My Almost Best Friend

Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Later that evening I sat curled up on Claire's pink floral bedspread, wanting to whack myself with a pillow.

I watched Claire obsess over Amarys' golden hair, which was now falling in perfect ringlets. Amarys wore a simple navy dress that had a brown braided belt around the waist. Claire smiled as she found a pair of brown ankle boots to go with it.

"Thanks for letting me borrow some of your clothes," Amarys said smiling, "it was really nice. But why again couldn't I wear my new black and white striped one?"

"Oh," Claire mumbled, her eyes darting around, "Well these clothes are way more fashionable and look better on you."

"Really?" Amarys asked.

"Positively. No offense, but the striped dress is so tight it makes you look like a potato," she said giving her most honest expression.

I snapped my head at her in awe. Amarys' eyes widened.

When Claire saw our facial expressions, she burst out, "I'm kidding!" Then she laughed nervoulsy.

"Oh," Amarys said, her face now relaxing.

I still wasn't convinced though.

"I've gotta go," I mumbled.

"K!" Claire shouted, not even looking at me.

"Bye Bree!" Amarys exclaimed.

"Bye Amarys!" I waved at her, "Good luck tonight."

"Thanks!" she squealed. After that I walked out. Claire lived on the same street as me, but we lived on the ends so I had to cross many different shops and other houses.

Dusk was beginning to role in, and my stomach was rumbling. I decided to stop at the little sandwich shop. I ordered a sandwich and sat in a booth.

I can't believe Claire. She's changed so much! I miss the days when we could fight with water guns, read books, and not try to act cool around eachother. I sighed and rested my hands on my chin.

When the waiter brought over my sandwich, I was kind of stunned.

"Trevor?" I asked, slowly trying to determine if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"Hey non smiler!" he laughed shooting me a wide grin. I rolled my eyes. "I'm kidding Bree," he continued in a fancy British accent, "And here is your grilled cheese, a real work of art."

"I heard its your finest cuisine!" I responded with the same obnoxious tone.

He laughed and smiled at me. I smiled back. Then there was a really awkward silence. Finally I said, "Won't you get in trouble sitting on the job?"

"Nah," he said casually, "It's not like the place is actually busy." He had a pointy. I was the only customer.

He sat and talked with me for most of the night. Although he was technically a jock, he was one of the funniest, weirdest, most down to earth guys I'd ever met. Turns out we have a ton more in common than I ever would've expected.

At 9:30 I finally stood up. "Well," I said seriously, "See you never!"

He looked at me with concerned eyes and said, "What do you mean never?"

I giggled at his serious expression. "I'm joking!" I laughed.

He laughed back. "Good," he said, "Well, I'll see you at school."

"Yup." I said nodding. Once out of the shop, my thoughts began to race. He was worried he wouldn't see me? What does it mean? Could he like me? I shook my head. Too much thinking, too late at night. With that, I skipped home across the broken sidewalk, all the way to my house.

=======================

The next morning I sat in my usual spot on the bus, the very back. I sighed staring out the window, seeing the dark gray clouds forming a light drizzle. I really hate rain.

At our final stop, Anthony got on and sat by me, like he usually does.

"Hey Bree," he said.

"Hi," I replied casually.

He bit his lip before saying, "So my art shows tonight, and I was wondering if you could come?"

I scanned my brain, making sure I didn't have anything before responding, "Sure."

"Awesome!" he said eagerly and began to fix his glasses. I laughed. His tone sounded like a little boys. Me, Claire, and him have been the best of friends since the 6th grade. He and I are becoming even more close now, because we both can talk about our feelings about Claire.

The bus finally came to a screeching halt, and I stood up by my seat, waiting for everyone to file down the aisle. I hopped down the steps, feeling like a little girl.

"Look,"Anthony said, "Your friends waving at you." I glanced the direction he was pointing to and sure enough Amarys was standing with Claire, motioning me to come over.

"Morning Bree!" she said happily.

"Hey, how was last night?" I asked.

"Oh Bree it was amazing!"she exclaimed, "Mike's so sweet! And I love how confident he was to just go ahead and ask me out on my second day here. Now that's the geniality I'm looking for in a guy."

"Aw thanks," Claire said, "Really, it was nothing."

"Glad you're so happy," I said so softly it was almost a whisper. I stared at the ground. The guilt of Amarys thinking Mike voluntarily asked her out made me feel awful. I shot Claire a look, trying to tell if she felt the same way.
Instead I got a fake smile, with a complete airhead look.

I felt a flash of relief when the bell rang and broke our uncomfortable silence.

Walking through the halls, we stopped abruptly at the blood curdling scream near the drama room. We ran to the crowd gathered around Mrs. Collins door. Summer stood in the center, fanning herself and gasping for air.

We pushed our way through, and got a clear view of the paper stapled on the door.

Alice in Wonderland Casting List:

Alice- Amarys Green

Claire looked at me and grinned darkly. Amarys looked both shocked and elated at the same time. We continued through the list.

Queen of Hearts- Summer Stevens

I looked at Summer's bright red, outraged face. The role was fitting.

All the other minor rolls were pretty much as expected. I ended up being a flower, only 1 line. It was actually quite a relief. My eye then caught on to Francesca, who was screaming with joy at her roll of the main flower. I shook my head and laughed at how serious some people took this play.

Without warning, Jimmy Burro, a sophomore photographer for the school website burst in.

"Wow!" he shouted wide eyed, "For the first time in her life, Summer Stevens didn't win the lead role in the play!" He then snapped a picture of Amarys and Summer. Amarys looked like a celebrity surrounded by fans. Summer looked like an angry tomato, seeking revenge.

"I can see the heading now!" Jimmy yelled, "The drama queen is the queen of drama no more!"

We all shot him confused looks, but were interrupted by the school dean rounding the corner.

"Get to class!' he barked, "All of you!"

With that we separated to our class and I stood there, walking side by side with Amarys. Well, she's got this part of popularity down. Now onto the more difficult steps.