Falling for My Best Friend

by Victorine E. Lieske

  “You okay?”

  I nodded, like a mute idiot. I was such a dork.

  He put his hands behind his back and rocked back on his heels. “Good. You made me nervous.” Then Charlotte walked up to him and he took her hand, and together they walked away. And that was it. That was my long-awaited first conversation with Lucas.

  Parker helped me stand up, and we said good-bye and walked around the yard so we could leave. As soon as I got out of earshot, I yelped. “Did you see that?” I grabbed Parker’s jacket and faced him, which meant I had to walk backwards. “Did you see that? Lucas talked to me.”

  Parker ignored my ranting and kept walking. “Uh-huh.”

  “I can’t believe it. He knows my name. He said my name. Out loud.”

  “How else would he say it?”

  “Just let me have my moment, okay?” I wanted to die and float around on the clouds. My insane plan was working. All of it. The part where I showed up where Lucas was going to be, and the part where I made him jealous. I couldn’t believe it. Even I hadn’t thought my plan would work.

  Parker slowed as we approached his car, an old Toyota I affectionately named grandma car. He turned to me and shook water out of his hair. “Well, tonight was interesting. Guess I’ll see you Monday.”

  Nervous energy coursed through my body. I didn’t want to go inside my house. I wanted to celebrate my victory. “I’ll come pick up your mom with you, then we can go do something.”

  “No.”

  I stared at Parker in surprise. “No?” Since when did Parker not want to hang out?

  He cringed. “I mean, you don’t want to go with me to get my mother.”

  “Yes, I do. It’s only seven thirty. My curfew isn’t until midnight.”

  He hedged.

  “Parker, what’s the deal? What is going on with your mother?” I knew his mother pestered him all the time about stuff, but something was off.

  “Nothing is going on.” He waved his hand over me. “You’re all wet. I just don’t want Mom to ask too many questions. Why don’t you go change? I can go get my mom and take her home. That will give me the chance to put on something dry as well. Then I’ll come back and get you.”

  That made perfect sense. “Deal.” I grinned at Parker, but he seemed anxious to leave, so I gave him a wave and ran inside to change out of my wet clothes.

  Thank goodness my dad wasn’t still in the living room. I would not have wanted to explain why I was dripping wet. I ran up the steps and into my bathroom. When I saw myself in the mirror, I shrieked. Oh, no.

  Apparently, the makeup I had purchased wasn’t waterproof because I looked like a macabre version of that sad clown who sings opera. Not only that, but my hair was nasty and stood on end.

  And that wasn’t the worst part.

  Lucas had seen me like this. He’d talked to me. He’d looked right at me. And I looked like my worst nightmare.

  I grabbed a washcloth and started scrubbing my face. This was terrible. I knew my hair had gotten wet. And my clothes. Okay, I was soaked. But I thought maybe I had looked sexy, like one of those models taking photos in the rain. I never thought my face and hair would look like I’d tried to become the bride of Frankenstein.

  Parker had jumped into the pool. Why had he come out looking fantastic? Little drops of water had clung to his eyelashes. That had looked sexy. But me? No way. There were no little sexy drops of water on my eyelashes. Just globs of black mess, dripping down my face.

  Great.

  After I cleaned my face up and brushed my hair, I got out of my wet clothes. By the time Parker pulled back up to the house, I felt like my normal self again. I grabbed a notebook and pen, slipped on my jacket, and headed toward the door.

  My dad stopped me in the hallway. “Wait. Where are you going now? You’re done with the party already?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, we left. Parker and I are just going to go hang out.”

  He looked a bit stunned. “Oh. Okay. You know the rules. Be home at midnight.”

  “Yep. Bye, Dad.” I raced past him.

  Parker seemed anxious when I climbed into the car. He was tapping the steering wheel and bouncing his foot. “Everything all right?” I asked.

  “It’s fine. Where do you want to go?”

  “Let’s go to the ice cream parlor. We can brainstorm ideas.” I held up my notebook.

  His eyebrows raised. “Ideas for what?”

