If I Didn't

25 - Mitch

Scott barely had anything to say to me before Jake arrived. I tried to make simple conversation when I asked him questions like, 'how was your workout?' And, 'do you know what video we should film?' But he only answered with short sentences like, 'yeah,' and 'good,' and even sometimes, he'd only shrug.

Eventually, I stopped trying. Scott had man periods, I guessed.

When Jake knocked on the door, I actually felt a small tang of relief. It was an excuse to leave the room where tension grew. But tension was sort of good, right? Why else would Scott be mad if I brought a boy home?

When I opened the door, I did my best to smile really wide.

Jake wore tight jeans and a plain grey t-shirt. His hair was gelled back. His face was clear and his eyes were shiny. I grinned at his old friend.

"Jakey!"

We hugged, and Jake took the time to whisper in my ear.

"I'll make it quick. Chris awaits." We stepped away a bit after, and locked eyes to mentally go through our plan in silence.

Scott came to meet us at the door. He looked slightly more alert than he had previously been.

Weird, I thought to myself.

"You must be Scott," Jake stated, holding out a hand for him to shake. Scott took it hesitantly.

"Yep. And you're Jake."

"Uh-huh."

It reminded me of a cowboy movie. You know, the ones where the camera would be close enough to the faces of the men who were about to showdown, and the tumbleweeds would roll in the background? I didn't really know if Scott was just trying to intimidate Jake or if he wasn't try to read his mind or something but whatever it was, it was happening for a very long time. I had to break the silence by clearing my throat.

"Scott. You go set up the camera, okay?" Scott looked over at me, and then he glared at Jake one more time before leaving the room.

"Wow. He's already fuming," Jake mumbled to me as we walked into the kitchen. I sighed, fixing three cups of water up.

"I feel bad."

"Don't," he said simply. When I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, you two do everything together. If there's a chance that he doesn't want to date you, you'll have to date somebody sooner or later. If he did want to date you before this, it'll just make him want you more."

It was crazy how different his and Kirstie's advice was. Two different minds giving me two different sets of information. The devil on one shoulder, the angel on the other.

But I just felt so bad that I was following his advice and not that of my best friend.

"I guess we need to get started...just dial down the fake flirting, okay? He's aware of you. We don't have to go over the top."

But he smirked. "Mitchie. Do you know me? We met at theatre camp. And then I became the owner of it. Being over the top is what I do."

A tinge of fear overtook me. This was wrong. I was about to grab his shoulder and confess that I thought that everything that I had done was a mistake, but Jake had already walked out into the open before I could stop him.

"Dammit," I muttered, before following him out.