The Art of Balancing » work in progress

CH. 10 : "I could easily settle for a gift card."

"Are we seriously going to let him off the hook?" I ask, watching Landon dig through his freezer while I sit on his counter top. "I mean.. It was all part of the deal. He lost, and therefor, he should confess his undying and perverted love for Darcy. It could be a good birthday present for you too!"

"I don't know if watching my already emotionally unstable best friend get seriously rejected and chronically embarrassed is an awesome present." Landon laughs while shuffling some frozen dinners around. "I could easily settle for a gift card. Having him watch Wes get it on with her might be enough."

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow suspiciously. "He's that upset over it?"

"He'd never admit it," he sighs, "but I can tell. He's been in love with Darcy Reynolds since the 1st grade and everybody knows it. She's always been off limits to all of Radley because of it, and Wes has been friends with Graham since pre-k, so... It's just a shitty situation for him, you know?"

"I wish I had a friend like you." I mumble. "The way you talk about him is so sweet."

At this, Landon smiles. For a second I think he might add something like, "NO HOMO!", but he doesn't. And while Landon can be a total meathead, I have to be honest: he's also a giant teddy bear sometimes, too.

"Violet, you can have a friend like me." He winks and I groan. "You know deep down you're friends with both Graham and I. Why else would I be spending my birthday searching for a bag of frozen peas when there's a room full of wasted girls out there?"

"You're too kind. Truly." I roll my eyes as he tosses me the promised bag. I lift my leg onto the counter and place the peas under it. "Remember my first day when you were all... What did you say?"

He smirks. "I think it was something like, '10 out of 10, would bang,'. I was just being honest." He says and I can't tell if he's teasing me or not, but I still pretend to gag. "And you called me an illiterate douche face, I think."

"Wad." I shake my head.

"Wad?"

"I called you an illiterate douche wad." I say. "I remember because it was right after Mr. Swinley put us all in a group and I was pissed."

"Right." He laughs, leaning onto the stove behind him. I see his eyes trail down to where I've placed the peas and he tilts his head. "What exactly did you do to your leg?"

"Long story." I mutter, blowing a puff of air to get the stray wisps of hair out of my face. Time for a change of topic. "Back to the Darcy thing. Hypothetically speaking, do you think he'd be mad if I said something like 'is it weird now that Wesley and Darcy are hooking up?' because I might have said something along those lines." 

"Well, was your tone classic, sarcastic, verging on rude, or were you actually being sincere?"

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to." I say quietly. Landon snorts. "I was kind of pissy so it sort of spilled out, and he didn't say anything from when Wesley picked us up until now, so.."

A sly grin grows on his face, and he almost whispers, "Violet, do you actually care if you hurt Graham's feelings?" He gasps. "It's almost as if you're.. wait for it.. friends."

"We're not. I just don't want to deal with a grumpy Graham Bryant." I retort. "I still wanna see him tell Darcy all about his vivid and sexual dream with her that he loved soooo mu--"

"What the hell?!"

My head involuntarily whips around to see who owns the voice that just interrupted me. Standing in the doorway is some tall, skinny, brunette. She has flawless skin and highlighted hair; she looks like a straight up model. How unfair.