"FINE" LIES

More Than Friends

Wednesday, October 29

When I walked into class, I saw Andy sitting with his head down on his desk. His right leg was jerking up and down.When I sat down at my desk, Andy lifted his head to look at me. His eyes were red and bags were under his eyes.

"You look awful," I said.

"I can't say sleep has been easy," Andy mumbled.

"Andy, you-"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Andy looked me in my eyes. "Why do you care? As long as we've know each other, you have never shown that you cared about me. You barely liked the fact that I was around. But now all of a sudden you care, because I'm not doing well. The whole time I knew you, I wasn't doing okay. But now that I'm showing it, you care." Tears poured from his eyes. "Why?"

"Andy-"

Before I said anything else, he left the class, wiping tears as he went.

The only person who truly knew me and understood me wanted nothing to do with me.  I had to fix this, today. I hated knowing that Andy feels like this towards me now. I needed him back.

At lunch, I watched Andy from my table. He had his head down and he barely moved.

"Andy doesn't look too good," Hannah said.

Everyone at the table looked over at him.

"He doesn't,"Maia said.

Scarlett looked at me. "Do you know what's wrong?"

I slightly shook my head, not wanting to tell the truth.

"Maybe I should talk to him," Hannah said.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I mumbled.

Hannah scoffed. "Like you know anything."

I looked at her with a frown. "Then go over there and see if he says at least two words to you."

"Fine." Hannah got up and left the table. She sat in front of Andy. Andy didn't lift his head or move. It wasn't long before Hannah came back. Hannah sat back down and just frowned.

"Told you," I mumbled.

During Science, Andy was still acting the same. Kaiden could tell that I was distracted by Andy.

"Do you know how you'll fix it?" Kaiden asked.

"No, not really," I said.

"When are you going to talk to him about it?"

"Hopefully, today."

Kaiden hesitated before he spoke up. "You should get him something. It might cheer him up."

That gave me an idea.

After school, when I got home, I went to the kitchen to see my dad.

"Hey, dad," I said.

He looked up from his newspaper. "Hello, Danielle."

"Can you take me somewhere?"

"Where?"

"The comic book shop and then Andy's house."

"Are you finally going to talk to him about everything?"

I nodded.

"Then let's go."

When we got to the comic book shop, my dad and I looked around for something to get Andy. A short man with grayish hair came over to us. "Need any help?" he asked.

I looked at him. "I was looking for something for Andy."

"Colorful Andy?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Well, he has been looking to get the Spider-Man comic with Venom."

"He's mentioned that."

"Should I get that for you?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

My dad paid for it and we got back in the car. On the way to Andy's house, I was freaking out. What if he didn't want to see me? What if he didn't accept the gift? What if nothing between us changed?

My dad placed his hand on top of mine. "It'll be all right."

"I hope."

When we got to Andy's house, I took a deep breath.

"Call, when you want me to get you," my dad said.

"Okay." I got out the car, comic in hand. I knocked on the front door.

"Danielle!" Andy's mom cried. "It's so good  to see you."

"It's good to see you, too."

"Andy's up in his room."

"Okay, thank you." I walked inside and upstairs. I stood in front of Andy's door and took a breath. When I got enough courage, I knocked on the door.

Andy slightly opened the door. "What do you want?"

I slipped the comic through the door into his hands. "Happy late Birthday."

He looked down at the comic. He opened the door. "Come in."

I walked in and sat down on his bed.
Andy closed the door. He placed the comic on top of his bookshelf.

"I...I...what I did to you is not something that should be taken lightly," I said. "I treated you terrible, even though you were the only person who really cared about me. You actually knew what was happening to me. And you could relate to me. But all I did was push you away. I was stupid. And a terrible friend to you. I understand if you never want to speak to me again after this, but you deserve an explanation from me."

Andy didn't say anything. I looked at him and he started at me with his intense blue eyes.

"Why'd you do it?" Andy asked. His voice sounded rough and hoarse.

"Do what?"

"Why did you push me away?"

I hesitated. "I was afraid...I was afraid of falling for you. I was afraid to admit that I liked you. I didn't want you to hurt me. I've seen people fall for someone in the beginning, but then not want them anymore. I was afraid of that happening to me, so I just pushed you away."

"If that's the case, why'd you go with Kaiden? Why did you start a relationship with him?"

"I didn't want to hurt his feelings. And I didn't feel like a lot between us would change. It was one of those weird things where you'd feel okay if you got together with them. And you'd feel okay if you didn't."

Andy came over to me and sat next to me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you cut. Why did you always lie to me?"

"I didn't want you to find out and look at me differently. I didn't want you to act the way that Kaiden did. I didn't want to lose you."

Andy took my hand. "You'll never lose me. No matter what our status is, I'll be there for you. I know how bad it gets and I know how it feels. I'd never leave someone who's felt like cutting is the way to go."

"Did you cut again?"

Andy shook his head. "Every time I wanted to, I listened to your voice mail."

I cringed. "You actually listened to that."

Andy smiled. "Yeah. It made me feel better to just hear your voice."

I smiled. "With you being sweet like that, I don't know if we can keep being just friends."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to be more. I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want to be with you, Andy."

Andy smiled. "That's all I ever wanted."