The Best Friend

Part 1

"Orange Turtle! Hike!" The quarterback screamed. Their center snapped the ball back to the quarterback. He faked a pass to the right, and launched the ball downfield to one of their wide recievers who sprinted downfield dodging the defense until he got tacked at the 10 yard line. They lined up again and ran the play again.

9 yards. One defensive lineman down.

8 yards.

7 yards. Dodged a tackle.

6 yards.

5 yards. Halfway there.

4 yards.

3 yards. Dead silence.

2 yards.

1 yard.

Touchdown! The crowd erupted into cheers. With only 1.6 seconds left in the game, the Redmond Cougars had won their last season game against their arch rivals, the Ashland Bears. The kicker kicked the extra point and the Bears' offence went on the field and fumbled the ball. The team dumped a bucket of Gatorade of on his head while the rest of the team went and slapped my best friend Dylan on the back, their way of congratulating him on scoring the last touchdown. As the team ran into the locker room, I found my friends Brooklyn and Lilly.

"Alex! Over here!" Brooklyn called and pushed people aside to get to me. Lilly walked behind her trying to keep up.

"Hey. Great game huh?" Brooklyn said once they reached me. She was a very loud person who didn't care what people thought of her. Lilly on the other hand was quieter but was very open and outgoing with us and her boyfriend.

"Yeah it was." I replied and started to talk football to them but stopped knowing I had to save that for Dylan.

"So are you ready for the after-game party?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah, no. I'm going home." I replied.

"Hell no! You're not getting out of this one. I am dragging your ass to this party." Brooklyn said.

After arguing for a few minutes, Brooklyn and Lilly grabbed my hands and pulled me to Brooklyn's car. They stuffed me in the passenger seat and drove to the party. When we got there, Brooklyn and Lilly steered me inside. Brooklyn placed her hands on my shoulders and told me to have fun before taking Lilly and disappearing into the crowd. I walked straight to the bathroom and locked the door. I looked myself up and down. I had a Redmond High School Football tshirt and some denim shorts on with my hair up in a ponytail. So I took my hair out and ran my fingers through it. Not pretty but as good as it was gonna get. I left the bathroom and pushed through all the people and out the door to Brooklyn's car. If I had to be at this party, at least I could stay away from everyone. I put my earbuds in, sat on the hood of the car and watched everyone inside partying, drinking, and dancing. At this point, the football team had arrived and was inside with girls all over them.

After a little while, Dylan came outside and sat next to me. I pulled out my earbuds and glanced up at him before staring down at my lap. Seeing my thighs all flattened out and gigantically fat, my self consciousness washed over me and pulled my thighs into my chest.

"I thought I'd find you out here." He said.

"Well you were right." I replied. After a moment of silence, Dylan spoke again.

"You know, it's not that bad inside." He said.

"Well sorry, but I'm staying right here." Dylan got off of the hood and my heart dropped as he walked back inside. But he came back a moment later, grabbed my hand, and pulled me over to his truck.

"What are you doing?" I asked as we drove away.

"You looked miserable there and I can't let my "little sister" be miserable. So we're gonnna ditch the party and go somewhere else." He explained as we drove.

"Really? You don't have to do this for me. You deserve to go celebrate your win." I protested.

"Nope. I can't have fun if my best friend is miserable. So we're gonna go hang out somewhere else." Dylan drove and a little while later we pulled into the parking lot at King Soopers. We got out and I followed him around as he picked up a box of Mac 'n' Cheese and some ice cream(my favorites). He paid and we went back out to the truck and drove to his house.When we got there, his parents congratulated him and his mom gave him a hug before they went upstairs to bed. Dylan motioned for me to follow him upstairs so I followed him as he walked up to his room. He dug through his drawers and threw me a pair of sweatpants and told me to change into them.He went downstairs and did as I was told and went downstairs. He looked up from what he was doing and commanded me to sit on the counter while he made the Mac 'n' Cheese. After he made Mac 'n' Cheese, he poured it in a giant bowl and walked into the living room with me trailing behind with the ice cream. As I settled on the couch, Dylan turned on a movie, turned off the lights, and settled next to me. We sat together, watched the movie, and shared the Mac 'n' Cheese and ice cream. Before I knew it, I fell asleep with my head rested on Dylan's shoulder.I woke up to find Dylan asleep on the other side of the sectional with his head only inches from mine and a blanket draped over me. I stood up and walked to the kitchen where Mrs. Corum was making breakfast. When she saw me walk in, she turned around with a smile on her face.

"Good morning Alexis. How did you sleep?" She asked as I sat at the bar. Mrs. Corum was one of the few people who called me by my real name. My mom had died years ago in a car accident and Mrs. Corum was like a mother to me.

"Good thank you. But you didn't have to let me spend the night." I yawned.

"Alexis, you're family and you're welcome here anytime. Now how about some breakfast?" She set down a plate with breakfast in front of me. At that moment, Dylan walked in and sat down next to me and threw an arm around me. His hair was a mess and when he spoke, his voice was sleepy. Although they were best friends and hung out all the time, I still loved him and her heart skipped a beat everytime I saw him.

We hung out together for a couple more hours before Dylan drove me home. When we got to my house, I turned to him before going inside.

"Hey, thank you." I said. Dylan gave me a confused look.

"For what?" He asked.

"Everything. You ditched your celebration party to hang out with me and let me sleep over."

"It was nothing. Anytime." He shrugged. I gave him a quick hug and then got out of his truck and went inside. My dad and little brother were watching football and eating burgers on the couch so I said hi to them before going upstairs to shower.

When I got out of the shower, I turned on some music and did homework all the while texting Dylan and Lilly.A little while later, I looked outside to see the sun setting so I threw on a hoodie and took my dog on a walk. As I walked around the neighborhood, I couldn't stop thinking about Dylan. We had met in middle school and had been best friends ever since. I loved Dylan but he had no idea because I was too scared of risking our friendship. He was always there for me and always supported me. In fact, he was the reason I didn't hate herself. This made me extremely happy but on the inside, I still wanted to be with him and it killed me. But I had to hold it in to protect our friendship.