The Great Pretenders

Chapter 12

Matt’s POV

“Hey Kel, what are you doing here?” I asked casually as if seeing Kelly at garage practice was common.

“I came with Zoey.” Was the terse reply. “We were at the mall when you called.”

“I thought you were going to the movies with Chris.” Lucy said trying to fix her hair.

“Apparently Matt didn’t want you to be lonely,” Kelly said with her arms folded across her chest. “So where have you two been for the last couple of hours.”

“We were hanging out at my place,” Lucy replied probably without thinking.

Kelly’s eyes narrowed.

I’d seen that look before. It didn’t bode well for me or for Lucy.

Lucy seemed to recognize “It’s not what you think.”

“Really? You didn’t have your hand down Matt’s pants?” Kelly said sarcastically.

Hand down my pants? Oh hey yeah, my zipper was undone. Cool...well no not cool..but...ok focus Matt.

“My hand was not down his pants…”Lucy huffed.

“Not enough time?” Kelly asked

“Ugh,Kelly, seriously, It really wasn’t what you think.” Lucy insisted

“Really? Are you sure Luce? Because what I think is that one of my good friends is screwing around with the guy I’ve like been in love with since I was 10.” She blurted and immediately blushed at her admission.

Lucy looked at me helplessly. Great, I wasn’t any good consoling hysterical females…especially not ones that were admitting feelings for me.

“Lucy, can you give us a few minutes?”

She looked at me curiously but nodded in reply as she moved to the garage.

As soon as she was out of earshot, I gestured for Kelly to join me.

“Do you wanna take a walk?”

She shrugged but moved anxiously to follow as I set off toward the road.. “Ok.”

Neither of us spoke till we reached the end of the driveway.

“I thought you were still mourning Valary? “She asked.

Which brought a huge wave of guilt...Val...it was safe to say that while I was making out with Val, she had not entered my mind. I couldn’t tell off hand whether that was a good thing or a bad thing but my conscience was making me pay for it now.

“Yeah well, you can only hang out in mourning for so long.”I offered.

“So you’re with Lucy now?” she asked pouting a bit.

“No, Yes…well…it’s complicated.” Was all I could muster.

She fussed nervously with the hem of her t-shirt almost as if she was expecting me to say something.

 “Hmm” was all I could muster

“Matt, I don’t want you to date Lucy.” She blurted. And the gloves were off. Kelly was not known for her ability to beat around the bush.

“Kel...”

“No just hear me out.” She demanded “We’ve known each other since we were little. I’m so comfortable with you. You’re one of my best friends. And...I think your…well haven’t you ever thought of me as more than a friend?”

The truth or a lie…the truth or a lie… “Ok yeah, sure I have. But...but you’re like my sister. My mind just refuses to go there. Not to mention…Jimmy would kill me.”

But maybe it could, the thought began. Why not? She was right. She knew me well. She understood my personality. She’s never ask me to change. Maybe it could be perfect.

I was still thinking this over when she leaned over and kissed me. I didn’t pull away, I couldn’t hurt her feelings. And it wasn’t that bad, it was sweet and soft, but…there was nothing there. No chemistry. No tingles. No passion. Nothing. Zip. Zilch.

Great. This was not going to end well.

Kelly’s POV

Oh my God…that was horrible.

I’d spent all my adolescent and teenage years dreaming of the day, I’d kiss Matt. And I had and it was…horrible.

Ok so maybe horrible was an exaggeration. It wasn’t bad. It was...pleasant. Pleasant…that’s not the way you should describe a kiss you’ve been waiting for all your life, right? I mean seriously, it was nice. Matt has fantastically soft lips but...but it wasn’t the heart stopping thrill that I’d always imagined it to be.

“Was that…”I muttered “Oh wow, that was…nice.”

“Nice?” he asked defensively. Typical Matt...bruised ego alert.

“Yes..nice. It was..”I tried to explain “nice.”

His face turned into a frown. “I don’t think anyone has ever told me that kissing me is nice.”

“Well, it just wasn’t…it wasn’t” I started, still not able to place my thoughts in order

“What you expected.” He finished.

“Yes!” I said giving a sigh of relief. “I thought there would be fireworks and flashes…and tingles.”

“I see.” He said.

“You don’t understand...it’s just that..well...it’s just I’ve been waiting for that all my life and I felt nothing. Not a single thing.”

“Ok.” He responded with some relief in his expression. “Wait, nothing?”

“Well, no, I mean that was just terrible. Passionless. Devoid of anything. Just ickiness and weird creepy incestual feelings.”

“Ok I get the picture.” He added.

“I imagine that if I ever kissed Jimmy..that’s what it would feel like. Not that I’ve ever imagined kissing Jimmy. That would be just grosser than kissing you.”

“Kelly, shut up.” He said grumpily.