Battle of the Captains

out of bounds

She never said so, but I suspected it was an aspiration of Liz's to be an FBI agent one day. If all the spy movies she loved so dearly weren't good enough hints, the fact that she set up really good interrogations for me when she wanted to was a good give away. Liz always seemed to know something was up when something was up and it was no surprise that she noticed that something was definitely up. She stared me down across the small kitchen table, each of us holding our own bag of Cheetos, and she was waiting for me to say something I wasn't sure I was quite ready to say.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Please, I told Liz everything since there was no one else willing to listen to my problems, rants or feelings.

"I don't know what you're trying to get me to admit."

"Well, I've got to say, I'm a bit jealous you're spending more of our best friend time with him instead of me and every time I call you, you're with Austin. So tell me what's up."

"Nothing," I insisted. "There's nothing going on. We're just friends."

"Do you like him?"

It sounded like one but it wasn't even a question. She didn't stutter or hesitate as if it was merely common knowledge.

"He's not as bad as I thought."

Liz flicked my forehead in disbelief before taking another chip from her pack.

"I don't–"

"I didn't believe it at first," Liz said. "But I know you better than anyone. You've totally fallen for the enemy." Then her face brightened as she strayed away from topic momentarily. "Isn't there a movie about that?"

I pursed my lips. "He's not the enemy; not anymore." At that, Liz raised her eyebrows and started giggling. "And please stop saying that I like him. It's stressing me out."

"But you do. There's no use denying it." Liz wiped her cheesy hands with tissue before continuing. "Be real with me, Ko. I've known you since forever. We're practically sisters. I probably know you better than you know yourself. So I think I can tell when I see my best friend in lo–"

My hand flew across the table to cover her mouth as I shook my head in dismay. "Don't. Please don't say that."

Maybe she was right and maybe she wasn't. Either way, I wasn't going to argue anymore because it was insanely difficult to form arguments against someone who knew you so well that they already knew the arguments you were going to make.

"But he's kissed you, right? And he's always around. He wants to spend time with you even when he doesn't have to. If I'm being honest, I think he feels the same way."

I shook my head. "He doesn't."

"How do you know? If you tell him how you feel, maybe he'll tell you that he feels the same way. What have you got to lose?"

"Uh­– everything! Let's see, bragging rights, my dignity, my pride," my heart, "the bet! That's what I have to lose and I think that's plenty to lose. My life would be over."

"Not if he likes you back." My phone, which sat on the corner of the table, vibrated. Austin. Liz looked at me as if she just proved her point. "I'm thinking he does."

"I'm getting something to eat with your bro. Want me to pick you up and we can get something after? :)" It read.

I was such a sucker for guys who actually tolerated my annoying little brother. And the way he suggested picking me up and grabbing something to eat made me feel like we'd been this way– this close since forever. The way he said it made me feel so cared for and special and important. I looked forward to seeing him because we actually talked. We really talked about things that actually mattered like on that night on the rooftop. Our conversations weren't meaningless wastes of time– not the small talk boys and girls did just to keep silence away. When the silence did come, there was nothing uncomfortable about it.