Short Stories

Best Friend

      The clock seemed too slow as I thought of her. I knew what she would say… “I don’t want to mess up our friendship in any way possible”, were always Gwendolyn’s words whenever I brought that conversation up. Gwen was my crush since we were kids but she always only looked at me as a best friend and a brother. I’ve tried to make a move so many times and she would always shoot me down. Her parents knew they also loved me. I hated all of her boyfriends. She would tell me to be nice but I couldn’t, only because I liked her so much. I didn’t want to see anyone else with her. I was that selfish. I was her shoulder to cry on and her diary. One night, she cried in my chest because she felt like she would never find the perfect boyfriend. Besides myself, I knew the perfect guy, my cousin Larry. He had everything Gwen wanted in a guy.  I set them up. I hated myself for it but I just wanted the best for my best friend. She’s a great girl and she definitely deserved to be treated like a queen.  She would invite me to go out with them and I would decline it because I hate third wheeling. I thought about finding a hobby because I needed something to do while my best friend was busy with her boyfriend.  I decided to start playing basketball. After school, I decided to ask the coach if I could join the team. He told me I can as long as I do what I gotta do and stay focused.  Everyday I would go to practice after school. We had a game coming up so the coach had us practicing really hard. I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, I took it out and looked to see who it was. It was Gwen. “Hello”, I picked up. “Hey bestie, how are you?”, she asked me, sounding so excited. “I’m okay, exhausted and in pain. How are you?”, I asked her. I’m good. So what are you doing next Sunday?”, she asked. I had a feeling that I knew where this conversation was going. “I’m not sure yet. Why wassup?”, I asked. “Well Larry and I are throwing a little get together/dinner just because. We only want our close friends to be there, that’s why I’m telling you”, she said to me. Oh no, definitely not. “Umm, I don’t know. I’ll let you know”, I told her. I definitely have to make plans for that night. “Okay no problem”, she responded. “I’ll text you when I get home”, I said. “K. Get home safe”, she said to me. When I got home, I texted her to let her know that I was home. Then I got a text from Erin, one of the pretty cheerleaders in our school. I was shocked. How did she get my number? Why is she texting me? Is this a prank? I didn’t trust this at all. The text read, “Hey Marcus”. I was a bit hesitant to text her back but I decided to anyway. I want to see how far this will go. “Hi Erin”,I replied back. “What are you doing?”,she asked. “I just got home from practice, about to hop in the shower”, I replied back. “Oh okay, what are you doing this weekend?”, she asked. “I don’t know, probably nothing. Why wassup?”, I responded. “Maybe Sunday, you wanna come with me to the movies?”, she asked. “Like a date?”, I asked. Erin was another girl that I had my eyes on but she seemed to never notice me since I wasn’t popular. Gwen knew that I liked her too and she honestly wasn’t too fond of her. She didn’t like her, I don’t know why. “I don’t know what you see in her, she’s not even all of that”, she would always say to me. “Um Erin, can I ask a question?”, I text her. “Of course, anything”, she answered. “Well I have more than one. How did you get my number? What made you reach and actually speak to me?”, I asked. “Well, I actually got it from the office and I told them that it was an emergency. As far as reaching out, I did  because I wanted to talk to you and get to know you. I know I never spoke to you but why not change it? You seem like a cool person to talk to”, she said to me. “Okay no problem. Thanks for the invite. By the way you could have just asked me for it, I would have given it to you. See you Sunday”, I told her. I definitely couldn’t wait. The next few days went by extra quickly. My game was Saturday and before then Erin and I were together all of the time. She would come over and we would laugh, talk, study, etc. I didn’t always have time to hang out or talk to Gwen since Erin and basketball took up most of my time. We only had short conversations. Sunday finally came and my date with Erin was later. I don’t know how I was going to tell Erin that I wasn’t going to make it to her dinner. I know she’s going to be mad if I don’t show but it is what it is. I guess I’ll deal with her later. Erin called me to let me know that she was on her way. I continued getting ready then a few minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring. I went to open the door and I saw that it was Erin. She was so gorgeous and smelled amazing. She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. God definitely looked out for me. “Can I have a tour of your house?'' she asked me. “Um, sure”, I responded. I showed her each room in my house including the kitchen, the basement and my room. She only knew the livingroom. Once I finished, I asked her, “You ready to go now?”