  “For the next steps in our plan. I can’t believe how well it worked tonight.”

  Parker didn’t seem thrilled about it, but he took off toward downtown Sweet Water. I buckled my seatbelt. He didn’t say anything on the drive over, and I was trying to think so it didn’t matter anyway. We arrived, ordered our favorite cones, and took a table.

  I pulled out my pen and opened the notebook. “I think we should list the places we’ll go where he’ll be, so I can bump into him again. Obviously, there’s the cupid’s dance. But that’s not for two weeks.” I wrote down cupid’s dance.

  “You could drive by The Bread Basket every day and see if he happens to be outside.”

  “That’s not a bad idea.”

  Parker made a face. “I was kidding, Hannah. That’s a dumb idea. Are you listening to yourself?”

  I scoffed and wrote it down anyway. “I put up with you all through your Katy Perry obsession.”

  “That’s so not the same.” He licked his double chocolate chip fudge ice cream.

  “It is too. You had a major crush on her.” I took a bite of mine, which was the same flavor as Parker’s. We both had good taste.

  “She’s a superstar. I’ll never see her in real life. Lucas lives here in Sweet Water. You could end up with him.”

  I stared at Parker. “That’s your objection? That my plan could work? What’s wrong with you?”

  “I just think you’re taking things to an unhealthy level. That’s all.” He scooted his chair back and avoided my gaze.

  “Unhealthy? Parker, I really like him. He is everything I ever wanted in a man.”

  “Because he’s rich?” Parker said so quietly I had to play it over again in my head to make sure I heard him right.

  “No. Of course not.” I couldn’t believe he would think that. Sure, my dad had a great job and we lived in the nice part of town, and Lucas was like the son of a billionaire, but I would like him even if he had nothing. It was Lucas I liked, not his money, and I was offended Parker could even think that.

  Parker sighed and waved his hand dismissively. “Never mind.”

  “You’re just mad because…” My voice trailed off because I couldn’t think of why he’d be so upset about me and Lucas. And then it hit me. “You don’t have a girlfriend.”

  He rolled his eyes. “That’s not—”

  I got excited and slapped the table. “You must have a girl you like. I’ll help you gain her attention in exchange for you helping me with Lucas.” I grinned at him like I’d just solved all the world’s problems.

  He grunted and scrubbed a hand over his face. “For being so smart, you can be so dumb sometimes.”

  “Then tell me. Is there a girl you like? A girl you want to date?”

  He got a funny look on his face. “Yes.”

  “Then, what’s the problem? I’ll help you gain her attention if you help me get Lucas. We both get what we want.”

  Parker seemed like he was going to get upset again, but then he looked down at the table and nodded. “All right. Deal.”

  “Okay. Who is it?”

  Parker licked his cone, a contemplative expression on his face. “I’m not going to tell you right now.”

  I let out an exasperated sigh. “This won’t work if you’re not going to cooperate.”

  A look flashed across his face. “Oh, I’ll tell you. Just not right now. I think I need to wait for the right time.”

  What the heck? The right time? Why was Parker being so cryptic? I almost yelled at him for it, but I stopped myself. Whatever. If he wanted to keep his se
cret crush a secret, what did it matter? He’d tell me eventually. He always did. “Fine. You help me get Lucas, and then I’ll help you get your mystery girl when you finally decide it’s the right time to tell me.”

  He popped the last of his cone in his mouth and folded his arms. “Fine.”

  I waved my pen. “So, back to brainstorming.”

  Parker slid his napkin in front of him and folded it in half diagonally. “We could find a place to hang out near where he and his gang like to sit before school.” He lifted his gaze to mine. “You know, over by the commons area.”

  “Great idea.” I wrote it down as I ate the last of my cone, wondering why ice cream cones don’t taste better. They always disappointed me.

  Parker continued to fold his napkin and I realized he was creating something with it. I watched in fascination as he folded it in different ways.

  “What are you making?”

  A blush colored his cheeks. “You’ll see,” he just said as he worked with it.

