Played By My Best Friend

Chapter 6

Half a year after his break up with Hannah, he got together with Lucy.

Lucy was a bit different compared to Hannah. She was sweet and steady whereas Hannah was bold and daring. Both of them are outgoing and has always been kind to me.

After his break up with Hannah, something shifted within Alex. He changed in a way that I can't begin to describe. I can't put my finger on it but I guess it was normal for someone whose first love came to an end in such a brief and abrupt way.

One of the things that changed since his break up with Hannah was how we've started to talk in person. He had to explain to Hannah who he was talking to so much on the phone and why he was so close to me to avoid misunderstandings. I guess people started finding out from that point onwards.

Alex and I were able to communicate more face-to-face than we previously have and we only used our made up sign languages when we're out of earshot to avoid shouting.

I can't say that there hasn't been misunderstandings, assumptions made by people who didn't know better about our friendship and saw how we interacted with each other. I would ask him for money when I forgot to bring any and he'd simply toss me his wallet.

We'd tease each other more openly and I guess that have also been adding fuel to the fire.

So I wasn't exactly shocked to hear about the rumors that has been circulating around us. They were the exact same thing Beth suspected when she first noticed how close Alex and I were.

When he got together with Lucy, I made sure to keep my distance respectfully even though Lucy didn't seem to mind our friendship. I didn't want to give anyone reason to gossip about us.

Still, he was my best friend, possibly the closest person to me. Someone who knows me best and I him.

"Wonder what you're smiling at?" I teased from across the basketball court as I watched him raise his head to look at me.

Alex was sitting on the spectator's bench, typing away on his phone with the goofiest smile on his face. Anyone could probably make out that he was in love.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He denied despite his embarrassed laugh.

"Right.." I played along, giving him a knowing look.

Alex laughed, shaking his head. "How'd you know who I was texting?"

I snorted, "Like your huge ass grin wasn't a dead giveaway? I have eyes too, you know."

"Alright, alright, Ms. Sassy." He surrendered, going back to typing on his phone.

You'd think that judging from his smile, he was drunk in love. So you could probably imagine the shock written on my face a week later when he broke the news to me that he was planning to break up with Lucy.

We were sitting around in the waiting lounge, waiting for our turn to get on stage and perform our Christmas dance.

I caught Alex's eyes from where I sat in the back of the room. My eyebrows shot upwards when I saw him motioning for me to come to him.

"What?" I mouthed, already getting up from the floor to walk towards him.

I sat down next to him and he signaled for me to lean closer.

"I'm planning to break up with Lucy." He whispered.

My head reeled back so quick that I could feel a muscle in my neck getting strained.

"What?" I accidentally sputtered loudly.