. “Umm I changed my mind, I want to stay here  and watch a movie instead. We can order food too. I’m sorry, your house is really nice”, she said to me. Um okay, that was unexpected. “Sure, we could do that instead”, I said back. She got comfortable and ordered Domino’s. While she did that, I got us both some drinks from the kitchen then looked for a movie. We watched the movie & as we were watching the movie , every 10-15 minutes, her phone would ring. She would go into the kitchen and whisper to whomever was calling her. “Sorry”, would be what she said when she finished her call. 30 minutes went by and her phone started ringing again. She ran into the kitchen and answered it. “OMG, but Brad, you left me for her. What was I supposed to do? We’re just friends, that’s it. I wasn’t going to date him. Fine. I’m on my way”, was what I heard from her. I knew this was too good to be true. “I’m sorry. I gotta go”, she said to me. She hugged me and left. As soon as she left, my phone buzzed. When I looked to see who it was, I saw that it was Gwen. “Thanks for coming”, her text read. I tried to call but her phone went straight to voicemail. I text her “911”. Hopefully she responded or just came to my rescue. In less than 10 minutes, I heard keys. It was my best friend. She came to me and just embraced me. “I'm still mad at you but what happened? What’s going on?”, she asked me. “Well, she came over and we were about to go out but she asked for a tour. After the tour, she wanted to stay here and watch a movie. She ordered. During the movie, her phone kept ringing. I heard arguing  then she left me”, I told Gwen. “I’m so sorry, best friend. You definitely deserve better”, she said to me. She hugged me again. “If it helps, my dinner wasn’t exactly how I wanted it. I’m not sure if it was the restaurant or the vibe itself, but everything just felt weird”, she said. “I guess I didn’t miss much then. I’m still sorry I didn’t show though”, I said. “No you didn’t and it’s okay. I don’t hate you”, she told me. We laughed. “Hey, there’s pizza here still. You wanna eat some and watch a movie?”, I asked. “Yeah sure. I’ll pick the movie”, she said. My night didn’t go as planned but the end of it? Definitely needed. 
      The next day came and both me and Gwen were late for school because of us oversleeping. We rushed there, hopefully we didn’t miss much. When I got to my lockers to open it, it was a note from Erin. The note read, “let’s talk after school”. I didn’t have much to say to her but I decided to hear her out. The day flew by and I got annoyed. I knew there was going to be some type of excuse. There she was standing by a tree on her phone. When she saw me walk up, she quickly got off her phone. “Hey”, she said to me. “Wassup Erin? What do you want?”, I asked. “I just want to say that I’m really sorry for last night. I’m actually sorry for not being honest with you”, she said, sounding so apologetic. Before I was able to respond, my phone buzzed. When I looked at my phone, I saw that it was Gwen. I walked away to answer my phone. “Hello?”, I answered. “Hello, where are you?’, she asked. She sounded like she was crying. “I’m by the school. What’s wrong?”, I asked. “I need you, I’m at your house”, she said. “Okay, I’m on my way”, I told her. “I gotta go, sorry”, I told Erin. “Um okay, text me”, she said. I looked at her then made my way home. When I got home, Gwen was blowing her nose in a tissue. “G, what happened?”, I asked while holding her. Larry broke up with me because I caught him cheating on me”, she sniffed. “Wow, I’m sorry G”, I said feeling so bad for her and I held her tighter. “It’s not your fault”, she said to me. “Yes it is. If I didn’t hook you up guys , this wouldn’t have happened”, I said to her. “You were looking out for me, as always. Marcus, it's okay. Also, you’re here for me now so I’m good now and I’ll definitely be okay”, she said to me. “Aww, I love you G”, I said. I pulled her closer and gave her a kiss. Surprisingly, she didn’t push me away or stop me. She kissed me back. Then she stopped me and said, “Umm Marcus, I have to tell you something”. “What is it?”, I asked. I was curious about what she had to tell me. “I’m sorry for not telling you this sooner. I’ve loved you for so long. I’ve looked at you as more than a friend. I know I told you the opposite but it was only because I tried to avoid us both getting hurt. I didn’t want anything to come in between this friendship. I want to be with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you”, she confessed. That caught me completely off guard. I didn’t know what to say at the moment. I hesitated then finally said, “it's okay”. I held her in my arms and we kissed some more. I finally got who I wanted and was indeed very happy….