.”

  He shakes his head, not saying anything else as he drizzles more syrup onto his pancakes and I blankly just stare at him.

  This is weird. I can’t remember the last time he didn’t have girlfriend.

  I clear my throat some. “Do you mind me asking why not?”

  “By asking if I mind you asking me why not,” he begins in a matter-of-fact tone, “you’ve technically already asked me.”

  I roll my eyes. “Don’t get all smart-aleck on me.”

  He grins in triumph and drinks some of his orange juice

  “So are you going to tell me?” I ask after eating my chunk of pancake. “Or do I have to beg?”

  “Hmm…” He strokes his chin with a thoughtful expression. “Begging sounds good.”

  “Jerk,” I mutter before taking a gulp of my milk.

  “Back on subject,” Zach commands, “you distracted me…how many girlfriends has he had?”

  I shrug. “Only one that I know of.”

  He cocks an eyebrow. “One?”

  “Yeah,” I reply with a nod, “one.”

  And she’s such a snake…

  He seems unconvinced but eats another forkful of pancakes. “How is he at video games?’

  “Dude, gross!” I whine. “I can see the food in your mouth!”

  “Answer the question.”

  “Chew with your mouth closed,” I shoot back, “and I couldn’t care less if he’s good at video games or not.”

  I really couldn’t.

  “Are you guys planning on dating in college?”

  “I don’t know, Zach.” I sigh, tired of the questions. “We haven’t talked about it.”

  Of course we’re not dating in college.

  Well, fake dating technically—but there’s no way I’m going to keep this charade up for four years or more.

  “You probably should,” Zach says, his eyebrows rising briefly, “I mean…you guys are graduating soon.”

  I hold back the urge to roll my eyes. “I’ll make sure to mention it to him.”