Please don't pick up, please don't pick up. You never do so why start now? I kept repeating this in my head hoping she wouldn't answer her phone. I didn't want to have to hear her reaction, though I knew it was something I needed to discuss with her. I mean, she never answers her phone anyway.
"Hello?" She answered for once. Of course!
"Hey Casey. It's Tara." I replied, slightly petrified.
"Wazzup?!" She asked apparently oblivious to the hesitance and fear in my voice.
"OK, I have something on my mind and I need to get it off my chest." I took a deep breath. "I think I might like someone and I'm really close to them so I don't want to make it awkward by liking them but they might like me back and I don't know what to do." I said very quickly, without stopping, in one breath. It took a while before she responded.
"Do I know this someone?" She asked me, I could hear the slight smirk in her voice. Uh oh. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for what might come next.
"Yes." I said quietly, almost hoping that she hadn't heard me.
"OH MY WORD!!!!" She screamed into the phone. She knew alright. "You like Joe don't you?!" She said slightly quieter but still loud enough to practically shatter my ear drums.
"How did you figure it out so quickly?" I asked her in complete shock that she'd figured it out.
"Are you kidding me? I figured it out a while ago!" What?
"But I just started liking him about a minute ago." I was so confused.
"Oh please. You've liked him for a while now. Even if you didn't realize it, you did."
"This is a new thing Case."
"No it's not. The way you act around him shows it." I freaked out at those words.
"Oh my word CASEY! DOES HE KNOW?! IS IT THAT OBVIOUS?!"
"No, of course not. Guys can never figure it out. In fact, no one can aside from me with you." She said so confidently. I became so relieved. I let out a breath I had apparently been holding.
"Good. So...what do I do?" I ask, remembering why I called and told her in the first place.
"Nothing. That's all you can do at this point. Neither of you want to date until you're 18 and you're both so stubborn that that's not changing anytime soon." She couldn't have been more accurate. We are both incredibly stubborn. "All I can say is stay one of his best friends. Never stop being his friend. It'll help you get close to him."
"Will this make things awkward?" I asked her. I was so afraid that this would ruin everything.
"Maybe a little. But just go with it chica!"
"OK, I'll do that." I said with a short laugh. "Thanks Case."
"Don't thank me. You'll never hear the end of this." Crap. "I've gotta go chica. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye."
