I Heart My Best Friend

I'm That Girl

My head was spinning. Was he pretending not to remember, or did it actually ever happen? Did my brain create an unreal event to please me? Did it?
To add to my questions, why was Jay acting so weird? Why did he look so different? This was getting frustrating. I rarely had unanswered questions.
"You know, if you don't like this place, we can leave," Dwayne said, looking around the top tier restaurant.
I sighed and whipped my hair, "What's not to like?"
He smirked and held my hand, I glanced at his face before staring back into the table.
"What would you like?" the waitress asked.
"I'll have detox water. Just water," Dwayne said.
She spun to look at me.
"Just a smoothie please."
I did realize I was ordering a smoothie in a top tier restaurant. Weird, but the smoothie would be top tier too then?
***********~~~~~~~~~~~**********
Dwayne didn't take me home, I said I wanted to walk. He was fine, although he didn't understand why. I knew, I needed some space to think.
I strolled down the pavement in my varsity jacket, there was a light drizzle but my hair was already wet enough for each strand to stick to another. My arms were folded and I was shivering, it was getting cold. I still couldn't stop trying to formulate different answers to all my questions.
I decided to cut through the park where there was better shade to avoid getting drenched. A few paces in, I saw a shadow fall across the ground and immediately I turned back to look, the figure froze still.
Fear stopped me from turning back. I decided to quicken my steps. Sure enough, the shadow continued to trail me.
The domineering part of me made me turn back and call, "Are you following me?"
Just around the corner behind a tree, a hooded figure walked out and started to come closer to me, he threw his hood off and the look was unmistakable. Jay.
I sighed and dropped my hands to my knees, relieved.
"What's the big idea?"
He scratched at his hair, "Sorry. Just wanted to talk."
My eyes grew wider and I pulled out my phone and pointed at it.
He laughed, this time it sounded like rainbows and cotton candy again, "Still my skeptical Amber. Somethings never change."
I gave a warm smile.
"I want to tell you I'm sorry about the way I acted the other day," he said, sure of himself.
"It's fine, it's okay," I said before wincing when I remembered.
"And I'm sorry for imagining we kissed."
He put his hand through his hair again before walking closer to me.
He stared me in the eye and pushed the stray strands of my hair off my face.
"It was real."
Time stopped and joy overwhelmed me, so my brain wasn't making alternate realities to please me.
"I'm sorry about that too. I pretended it never happened because I thought it was just, a reaction to me helping you," he started, "But I realized, I enjoyed every bit of it."
My breath was accelerating and my pulse was quickening.
He placed his hand on my shoulder and I looked down my neck at it.
"Since that day, I've been beaten down, seeing you with Dwayne every day. It made me realize, you never know how much you love something till you have to watch another person have it."
I was blushing. I felt like the fan girl to his Channing Tatum. I blinked and stared into his eyes, they were normal again, peaceful and reassuring.
"I miss you Amber, and if I can't have you, let's get back together and just be best friends again," he started, "Pretend none of this ever happened."
I smiled,"I don't want to pretend it never happened. It's basically running away from your shadow. You can never outrun it."
He grinned.
"No, I don't want to pretend, because I love you too Jay."
In that moment I felt all my joy being restored and the nostalgia of a thousand childhood memories drowned me.
He walked me home, and when we got to his place, we hugged and said bye.