Not Your Best Friend

Been sittin' on this bench too long.....

Nani

It's been a couple months since that morning in my room. That night we decided to stop the benefits of our friendship and just return to being friends. It was hard, seeing as my feelings had not disappeared. They grew even more during our situation. Tonight we were clubbing, and we were up in a VIP section. I was sitting next to Avan while Jackson sat on the other side with some girl all in his face. As always, he was entertaining her. I roll my eyes and try to focus on something else.

"Someone got the green-eyed monster," Avan says

"What"

"Your jealousy, Nani, it's showing," He says with a smirk.

"What are you talking about," I say

"You know what," Avan says.

"Well, it doesn't matter. He doesn't care," I say

"Don't be so sure about that"

"Oh, I'm sure," I say

"You know you are too much sometimes," he says

"Yea, so you've known me for how many years you knew that"

He shakes his head, and before I can say something, I notice my friend, Taylor, comes up in the VIP, and I'm so happy she's there because if I had to watch Jackson flirt with one more girl, I thought he was a flirt before, but it has gotten worse since we ended our agreement. Sometimes I feel like we can still do it, but you know what? I've been sitting on the sidelines far too long, and if he couldn't commit, then why sell myself short? I deserved better. I waved Taylor over.

"Girl, it is packed in here tonight," she says, sitting on my other side.

"Yea, I know, right? Who's idea was it to come here tonight.

"Nichole's, um, that dude is performing here tonight."

Nichole was another friend of mine I had outside of Jackson and Avan. At some point, I needed to be around other Women Because hanging out with those two can get frustrating.

"Oh yea they have been hanging out a lot, haven't they," Tay says

"Yep, but it's good she said her work relationship with K is better, apparently."

"Oh well, that's good, but I think it's time she told K how she feels. I say

"Nah, she shouldn't," Tay replies.

I turn to her, tilting my head.

"Why?" I ask

"He may just laugh in her face," she said with a sour look on her face.

"Did that happen to you? I ask

"Girl, you don't even want to know," she says

Damn, well, maybe Nichole will get lucky, and she will actually get her man. I thought, even though it didn't work out for Tay or me. Perhaps she shouldn't tell K how she felt. Plus, she and this Dave guy seem to be vibing, so maybe it's best to keep K as a client and friend and move on.

#

Shanise

I was relaxing after a long day at work, and it was pretty late. I knew Neimi was out with this guy she had been talking to. Jay was supposed to be coming over to hang out. We've been hanging out again, and I love it. He knows about my feelings for Chris, he even knew when we were back in high school when I developed feelings for him, and he even tried giving me some advice. I had put a movie in the DVD player and was just waiting for him to show up when Neimi stormed in with not only Jake behind her this time but, for some reason, Chris too.

"I hate both of you. Why the hell did you follow me home" she yells.

Neither guy addresses her; instead, Chris turns to me and says

"Did you know your sister was out with some creep tonight?" He's looking at her but addresses me with his arms crossed. I just shake my head. This was going to be bad, high school all over again. She glares at him, and I can tell she's having difficulty reigning in her anger.

"First of all, he wasn't a creep," Nei said before turning to me,

"do you know what they did tonight? They ruined my date. Your bestie over here even threatened to kick his ass if he ever sees him around me again."

Before I could even reply, Jake started addressing Nei.

"Really, Nei? He was groping you, and you told him that made you uncomfortable, and he still kept doing it, so, of course, we were going to interfere," Jake said

"Why the hell do you care? You slept with me knowing you were with someone else, so mind your own business next time, and don't worry about who's touching me."

"You did what."

"You are my business."

Chris and Jake say simultaneously. Neimi rolls her eyes and addresses Jake first.

"No, I'm not. I'm tired of sitting on the sideline for you, so I'm going to live my life and you, "she says, pointing at Chris.

"you are not my father, brother, or protector, so you need to stay out of my business as well; I am not Nise. I'm not in love with you, so I'm not gonna let you ruin every possible relationship. I might have. Just because you're so dumb that you can't see her feelings for you, so next time, just stay out of it, asshole."

She pushes Chris and storms into her room, and Jake is behind her. They are screaming well, she is, and I want to be mad at her because I can't believe she just told Chris about my feelings. I don't care how angry she was. She should have kept that to herself. If she wasn't already upset and arguing with someone else, I would go and give her a piece of my mind. Now, the two of us are left standing there in the living room, silent. He stares at me before breaking the silence.

"Is that true?" He asks

"Is what true?" I say

"What Nei said about you being in love with me."

I look away from him, not ready or prepared for this conversation at all. I had two choices: I could get off the bench and admit my feelings and see how he felt, or lie and keep our relationship exactly how it was. I decided I was done sitting on the bench. I avoid looking him in the eye.

"Yes, it is," I say, finally.

I waited for him to say something, and I noticed it had also gotten quiet in my sister's room. Now I was wondering what was going on in there when I felt his lips on mine. It took a while for me to respond, but once I did. I heard something drop, and we broke the kiss and turned to see Jay standing there.

"I can see you're busy, so I'll talk to you later."

Before I responded, he turned and left and was gone. Chris looked from me to the door before kissing me again, saying we would talk later, and running out the door. I close my front door, wondering what the hell just happened. Now I'm standing in my living room dumbfounded, debating if I should check on my sister or freak out that Chris, My best friend, had just kissed me.