Crossing the Line

Chapter 1: Best Friends at Hello

It was crazy how fast Tristan and I became friends. On first impressions, he was gorgeous, and I knew it, but we settled into being best friends so quickly that I didn't have time to swoon.

We were quiet an unlikely pair. We always took our trail rides together at work. We were allowed one relaxing ride a day. He was sweet and kind and just an all around great guy. He was 23 which was weird, but it honestly didn't feel like we were 6 years apart. We became close. I told him everything, and vise versa. You would've thought that we had been friends forever. I didn't mind our odd comfortable relationship. We had been friends since day one, and a month later we couldn't have been any closer.

My sister visited me at least once a week. As loving as she was, I knew that she wasn't there for me. Every time she came, she would find a way to run into Tristan. It was weird, watching my sister flirt with my best friend, but it made sense.

Tristan had a small reputation for being sort of a ladies' man. It wasn't like he slept with every girl he saw, but they definitely wanted him. It was comical for me watching almost every girl try to get in his pants. I couldn't blame them though. It didn't bother me when he flirted back. I knew Tristan.

Tristan always flirted but never followed through. He was quite the gentleman. He was trying to focus on his career anyway. It was already a struggle for him to juggle his job at Ridgeway and his studies at Baylor.

Of all the careers Tristan could have gone for, he was actually studying to be a pediatrician. It was funny to me. I could see all the single moms hitting on him in the doctor's office.

He was actually really good with kids. Fourth of July proved that to me- not that I needed any proof. I spent the fourth with his family, who lived only 30 minutes from us. Tristan drove me down and introduced me to everyone. His family was huge. He had 3 brothers and an older sister. There's was a sample of every age there.

He slug his arm over my shoulders and smiled at me. We were in a huge field that would be used for fireworks later tonight. It was conjoined to a town square that they turned into a vendors paradise. There were sparklers zipping around everywhere even though it wasn't dark yet.

"Let's go get a snow cone," he suggested. He grabbed my hand and started jogging towards the vendor walk. I grunted before I actually made an effort to keep up. I laughed before we stopped in line. When we stopped, I punched his arm playfully. He only laughed before he ordered our snow cone. Half raspberry and half tiger's blood. Tristan took a bite out of the tiger's blood before he handed it off to me with a spoon. I smiled as the ice and raspberry syrup hit my tongue. It was refreshing.

I knew it was going to be hot today. That's why I dressed in a lace mint crop top and high-waisted shorts. Even with my minimal clothing, I was still sweating. Tristan, however, was cool as a cucumber. It didn't bother him at all. I was a little jealous. When he reached for the snow cone again, I kept it out of reach.

"Holly," he said in a playful warning tone. My smile only widened. I trying to run away bit he caught me around the waist before I was out of reach. I squealed as he tickled me. The snow cone had long been forgotten. It was in the ground now, but we didn't care. I ran away to the grass as he continued to try and tickle me. I fell to my back on the grass and tried to swat his hands away.

"Okay okay! I give!" I said, practically gasping for air. He laughed and laid down beside me.

"Good because you owe me half a snow cone," he joked. The love music blasted through the entire city block. It was amazing. I had never experienced anything like it before. Strolling along the walk and talking is what we did to pass the time. Tons of Tristan's old high school broads were here on a mission. They wanted him.

"Tristan," one bimbo fake Barbie blonde girl called out. Tristan gave her a side hug. She looked like she wanted much more than that.

"Tracy." He said politely. "How are you?" He asked. She smiled and stood just a little bit straighter.

"Good, I never see you anymore. Where have you been?" She asked. She was smiling for sake of being nice but I could see her eyeing me. Almost sizing me up to see if I was going to be a threat to her.

"I moved to Tomball a while ago. I'm finishing me studies down there," he answered. She directed her full attention to me.

"Who's this?" Tracy asked. Tristan pulled my waist closer to him and pinched my cheek. I slapped his hand away as he laughed.

"This is Holly," he laughed.

"His friend," I said, pushing his hands away from my face.

"Best friend," he corrected. A lot of people found it weird that a boy and girl could be such great friends. They always had their doubts. Tracy didn't seem to like it very much, but then again she didn't know that she didn't have a chance with him. 

"We'll have to go out sometime... catch up," she said seductively. I rolled my eyes. It was embarrassing, really, how she was throwing herself at him. I would leave him to reject her.

"I'm going to go get us another snow cone," I said. He handed me some money and I walked over to get in line. The sun was just starting to set. I got the snow cone and took a bite. Turning around, I almost ran into someone. 

"I'm sorry!" He apologized. I shook my head and readjusted the cup in my hand. I looked at him in the fading sunlight. He was actually very attractive. His slightly shaggy dark brown hair was messy in the most attractive way. His strong jawline and olive skin-tone accented his chocolate brown eyes. I lost my words for a moment.

"It was my fault, really," I said, tripping over my words. He smiled lightly at me and held out his hand. 

"I'm Eric," he introduced himself.

"Holly," I said, shaking his hand. He chuckled.

"I know; I work with you at Ridgeway," he shrugged. I looked at him curiously. I don't remember seeing him. He seemed to understand my confusion. "I started a week ago. I just moved to Tomball with my family," he explained further. 

"Well, I've got to go, but it was nice meeting you," I said. I walked over to the field where I knew Tristan would be. He was laying on a blanket, looking up at the sky as the final rays of sunlight disappeared over the horizon. He saw me and smiled. I straddled his stomach and took anout bite of the snow cone. 

"No more Tracy?" I joked. He laughed and put his hands behind his head. He opened his mouth and I dumped a spoonful of snow cone in. I chuckled and continued feeding him until the snow cone was all gone. Kids started running around with sparklers now that it was dark. He flipped my over and started tickling me. I laughed until my face turned beat red. He stopped and we just laid there. We laid there until the fireworks started going off. 

This was the best day ever... and I got to spend it with my best friend. This was going to be a great summer.

*A visual representation of Holly can be seen in the media off to the side*