BFFs: Boy Trouble

More Than Friends

“Lenny left but Faith you could stay with me for a night,” Crystal commented. Faith nodded her head eagerly and left some space for Crystal to sit down.

“What did he want?” she asked.

“He wanted to date me,” she said bluntly. Crystal could see Gregg tense a little and she saw everyone else blink rapidly. “But I said no.”

“Why?”

“Because he was doing it because he felt bad for making up those rumors.” Miranda instantly started sputtering her coffee everywhere and looked at Crystal intensely.

"What rumors?”

“The ones about me.” Crystal furrowed her eyebrows and made sure everyone saw that she was not kidding that they could not tell a soul.

“Crystal…” Miranda groaned silently and looked at everyone. “Lenny didn’t start those rumors.”

“Who did?” John asked.

“Geonnie did.”

"Wait, how do you know? I don’t want to go blaming her for something she didn’t do.”

“I watched her do it.”

“And you didn’t stop her?!” Suzie cried.

“I couldn’t. I was trying to get her to admit stuff, I’m really sorry Crystal.”

Crystal sat still for a moment and then looked at Miranda the next. She quickly got up and charged out of the room. She didn’t really blame Miranda but she had to go tell Lenny something.

She had to ask for forgiveness.

*** 

Miranda eyed Gregg and he eyed her back. It was no secret that he was hiding something from her, but she didn’t understand what or why. They weren’t really friends since they broke up but he was holding a huge grudge on his shoulder.

“Just tell me.”

“Miranda, I’m mad at you.” Gregg furrowed his eyebrows but couldn’t help smiling the next second. “But I do have to tell you something.” Miranda leaned in closer to him as he whispered to her. “I know you broke up with me for a reason, but that reason was false.”

“What?”

“No, just listen.” He breathed in and looked around to see if a teacher was around. “I was just trying to help Crystal out with Lenny. I had to sit with Geonnie and him for a reason. Now that he wants Crystal, I no longer have to do it.”

“I don’t believe you.”

"Ask anybody. Joy and Crystal know. Other people might know too, but I couldn’t tell you because you’re horrible with secrets.”

“Well, I’m sorry but if our relationship had trust we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.” Miranda saw the hurt in Gregg’s eyes and she wanted to apologize, but she couldn’t musk enough courage up to do it.

As soon as the bell rang, Miranda ran out to avoid crashing into Gregg. Instead, she faced the rush of the rest of the class and was swept from her under her feet. Since she wasn’t used to rushing, she walked her normal speed. That wasn’t good enough since other people usually jogged out of the classroom to hang out with the other kids.

As soon as Miranda lost her balance, everybody pushed her towards the lockers. Miranda tried to regain her balance and stop but it was too late because somebody was at the locker at the same time Miranda crashed into it.

The world seemed to get instantly dizzy for a moment to Miranda and she felt her nose hurt. She tried to stop the cool sticky blood from her nose but failed when she saw it. She was instantly into panic mode since she hated the sight of blood.

Everybody around her seemed to stop too and they were just staring. Not one body was trying to go for help until Miranda heard her name being called. She barely registered who it was before a hand was placed on her back and beneath her knees.

She was violently being jostled around as her carrier was running to the nurses. The more blood she saw coming from her nose, the more she felt dizzy. As soon as she got into the nurse’s office, she fainted into her savior’s arms.
 
***

“Gregg, you really have to leave.” The nurse put a kind smile on her face and a skeleton-like hand on his shoulder. “I’d love to have you here—and I’m sure she would too—but it’s procedure to have the room cleared.” She gave Gregg a little push out the door. “If you get a pass from your teacher, then you could stay but I’ll let you in when she’s ready.”

Gregg nodded his head in understanding and sauntered out of the room. As soon as the room was clear, the nurse closed the partition and tried to wipe up the blood on Miranda’s nose. She squinted when she noticed that it was crusting around her nose and that Miranda was feeling discomfort even though she was unconscious.

As soon as the blood was gone, she splashed some water onto Miranda’s face and did other things to help the nose. She quietly sat down at her desk and waited for a knock on the door. After ten minutes, she opened the door and found Gregg sitting by the door.

“She’s ready.”

Gregg flung the note at the nurse and strolled into the room. When he took notice of Miranda, he sat on the floor beside her and took her hand. Even though they weren’t dating, he had the brotherly instinct to go and find a nurse. Since she wasn’t that heavy, he picked her up and tried to run to the nurse’s office.

He got stares from neighboring classmates but he didn’t care, he wanted to get Miranda to the nurse’s office. He smiled at the thought of her yelling at him only twenty minutes before. It seemed petty when you weren’t sure if the person you were arguing with was going to be okay.

“Gregg, don’t worry yourself. It’s not broken and there wasn’t any severe blood loss.” She smiled at him and gave him a lollipop. “It’ll calm your nerves. The only reason she probably fainted was because she doesn’t like blood.”

“Yeah.”

“And next time, leave her on the ground. If she would’ve hurt something else, you could’ve injured her even more.” Gregg gave a distant look to the nurse and she just laughed.

Gregg waited in silence for a while but snapped to attention when Miranda started rolling around in her bed. As soon as she opened her eyes, she looked at Gregg and smiled at him. She squeezed his hand once and tried to sit up but sat back down when it hurt her nose.

“Thanks.”

“Sweetie, you might want to take these every two hours to get rid of the pain in your nose.” She handed Miranda a pill and some water. Miranda swallowed the pill after a couple attempts and sat up with the nurse’s assistance. “You’ll be fine.”

Miranda instantly looked at Gregg and he let go of her hand for a moment. When he stood up, he helped her up and they walked out. As soon as Miranda was good with walking, he let go. Instantly, Miranda resisted it and flung his hand over her shoulder again.

“Was it you, then?” she asked. Gregg nodded his head silently. “Thanks.”

“Listen, I know you want nothing to do with me but I still want to remain friends.”

“Actually, if the offer’s still open, I’d like to be your girlfriend.”

“Always.”

Gregg and Miranda both smiled at each other and stood toe-to-toe. They kissed the next moment and didn’t listen when the bell rang.