More Than Friends

Nine

Even with the radio on in his car, things seemed too quiet. There was no way I could find the courage to speak, constantly shifting around in Connor's passenger seat, unable to relax in this car ride home. All I wanted to do was explain what had happened between Aiden and me, but bringing it up didn't seem like the best thing to do at the moment. Then Connor noticed I wasn't going to be the first to talk and went ahead and did it himself.

"So..." He began to ask me. "How'd you like the party?"

Now there was no escaping it and had to open my mouth to respond.

"Oh, it was... fun?" I responded, not being completely honest. "Like I said earlier though, I've never really been to a party like that one before, so I really have nothing to compare it to."

"Right, well I'm glad you had... fun? How about next time we do something you want to do?" He asked me, actually suggesting we hang out again.

"Uh... yeah, sure. Maybe we could just go watch a movie or something and catch up some more." I suggested, trying not to ruin the second chance I had to fix the mess I'd made tonight.

"Then it's settled. Next time, we'll watch a movie, at my house," he replied, going back to his usual self. "Just make sure not to bring up any more old, embarrassing stories about me, or I'll just have to bring up some of yours."

"Go ahead," I taunted him. "You've got nothing on me."

"Damn it, you're right." He laughed. "I can't believe you almost brought up the whole Martha thing. Why would you do that? Do you hate me or something?"

I definitely didn't hate him, I was at least sure of that. It was funny to think that an old story like that could make Connor overreact the way he had earlier. Was it really that embarrassing for him? Granted, he had publicly humiliated himself back in sixth grade by crying when Martha had rejected to go to the school dance with him, but look at where he was now. Lucky for him, he moved the year after that and spared himself all the bullying that followed his slipup.

"Whatever happened to Martha, anyways?"

"Oh you dodged a bullet there, believe me." I responded. "She got really ugly, and by sophomore year, got really fat."

"Well, what's wrong with that?" He asked, winking back at me and smiling. "I seem to recall that a certain someone wasn't always as skinny as he is today."

"Ugh, don't remind me, and don't change the subject." That was better left in the past. "I don't see why the whole thing with Martha would be so embarrassing for you. You seem to be able to talk to girls pretty easily now. Hey, you've even got a girlfriend, don't you?"

Shit!Why did that have to slip out of my mouth?

"Girlfriend? Who?"

That bit seemed a total surprise to him.

"Uh, Samantha?"

"You think that she's my..." Connor began laughing out loud right in front of me.

"What's so funny?" I asked, counting in my head how many times I had felt stupid tonight, so far.

"Samantha's not my girlfriend," he explained, giving me such a relief to hear it from his own mouth. "She likes me and all, and she's sort of my friend and all, but... it's not like that. Where did you ever get the idea that she was my girlfriend? Oh, wait. Did she tell you that herself?"

I nodded and he busted out laughing again. Humiliating as it was, knowing the truth made it okay for me.

"You haven't changed a bit Ben."

"You're right, I haven't." I admitted, a bit too honestly.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean... I haven't changed much since you left, not like you have at least. It seems like I practically stayed the same old loser I've pretty much always been."

"You're not a loser." Connor reassured me, looking back at me with a warm smile on his face. "I never thought you were a loser."

This time he noticed me blushing before I did and started laughing again. I couldn't look at him in the face all of a sudden, unable to stop smiling.