  I stared at it as he manipulated the napkin in ways I wouldn’t have thought of. Folding and opening and creasing. Then I saw it start to take shape as he twisted the paper. He’d turned his napkin into a flower.

  I clapped my hands together. “Oh, my gosh, that’s adorable. How did you learn how to do that?”

  “It’s called boredom and flipping through YouTube channels.” He handed me the flower and ducked his head down in a mock bow. “For you, milady.”

  I stared at the flower in my hand. It looked so delicate, the petals twisting into the shape of a rose. “That’s so cool.”

  “Yeah, well, we’d better go before I turn another napkin into a frog.”

  I laughed and reached across the table to mess up his hair. He caught my wrist before I could. “No way. Do you know how long I spent trying to get my hair to look like you had with that gel?” His lips pulled up into a smile.

  I hadn’t noticed, but he’d done a pretty good job. “You’re such a girl.”

  He scoffed and stood, letting go of my wrist. “And you’re sexist.”

  “Well, you’re a nerd.” I scooped up my notebook into the crook of my arm. Then I slid the flower he’d made for me into my jacket pocket so it wouldn’t get smooshed. It was a weird thing for me to want to keep, but I liked it. And it had been a sweet thing for Parker to make for me.

  He was a sweet guy. I hoped he’d get the courage to tell me who he had a crush on soon. He deserved to find happiness.

  Chapter Six

  I glanced at the clock. “I still have an hour and a half before curfew. Want to go to our favorite spot on the beach?”

  Parker nodded and followed me out. Our favorite spot was really just behind my house. We’d dragged a large piece of driftwood where the grass ended and the sand began. We liked sitting on it and watching the waves.

  When we got to my house, I told my dad we were going to be out back, and he nodded and turned back to his television program. I grabbed a blanket because it was getting chilly and we headed outside. I flipped on the globe string lights that hung over our back deck and walked with Parker down to the sand.

  I sat down and wrapped the blanket around my shoulders. Parker sat next to me. Without asking, I draped part of the blanket over his back and he took the end from me. We did this often enough that we didn’t need to talk about it. I leaned into him, and he put his arm around me.

  I liked the smell of the leather jacket I’d bought for him, mixed with the scent that was unique to Parker, and the salty sea air. It smelled like home. Like a scent I could ease myself into and just relax.

  He put his hand on mine, and as his fingers grazed over my skin, my stomach started doing this little fluttery thing. That was odd. Parker and I had a brother-sister type relationship. He was a touchy-feely kind of guy, but I’d never had my body react in such a way to his touch before.

  He rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand, and a jolt of something electric skittered across my skin. I jumped up, unnerved by this new feeling that I was having, letting the blanket fall to the grass behind us.

  He looked up at me, confusion on his face. “You okay?”

  “Uh, yeah.” Why was my voice so shaky? “I just thought we could spread the blanket out on the sand and look at the stars.”

  He nodded. “Good idea.”

  Parker didn’t seem to notice my discomfort. He grabbed the blanket and arranged it on the sand. Then he climbed on it and stretched back, his head resting on his hands, his elbows out. I joined him. There. No touching this time. No reason for my body to get all weird on me.

  I stared up at the stars. The night was clear and the Milky Way was bright. I settled in contentedly beside Parker. “This is nice.”

  He turned to me. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Since when do you have to ask permission?”

  “Since when did you get all snarky on me?”

  Yeah, I was kind of being a brat tonight. “Sorry. Go ahead.”

  “Why do you like Lucas so much?”

  “That should be obvious.” I held in a scoffing noise. What wasn’t to like about Lucas? He was perfection.

  “Humor me.”

  I sighed and tried to think of what to say to Parker that would appease him. “He’s kind.”

  “What’s he done to be kind to you?”

  “He talked to me after I nearly drowned.”

  “Talking to you? That’s kindness?”

  I let out a frustrated grunt. “He doesn’t know me yet. He’s kind to others.”

  “So, you’ve watched him be kind. What did he do?”

  “Like, you want examples?” I turned on my side and glared at Parker. Why was he being like this? What did he want from me?

