I'm in Love with my best friend

🔸Twenty-five🔹

That was until I remembered Meng's offer and that she'd told me she was still waiting on that phone call. I guess now was probably the best time to do that, since me and that wanker were on a break and I needed a little of distraction.

It took me another thirty-odd minutes to decide whether I wanted to meet up with Meng, but eventually I sent the text, and now here we were, wandering through the streets with hot chocolates in hand.

We'd spent the past hour in a cafe sharing chips, but now we were heading down towards a local park, where we could sit at a bench and finish our drinks.

We didn't talk for a few moments and it was a little awkward, if I was honest. I took a sip of my hot chocolate, letting my eyes wander around the park, from the tall trees that towered around the outline to the wide space of grass that we were facing.

So how come you were so bored you had no other option than to call me?' Her words were playful, but obviously fishing for some sort of reassurance that I wanted to be here with her.

I almost replied with my boyfriend being a piece of shit, but stopped myself and said, "Trust me, you weren't a last resort, Meng." I smiled at her through the lie, tossing my empty hot chocolate cup in the bin beside me. My apologies for not calling you sooner. But I've been a little busy.

She smiled, looking down at her hands, which were entwined around her cup, her thumbs gently moving over the polystyrene. I'm glad you called. We should do this again sometime.

"Oh, yeah." It surprised me at how well I faked my enthusiasm for the idea. She was a splendid girl, sure, but she wasn't... I thought long and hard about this, but she wasn't Zhan. And that's all that mattered, really. This would have been a thousand times better if I were with Zhan.

Meng nudged my thigh with her knee. I looked over at her to find a small smile playing on her lips. The beanie she was wearing made her face look small and thin, and it matched the color of her eyes. She looked mahogany in the orange glow of the streetlights. She was all snuggled up in her long winter coat that was tied at the waist. It all made her look very delicate, which was misleading because delicate was something she most definitely wasn't.

"I should probably get home," she breathed.

Walk me back?' I nodded. I stood up and offered her my hand to help her to her feet. She was wearing very tall heels, and throughout the evening she'd been a little wobbly on her feet. She linked her arm through mine to use me for support as she walked.

I didn't really mind, although it was a hint that this meetup meant a little more to her than it did to me. She huddled up against my side as we sauntered back to her house. We talked back and forth about school and the future. A bit of banter went on until we reached her house, and then her hand slid down my arm to link with my fingers as she pulled away.

"Thank you for tonight. I had a really pleasant time. " She smiled, and I returned it. I didn't really see what was so remarkable about it. All we did was talk and eat chips. She crowded in close again and leaned in to give me a gentle, chaste kiss on the lips. I closed my eyes as she did, and when I reopened them, I was greeted with a very prominent blush glowing on each of Meng's cheeks. I probably shouldn't have given her so many compliments tonight or something.

Shit, who was I kidding? I came out intending to flirt to get Zhan out of my head and figure out what the fuck I really wanted. It didn't seem to be Meng. I felt guilty for saying that after what had just happened. I never wanted to endure the wrath of Meng. She could be pretty terrifying when she was pissed off. I was definitely going to regret this when it finally came to the time when I had to tell her I wasn't interested.