Mixed Emotions

Chapter 4: YOU DID WHAT?!

I took a deep breath to mentally prepare myself before opening the door.

"Hey," I said, spreading a fake smile across my face.

"Hey," Alexis invited herself into my house and sat on the carpet, her back propped up against the couch.

"So what's up?" I bit my lip and sat down slowly. I knew the answer to that question already.

"Nothing. Just checking to make sure you're okay."

I felt my cheeks redden and I pretended to turn around and look for something.

"Ya, I'm fine."

Alexis was silent for a moment, debating on what to say.

"No."

I let out an awkward nervous laugh. "What do you mean 'no?'"

"I mean, no. You're lying. Something's up. And I will figure it out."

Crap. Do I actually have to tell her? No. No, I don't. Pick a random excuse. Come on Gracen!

"I'm dating Brian," I blurted. *Mental facepalm* Wow. Good job, idiot. Now look what you got yourself into.

Brian is our best guy friend. We can tell him anything and he can tell us anything. He would never date any of us; it's like Carly, Sam, and Freddy from iCarly. Carly and Sam dated Freddy and sure, they looked pretty damn cute together, but did it ever last? No. That's how it is with Brian.

I watched Alexis's jaw drop. Her blank expression made me uncomfortable and I started to wish I hadn't said that.

"Brian?" Alexis tried to set it straight in her mind. "Really? Why?"

No! Why the heck did she ask another question? At least this couldn't get any worse.

"He's really cute, okay?" I said in a defensive tone. I felt the heat on my face from all the lies I was telling.

~

After Alexis finally left, I dialed Brian's number in my phone.

"What's up, kiddo?"

"Ya, from now on you can't call me kiddo," I said.

"Uh...what? I've always called you that," Brian's voice twisted into a confused tone.

"Welllll, I kinda sorta maybe told Alexis we were dating," I said in a small voice.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry I can explain. No, I can't explain. Please just go with it."

"This better be important."

I kind of felt bad for dumping this on Brian.

"I promise it is. Thanks," I replied quickly before immediately hanging up and collapsing onto the floor.

~

I sat up and groaned. The thought of "Tuesday" in my head was enough to make me nauseated.

The whole time I was getting ready, I was cringing. There was nothing else like the feeling of school. But the feeling of school and guilt mixed up in a tiny imaginary blender in your head is something no one should ever have to experience.

I walked out into the crisp morning air. The silence of my street was interrupted by the sound of my converse flopping on the cement. I stepped into my gross, old little car and took a deep breath.

"It'll be okay. Hang in there girly," I muttered to my nervous face in the rear view mirror.

I jammed the keys into the ignition and buzzed off to school.

-

"Hey guys!" I said happily, hiding the screams in the pit of my stomach.

"Hi, Gracen," Olivia replied casually.

Our whole group was uncomfortably staring at me, waiting for an explanation or who knows what. And then, just to my luck, Brian showed up. He stood next to me, and actually did a pretty decent job at being my fake boyfriend.

Brian stood next to me and held my hand, lacing our fingers together. We were both extremely uncomfortable, but we kept up our act.

I looked up from Brian's face and my face turned 20,000 shades of red. I choked out a small noise as I saw the hurt face looking into mine.