  He rolled to his side as well. His gray eyes were more intense than I had expected. “Yes. Examples.”

  “I can’t give any. I don’t write down every little thing I see people do.” What I didn’t want to admit to myself is that Parker was annoying me because I couldn’t think of anything I’d seen Lucas do that was truly kind.

  “Okay. What else do you like about him?”

  My thoughts turned to Lucas. His perfect lips. The way his hair falls on his forehead. His laugh that melts my insides like butter left out on a hot day. His…dang. Was I that shallow? I pursed my lips, not wanting to admit to Parker that I liked Lucas because he was pretty to look at. “I don’t know. I just like him, okay?”

  His gaze penetrated me. It wasn’t judgmental. Parker was just seeing right through me, I could tell. “Okay,” he said as he placed his hand on mine. How was his hand so warm in the chilly night air? His tongue flicked over his lips so quickly, I wondered if I had really seen it. “Can I ask something else?”

  I was pinned by his gaze. I couldn’t move, and I could barely breathe. If Parker had asked me to give my soul over to him, I would have gladly done so. “Go ahead.”

  His lips parted, but then shut them again, as if he was going to ask it but then changed his mind. “Why do you spend so much time with me?”

  I almost laughed, but it didn’t come out. The moment felt too raw. Too serious. Instead, I smiled at him. “That’s easy. You’re my best friend.”

  His thumb grazed the skin on the back of my hand and fireworks exploded in my chest, expanding my lungs, making my skin hot and tingly. I forced myself to remain still. Was he inching closer to me? I couldn’t quite tell, but it seemed that way. “Why am I your best friend?”

  I had to think about that one. We’d just always been friends. Parker was my breath of fresh air when I was choking from the stress of daily life. He always knew what would make me feel better. He knew what my goals were and how to help me achieve them. He was my perfect study partner. He pushed me to excel and knew my weaknesses. And he and I liked the same things. “Because you’re awesome.”

  He smiled at that, his dimple appearing. “Awesome, huh?”

  My heart raced in my chest as I stared at Parker’s lips. Why was I staring at h
is lips? The memory of the kiss we’d shared earlier flashed through my mind. I’d felt things during that kiss I had never felt before. But my mind had been on Lucas.

  And now, my mind was fully on Parker.

  He was still stroking my hand. He was now just a millimeter away from me, his nose almost touching mine. I could feel this breath on my lips. It smelled of something sweet I couldn’t put my finger on.

  What was happening? Was he thinking about our last kiss as well? It was just for show, right? It wasn’t a real kiss. I swallowed, mesmerized by his gaze, and the feelings that were coursing through me. Why was I feeling this way? I blinked. Was he going to kiss me again?

  I drew in a breath, trying to sort everything out. Did I want Parker to kiss me? Parker, the boy who loved comic books and movies. The boy who dropped whatever he was doing to come to my rescue when I had a flat tire. The boy who I spent every weekend with.

  My literal best friend in the world.

  I suddenly snapped out of whatever trance I had been in and chuckled. “Yep. You’re my awesome friend.” I slugged him like a guy would do to another guy.

  Something flashed through his eyes and he pulled away from me. And for some reason, my body felt the loss. The space between us grew cold in an instant. “Right,” he said, rolling away from me. Back to looking at the stars. Back to the distance I was more comfortable with. Best friend distance.

  My heart didn’t know whether to feel relief or disappointment, and both washed over me. I moved back as well and stared up at the stars.

  “Why are you friends with me?” I hadn’t known I was going to ask that, and my lips pinched together in anticipation of what Parker would say.

  He stilled, and I could tell he was thinking about what to say. “Because you’re calm when I’m freaking out. You’re funny when I’m sad. You’re smart when I can’t figure something out. And you’re there when I need you to be.”

  Emotion closed my throat and I didn’t know what to say. That was the sweetest thing Parker had ever said to me. “So, in other words, I’m awesome.”

  He chuckled and raised his eyebrows at me. “Yeah. You’re awesome.”