Love Me?

29: Just Friends

BLAKE:

Did she really just say no?!? How could she...

"I'm really sorry, I just don't want to ruin the friendship we have. I think it's better if we just stay friends. You get that don't you?" Lily asks.

"Um, sure."

"Blake..."

"Ya, sorry. That sounds good. I'm glad we're friends," I lie. Friends? I don't know if I can be just friends. How can I handle hanging out with her each day, knowing that she isn't mine? I don't know if I can, but I guess I have to try.

"Thanks for understanding," Lily says before walking away.

I sulk back over to Jackson and Thomas.

"So?" Jackson asks, "what'd she say?"

"She basically said no thanks," I reply sadly.

"I'm sorry. Rejection sucks man," Thomas says trying to encourage me.

"She said she just wanted to be friends."

"Oh, ouch," Jackson adds.

"So who are you going to bring on the date then?" Thomas asks.

"I'm not coming."

"What? Come on Blake! You have to come! You could bring that Christina girl." Jackson says.

"How do you know about her?" I ask.

"Thomas and I stayed up talking last night after you left."

"Oh."

We continue talking until the bell rings for classes to start again.

~~~

After school, I go back to my room and finish my homework. Thomas and Jackson try, with no luck, to get me to go on a triple date. They leave defeated and go get ready for their dates with Abigail and Sarah. I wonder what Lily is doing. After I'm sure they have left, I head over to Lily's room and knock on the door. Mckenzie opens it and frowns. "What do you want?" she asks.

"Is Lily here?" I ask.

"Lily?" she asks confused.

"Your roommate," I say.

"Oh you mean that pile of trash," she says pointing at Lily, sitting on her bed.

At that comment, I really want to strangle Mckenzie. "How dare you call her that! If anyone here is a pile of trash it's you!" I yell.

Lily gets up, glares at Mckenzie, and slams the door shut in her face.

We walk silently outside and head down the street. Tonight the ship is heading out to sea again, so it feels great to walk on solid ground before leaving.

We walk past an arcade and I say, "hey, you up for some fun?"

"What do you have in mind?' Lily asks.

"What about losing at arcade games?"

"Losing? Definitely not happening!" she answers.

We run over to the arcade. First, we play Mario Kart and I beat her.

Then we play air hockey. Lily hits the little puck so hard, that it goes flying through the air and hits a kid in the back of the head. We try not to laugh, but as soon as we look at each other we bust up laughing. In the end, she wins by one point. I call for a rematch, but she says she won fair and square.

After a while, we get hungry and walk across the street to Dominoe's. We agree on one medium pepperoni and sausage pizza and one order of cheesy bread, which we gobble up.

Then we go back to the ship. We find Thomas, Jackson, Abigail, and Sarah looking for us.

"Where were you guys?" Abigail asks.

"Just trying to knock kids out with hockey pucks," Lily says as seriously as she can. Then we both start laughing.