Game of Love

Chapter Nine - Just Friends

Emily's POV

My suitemates and I gathered around the table, staring at Kaitlyn in shock. "Kaitlyn, if you knew he might be into you, why would you agree to hang out with him?" I asked.

"I don't know. I thought he meant hang out, not hang out!" Kaitlyn exclaimed. "Crap, what am I going to do?!"

"I think the easiest thing at this point would be to just marry the guy," Zack said.

"Zack!" Chris exclaimed.

"Seriously not helping," Abbie said.

"Guys, back to me. What do I do?" Kaitlyn asked.

"It's simple. Just tell Arjun you're into me," I said. "Plain and simple."

"We've talked about this before. Emily... You know I would if I could it's just... not the right time. Besides, Arjun's so sweet, and I've known him forever! I just... don't want to hurt his feelings."

"Sorry, Kaitlyn, but unless you go with Zack's idea, there's really no way to avoid it," Abbie said.

"Ugh! I am so screwed."

"Well, hey, maybe not!" Tyler exclaimed.

"Maybe not?"

"Arjun asked you to hang out, but he didn't specify where or with how many other people."

"That's a great idea! Me and Tyler were gonna go ice skating tomorrow, but we can put it off," Abbie said.

"Tyler, you genius! I could totally kiss you right now," Kaitlyn said.

"But don't. Definitely don't do that."

"Brandon was going to come over, but I'll tell him to meet up with us instead," Zack said.

"I'm free!" I exclaimed.

"Sounds like roommate bonding day to me. I'm in," Chris said.

"Aw, you guys are the best suitemates a girl could ask for. Get over here," Kaitlyn said. Kaitlyn threw her arms out and scooped us all into a group hug. "Now, let's talk evasion tactics for Operation Let's Lie to Arjun."

"Can we call it something else?" Zack asked.

"Isn't this more about you coming out to Arjun and not avoiding telling your family forever?" Abbie asked.

"Alright, alright, fine. What about... Operation Just Friends?" Kaitlyn asked.

"That has a nice ring to it," I said.

Everybody nodded in agreement. "Okay, it's settled. Operation Just Friends commences at 7:00."

"PM? That's definitely a date. That should have been your first clue," Chris said.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm oblivious to typical dating cues."

"It doesn't matter. We've got a lot of planning to do. Let's get rolling!" I exclaimed.

******

My suitemates and I stood outside Schmidt's Bar and Grill in downtown Hartfeld. "You guys, I don't think I can do this," Kaitlyn said. "Seriously, what if Arjun really is into me? How am I going to turn him down?"

"Kaitlyn, everything's going to be fine. This is why we came up with this whole plan," Chris said.

"And we'll be there for you every step of the way," I said.

Kaitlyn took a deep breath and then smiled. "Okay, coming out to Arjun. It's just Arjun. I can totally do this," Kaitlyn said.

I looped one of my arms through Kaitlyn's, then gestured for Abbie to take the other. "Let's do this thing," Abbie said.