My Brother's Best Friend

Memory Seven

    Two weeks after Drew told us he was moving to Arizona, Joseph and I threw him a going away party and as usual it was at our house. Only this time, my parents knew about it and were totally okay with it. We invited everyone Drew knew and excluded the one person we knew he didn't want to see: BreAnne.

     I wasn't too excited about the party because although everyone was supposed to have a good time, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Drew was leaving. I put on the brand new mature looking outfit I'd gotten anyway and a pair of boots and made the best of it.

     Music was blasting everywhere and even before I opened the door to my room, I could hear it. This party was different from all the other ones that had been thrown here. I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was because I actually felt like I belonged at this one. When I got downstairs, I looked around the room for someone I knew. Anybody in the packed house. I couldn't see anyone though.

       I felt a tap on my shoulder and almost jumped two feet. "Hey Sky." a girl named Jensen from my school said. "Oh hey." I replied getting over my mini heart attack. I looked across the room and saw Amber leaning against the wall by the kitchen chatting up a high school boy. Still no sign of Drew and it was HIS party.

      "Hey chica." Amber said when I reach her. "You look a little down. What's wrong?" She waved the guy she'd been talking to away and I shake my head. "Nothing." I tell her.

"I know you're sad that he's leaving."

"Of course I am, he's my friend. I've known him most of my life."

"Not just that honey. You love him."

"Amber, I'm really not in the mood..."

"Sky, he's leaving! You might as well tell him now. You may never see him again. And... if he blows you off... he's leaving so you don't have to be embarrassed around him. See? It's a win, win situation."

"I don't know..."

"I think you should do it."

   I thought about what she'd said for a long time. I may never get the chance to say it. It really was now or never. "Okay, I'm gonna do it." I tell her. She smiles at me.

     I spend the next fifteen minutes pushing my way through the crowded party in search of him. Instead, I find Joseph in the den surrounded by a bunch of girls and a few guys. "Yeah," he was saying. "she really pissed me off that's why I just had to get my anger out. Instead of yelling at her, I chose to sing it out." I shake my head. Would they ever let that American Idiot thing go?

"Jo, where's Drew?" I ask him. He glares at me. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Yeah," I say. "You're entertaining these people when you should be hanging with Drew. I mean he IS the one moving right?" One of the brunettes gives me a dirty look but I ignore her. Joseph sighs. "I don't know, the last time I saw him, he was outside. Why--" After I get the answer I leave before I can hear anything Joseph has to say.

When I get outside, it's chilly and I can here the music from inside playing. I don't see anyone outside, just a bunch of cars and street lamps. "Drew?" I call out. No one says anything. And then I hear a footstep. "Drew?" I say again. He comes from the side of the house and looks at me. "Sky?" he says.

"What are you doing?" I want to know. "Why aren't you enjoying the party?"

"I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes Sky. Now what is it that you want?"

   Drew was being a little mean. I looked into his eyes and they were red. "Drew, are you drunk?" I ask.

"No I'm not. I had a couple drinks but I'm not drunk." he assures me. I'm not sure if i believe him, but I was determined to tell him how i felt so I continued.

    "Drew, you've always been nice to me. More nice to me than my own brother. And uh I've kind of had a crush on you for some years now." I blurt out. He looks caught of guard.

"Sky I'm not in the mood for jokes." he says.

"I'm not joking."

"Why would you like a total a**hole like me?"

"Don't say that about yourself. You're a good person."

"No I'm not and I really wouldn't be one if I was caught dead dating someone who's 13. What am I gonna do babysit you while we're on our dates?" he laughed.

    I stood there absolutely amazed. "You know Drew, you really are a jerk." It was my fault for talking to him in the first place when I knew he was drunk but I couldn't take it back now. Drew had never been a forgetful drunk. He'd remember this.

  He walks toward me and gets so close to my face that I can feel his breath on me. "Being a jerk is only half of it. Go play with your dolls or something." he tells me. To this day I don't get why he said any of it, but it really hurt me. He thought of me as a little kid. Tears streamed down my face as I said hoarsely. " F*** you Drew! I hope you have a nice life in Arizona." Then I ran up to my room and that was the last time we spoke. Until two years later... After the fact, when he called from his new town, he'd always ask Joseph to speak to me but I'd always come up with an excuse to why I couldn't talk. Part of me wanted to see if he remembered but the other part of me was too embarrassed and hurt. He eventually stopped asking about me, but I never stopped caring about him.