Him & Her

Ch.14

Ch14

Elizabeth sat on the couch with her parents, watching an old movie she really hated. When her phone rang she jumped up and ran to her room, relieved at finally having an excuse to leave.

She plopped down on her bed.

"Hello?" Elizabeth lay on her bed, facing the ceiling.

"Hi." It was Henry.

"Henry," Elizabeth sighed, "Thanks for messing things up."

"Yeah, about that. Why do you care so much? I thought you guys hated each other."

Elizabeth took a deep breath. This was Henry, her best friend, she couldn't keep anything from him. So she began to tell him her story, starting from when she went downstairs to get a napkin. When she finished, Henry was speechless. Fist she thought he had hung up, but then he spoke.

"You SLEPT IN HIS LAP IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW..." he yelled.

Elizabeth pulled the phone away from her ear for a second. She got off her bed and walked over to her window. She looked up, but Cole's curtain was shut.

She put the phone back to her ear. Henry was still yelling, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!!"

"Henry! Calm down."

She heard Henry take a deep breath. "You're right." he said, "But can you tell me why all that made you afraid to tell him that Brandon had gotten you that bracelet?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath, "Promise you won't freak out?"

Henry hesitated, "I promise."

She closed her eyes and said quickly, "I may have forgotten to tell you that he kind of kissed me, but it was only on my forehead!"

Silence.

"Henry," she paused, "I think I li-"

"NO!!" Henry screamed, "Oh no no no no no..." she heard him scrambling around then the line went dead.

"Um...Henry?" Elizabeth hung up and placed her phone on the windowsill, still shocked by his reaction, but shocked even more by what she was about to say.

Did she really like Cole? As a friend or as something more?

She groaned and walked over to her bed and lied down. She was tired of thinking. With one last look out her window at Cole's house, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

•••

Elizabeth didn't wake up until the next day, which surprised her. She had slept perfectly the day before, she didn't need the extra sleep. Maybe it was just the exhaustion of trudging through the snow, or maybe the cold was finally getting to her and she was sick.

For whatever reason, Elizabeth slept from the morning until the next morning.

She woke up and checked the digital watch by her bed. It was 9:24 in the morning. She sat up and stretched, yawning as she did it. Someone had put a blanket over her, she pulled it off and got out of bed. She stood in front of her mirror, she looked like a mess. Her brown hair was sticking up from where she had slept on it, the clothes she had slept in we're wrinkled, and one of her socks was missing.

Elizabeth walked back to her bed and sat down on the edge. A blinking light caught her eye; it was her phone which was still on the windowsill. She walked over to it and picked it up. There was a message from Henry:

Sorry about my freak out. I just was kind of afraid that if you really do like Cole, you would leave me alone and become one of those popular people we both hate. At least I thought we hated them... Anyway, you're my best friend and I hope you'll always be. I'll be there for you, no matter what-even If you do like that devil.

There was another message from him too:

Ok, maybe he's not a devil, from what you told me he told you, that was kind of sweet and very truthful. Anyway, I hope you wake up-your parents told me- and that your not in a comma.

Elizabeth smiled, she replied:

Thanks Henry. You'll always be my best friend, and I do not like all those popular jerks...just Cole. And I don't even know if I really like him that much. We have to talk.

She pressed send and the doorbell rang.

Elizabeth gathered her hair into a messy bun and as she ran down the stairs, she tried to straighten out her clothes. She opened the door.

Brandon stood there, he glanced at Elizabeth and his eyes widened, which made her remember that she had just gotten out of bed. She blushed.

"Uh... hi." he smiled, "Can I- I want to ask you something."

"Ok, come on in." Elizabeth smiled.

"No thanks, I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to- I'm going to- would you-" Brandon sighed. Elizabeth waited patiently. He took a deep breath and started again, "I work part-time at a cafe and I was wondering if you want to come with me, I don't know, it might be fun." he shrugged.

Elizabeth leaned against the door, thinking of her response. It would be good to get her mind off of things, but Brandon wasn't the solution. In fact, he was the exact reason she and Cole had fought. And despite her brain screaming at her to kindly reject the invitation, she couldn't find it in her to say no to Brandon's pleading eyes.

"Let me just get ready." she smiled.