Imaginary Boyfriend

Chapter 19: Realising

Recap:

"Hey Rhys?"

                "Yeah?"

                "I have to go," I said, my eyes drifting towards their clock and then back to him. His eyes were still red from the tears and when he smiled, it looked forced.

                "Oh okay. I'll, uh... see you around some time."

                "Yeah. Take care, Rhys."

                "I will, Katrina."

                I smiled.

                I walked over to the door, waved, and left the room. Just as I was about to shut it, I heard sobbing.

                It was heart-breaking.

                I entered the room again, held out my arms, and gave him my shoulder to cry on.

Chapter 19

                "Hey, you've reached Rhys's mobile. I'm sorry I'm not here at the moment, but leave me a message and I'll get back to you..."

                Cursing under my breath, I hung up.

                It'd been almost three weeks since the funeral, and Rhys still wouldn't answer my calls. Sure, I understood that he was grieving and that he had a lot to cope with, but I wanted to help. But he'd made it pretty clear in school that he wanted nothing to do with me, because whenever I tried to speak to him, he'd avoid me.

                "Kat, just give it a rest," said Sam, slinging a lazy arm around my shoulder. "Why don't we go out, huh? Take your mind off everything?"

                I sighed. "I don't think it'll help."

                "Come on," he coaxed. "You need to give yourself a break."

                I shrugged his arm off me and pulled a face. "Thanks for being concerned but, really, I'm fine."

                When I started to walk away, he caught my upper arm and twirled me around to face him. "Please," he said, giving me the puppy-dog eyes. 

                After one look at his pleading face, I caved. "Alright, alright! I'll come. But whatever it is, you're paying."

                A grin spread across his face and, before I knew what was happening, he picked me up and spun me around in a circle. I shrieked and demanded to be put down but, being Sam, he didn't listen.

                And, to be honest, I didn't even mind.

                "So where are we going?"

**

                "No. No way. Not happening."

                My gaze was fixed on the rollercoaster and its track. Not only did it go really high and actually went upside-down at one point, but towards the end, it would dip into water. And I still had a fear of water.

                But apparently, my permission wasn't needed.

                Sam wrapped an arm around my waist and forced me onto the seats. "You better not throw up on me," he said in a teasing voice. 

                I ignored him.

                Two minutes later, when everybody had gotten into their seats, the ride went into motion. As it slowly headed upwards, a queasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. I gripped the sides of my seat nervously, telling myself not to look down, but letting my gaze drift downwards anyway. I glanced at Sam and, to my annoyance, he seemed to be enjoying my reaction.

                I opened my mouth to snap at him, but it turned into a scream.

                We zoomed downwards and -- no exaggeration -- my life flashed before my eyes.

                When the ride was over, I couldn't move. Shock had frozen my muscles. All I could do was stare blankly ahead of me, completely soaked, as Sam shook my shoulders.

                "Katrina."

                I shook my head, incapable of speech.

                Sighing, he leaned over me, undid the seatbelt and carried me out. It was only when I was safely out of the rollercoast that I snapped out of my daze.

                "I hate you!" I screamed, launching towards Sam and punching every visible part of him. Something about my expression startled him and, with wide eyes, he grabbed my wrists and forced them back down.

                "Whoa, calm down!"

                "That was horrible!" I yelled. I was still furious, but I didn't attack him again.

                "Come on," he responded calmly, tucking a brunette strand of his hair behind his ear. "Let's get something to eat."

                I gritted my teeth but, as if on cue, my stomach groaned. "Fine."

                There was a stony silence as we walked, but as soon as we sat down with food in front of us, I was back to my old self.

                "This was actually quite fun," I told him.

                He beamed at me. "Didn't I tell you you'd enjoy it?"

                I thought back to our earlier conversation. "Actually, no. You didn't."

                He rolled his eyes. "Still, I was thinking it."

                "We should've asked Sarah to come too," I said, shoving a fork full of potato into my mouth. 

                A pained expression crossed Sam's face. "Oh... yeah, um, no, that probably wouldn't have been a good idea."

                I didn't have a good feeling about this. "What happened?"

                He sighed. "We broke up."

                Despite the initial regret I felt towards him when he spoke those words, something warm suddenly spread throughout my chest. I realised exactly what I was feeling when a smile began tugging at my lips and, with effort, I forced it back down before he noticed.

                I reached across the table and placed my hand in his. "Aw, Sam, I'm really sorry."

                At my touch, he yanked his hand out of mine. I blinked, hurt. He looked at me coldly for a moment but it disappeared before I could really make it out and he held my hand again.

                My gaze flitted towards my watch. "Let's hurry up, and then we'll go home, okay?"

                He nodded.

                "And Sam..." He looked up. Smiling, I said, "Thanks. For today, I mean."

                He smiled too. "You're welcome."

                When he let go of my hand, I seemed to come back to my senses. I was relieved that Sam and Sarah were no longer dating. I liked the feeling of his hand on mine. I'd been denying it for a long time, but the signs were clear.

                Crap. I'm crushing on my best friend.