Mars? Yeah Right!

Chapter 8

8

I swallowed hard and did my best to fight the incredible urge to puke at what Kevin had just said. Why the hell did these things always happen to me?! I mean what was I supposed to say now? Oops, no sorry I'd still never go out with you in a million years, see ya!

Yeah, that'd go down well.

I ran a hand through my hair and frantically combed my now rapidly melting brain for something halfway decent to say. Eventually I sighed and just blurted out the first thing that came into my woefully empty head. "Er.....well I kinda sorta maybe....meant that part?"

This apparently had not been a good thing to say, as it caused my old friend uncomfortable silence to return with a vengeance.

It was at this inconveniant point in the proceedings that Jules wandered in, still grinning like he'd just found out he'd won the lottery or something. He'd always been an oddly smiley person.

And of course he'd always been the type go and stick his foot in it, which he promptly did.

"Ah this is sweet isn't it? The two childhood friends having a nice little chat together! You guys always were great friends weren't ye? And you know what? I hope that never changes because it's a lovely thing to have." 

I think it was at this point that my soul died and ran away.

I stood up quickly, an excuse to disappear having finally filtered its way through my brain. "Um...I need the bathroom."

Genius right?

Jules nodded and grinned cheerfully at me. "You remember where it is don't you?"

"Yep. I'll be back in a bit."

I walked down the hall and went into the bathroom under the stairs, wondering if I would be able to sneak out the back door without Kevin or Jules noticing. I shook my head.  Probably not. Past experiance had long since proven that neither stealth nor running were really my thing.

I sat down on the toilet lid and put my head in my hands. What the hell was I supposed to do now?! Kevin still liked me, that much was obvious. I hadn't really expected his feelings to evaporate overnight anyway, so this wasn't very surprising. Even so, it did create one hell of a dilemma for me, considering I couldn't return his feelings at all.

I guess that's just further proof of something I've known for a long time: I make a really crap girl.

I mean, any other female with half a brain would've jumped at the chance to go out with someone as good looking as Kevin. But of course I had to be the frigging oddball in the ointment and react the complete opposite of what would be considered the norm in that setting.

In view of that, I guess you could say that the hellhole of a situation I now found myself in was nature's way of screwing me over for being such a heartless dragon-lady.

I glanced at my watch and sighed. I'd been gone for ten full minutes. I would have to go back now or risk Kevin thinking I'd crawled out a window or something. I unlocked the door and staggered down the hall, my legs having turned to jelly the minute I exited the bathroom. My palms were slick with sweat as I walked into the sitting room.

Apparently Jules had vacated the area sometime before my return; Kevin was alone and sitting in the exact same position he'd been in when I left. As I entered, he looked up and caught my eye. My hands started to shake: his expression didn't bode well. 

I dropped into the same chair I had been sitting in before. All the while, Kevin watched me with intense, almost angry eyes. My heart was hammering so loudly in my chest I was sure he could hear it even from where he sat.