I Heart My Best Friend

Another Calling

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, life gave me ready made lemonade. Dwayne was the perfect guy, Jay was the perfect best friend, and Sharon was the sister I never had.
"Mrs. Carter," Jay teased.
I frowned at him.
"Just kidding, just kidding."
I rolled my eyes, "Sharon told me you got her a pendant."
He went red. Teasing Jay about Sharon was the other good thing to come out of their relationship. That, and the fact that my best friend was happy.
Now that Jay was with Sharon, I couldn't imagine life without Dwayne. He was always there. Knowing he was ready to help was comforting. No matter what happened, he would be there.
"Sigh," I said. I actually said.
He replied, "Sigh."

********~~~~~********~~~~~~~~~~
Dwayne came to my house very early the next morning, I wasn't even up yet.
"Dwayne?" I asked my mom, rubbing at my eyes.
"Yeah."
I sulked, "Let him come upstairs then."
She sighed and answered,"Fine."
The distrust was obvious. My mom still didn't think highly of Dwayne after that incident. What did he have to do to win her over? Maybe he could write her a song too. I snickered to myself at the thought.
"Morning, Amber," the angelic voice called.
I got up quickly and hugged him through the fatigue before placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Hey."
We sat.
"Why are you here so early? I'm still at war with my sleep."
He laughed nervously before sighing.
"I'm really sorry about this... I..." he began.
And I shot quickly, "You're breaking up with me? You're sick? You're actually Harry in disguise?"
He blinked.
"Actually, I wanted to tell you I won't be able to call you today, my phone has an issue."
The rich cry too.
I sighed, "Oh, okay."
He got up to leave before turning back to look at me and saying,"I'm actually sick. I'm love-sick."
I rolled my eyes and he winked at me before leaving.

********~~~~~~~******~~~~~~~~~~
Every moment watching Sharon whisk Jay away after asking me was horror. I was having a mental breakdown and no one seemed to be noticing.
"Hey, do you still have the notebook I gave you yesterday?" I called when I saw Sharon leaving class.
She slapped her palm against her face and drawled, "Oh my God. I'm so sorry, I left it at this restaurant."
I sulked,"Restaurant?"
She nodded, "Yeah, The Two Crows Diner. Jay took me there."
I bit my lower lip,"Oh."
She furrowed her eyebrows,"Amber, something's wrong."
She wasn't asking.
I shook my head vigorously,"Wrong? No, no, no. How silly!"
She nodded slowly,"If you say so."
He never took me to the Two Crows.
*****~~~~********~~~~**********
She came back to me later that afternoon when I was at my locker.
"Hey," I smiled.
"Hey."
I tried to shut my locker but she stopped it with her hand and sighed.
"Amber, I finally get it."
I forced a smile, "Get it? I don't understand."
"The way you wince when I talk about how amazing he is, you always try and change the topic when I bring up anything I do with him..."
She wasn't dumb.
"Amber, you love him."
I tried to laugh it off, "No, no, that would be weird. He's like my brother."
"You do. And I'm not one to stand in the way of another girl, you were there first."
She had an amazing heart.
I stood still, unable to answer.
"Do you?" she asked.
Pweety girls don't sleep on the floor
"Amber?"
"You're right. I do."
She looked hurt. For a minute or two we just stood there staring at nothing in particular.
"Okay, I'll call it off."
Dwayne
"I'm sorry," I said, crying.
She pulled me close and hugged me, patting my back, "No, Amber, I'm sorry. All you had to do was tell me. Never keep things to yourself,I'm here."
I barely knew her but she didn't care. I was so wrong about her. At the thought, my crying intensified.

************~~~~~~~~~~*********
I was on my bed that night, staring at the ceiling with my headphones on and Taylor Swift's 'Teardrops On My Guitar' playing.
How did I fall for him? Was the pressure of high school making me decide that I needed a guy to keep me happy? I felt devalued, thinking about how I wanted two guys. I would've been disgusted by anyone like that. But now, that person was me. The ringing of my phone stung my ear painfully because I had turned the volume up to as loud as was possible. I wasn't expecting any calls.
I picked up the phone and glanced at the Caller ID. Dwayne.
Wasn't his phone broken?
"Hey... " I said, apprehension in my voice.
He replied blandly,"Hey."
I rubbed my hand against my forehead, "Broken phones don't make calls."
He sighed over the phone,"My phone was never broken, Amber."
The confession shocked me. I didn't know I was in for a bigger shock.
"What?"
He paused for a minute as if he was mustering confidence, "I'm leaving."
My heart skipped a beat, two even.

A/N
Whoa, Dwayne. And did anyone notice the PLL reference? If you did, comment on the author's note telling me which word or phrase referenced the show and I'll dedicate the next chapter to you. I've pretty much dedicated at least a chapter to all the amazing people in my life. Did I leave you with a cliffhanger? Oops.