The Shy Boy and the Girl in the Green Dress

Chapter Three - The Strange Day

Chapter Three – The Strange Day

“Lexi!” my Dad yelled, “your boyfriend is here.”

I got out of my room, leaving Vanessa and Daphnee behind and headed downstairs to my shouting father. Blake and Alex were supposed to spend the afternoon together, that was why I had invited the girls over, so I was kind of surprised when I saw Blake standing in the entry.

Nevertheless, I narrowed my eyes at my grinning father. “Dad, Blake’s not my boyfriend,” I reminded him, for maybe the hundredth time. And it was as painful a reminder as it had been every other time.

“So you keep saying, but I have yet to see something that contradicts what I’m saying,” Dad answered.

I didn’t even want to argue with him. I just grabbed Blake by the arm and dragged him with me back to my room, “Come on Blake.”

When Blake walked into my room, Daphnee automatically asked, “Came to get your hair braided Mousy-Blakey?”

That was when I took a better look at Blake and realized something was off. “What’s wrong Blake?”

            It took him a few seconds to answer, but when he did, I was left speechless. “Alex… Alex just told me he was in love with me. 

            We all said “WHAT?” at the exact same time, in the exact same voices.

And then we were bombarding him with questions.

“What happened?”

“What did you say?”

“Are you two dating now?”

“When did you realize you preferred sausages to oysters?”

Of course, the last two, Daphnee asked, and Blake ignored. “I thought we were going to practice for our football try-outs again, but Alex said he wanted to go for a hike in the forest, so then I assumed we’d start running there, but when I was about to sprint he told me he just wanted us to walk. By then I was getting pretty confused, but I let it roll, but then while we were walking, he just grabbed my arm all serious and told me that he loved me and that he really wished I could love him too,” Blake explained, looking really uncomfortable and awkward.

For a second I was mad, actually furious at Alex. How dare he try to steal my Blake?  Ever since the first time I talked with him, I had a crush on the boy. I thought that had been fairly obvious to everyone else except Blake, but if Alex had the guts to tell him he loved him it was probably because he didn’t know.

But why was I so mad? If I only had a little crush on Blake, I shouldn’t be feeling this jealous, jealous that Alex did what I had never been able to do, what I had always been too scare to admit to him, but also to myself.

That I loved Blake.

And I did, of course I did, because Blake was the person I could always rely on, the one that saw me better than I saw myself, the one that believed in me when no one else did, the one that would support me no matter what. The one that brightened my day with only his presence.

I loved my best friend. I loved Blake.

Now, of course, while I was having this epiphany, the conversation was still going.

“So, what did you tell him?” Vanessa asked.

Blake sighed, running his hand over his head. “I didn’t have time to answer, he said he didn’t want me to answer, he just wanted me to think about it and then we could talk about it again, if I wanted to.”

“Do you want to?” she pressed.

Why couldn’t she see how uncomfortable the whole situation was making him? Blake didn’t like to talk about this—probably because he didn’t want to hurt Alex’s feelings.

Blake shook his head. “No, what I want is to tell him to forget about me and to find someone else, someone that can love him the way he loves me.”

“So you’re not in love with him?” Daph asked.

“Of course not!” Blake automatically replied.

Mama Bear rolled her eyes. “You say it like it’s obvious.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Well, you’ve never dated any girl, so it’s slightly suspicious sometimes,” Vanessa answered for Daph.

            Did I imagine him looking at me when Vanessa said this? I probably did, unconsciously willing an action he wouldn’t do.

            Again, he ran his hand over his hair, something he did when he was nervous or uncomfortable, or thinking too hard. “Look, I’m just… waiting for the right girl.”

            “And that’s not Alex,” Vanessa chuckled.

            “Alex’s not a girl,” he pointed out.

            “Weeeell, that’s always debatable,” Daph decided to say.

            Blake narrowed his eyes at her. He was always good at dealing with her nonsense. “Unless he had a sex change or he’s hiding a vagina in his boxers, then no, it’s no debatable.”

            “You’re such a party pooper,” she laughed.

            “And you’re not really comforting,” Blake added.

            “Are you okay?” I interrupted the little tirade. No one had asked him this and this seemed like the most important aspect of the whole deal. Blake hadn’t come here to make fun of the situation. He had come here because he needed someone to talk to. He had come here because he wanted to talk to me.

            “What?” Daph asked, while Blake just looked at me. I ignored my blonde loud friend and focused on my shy one.

            “One of your bestfriend just confessed his love for you,” I reminded Blake. “Even if you don’t share the same feelings, it’s out there now. Your relationship can’t ever go back to what it was. It’ll always be different. Now, you’ll always see him differently because you know he’s attracted to you and that he loves you.”

Why did he have to be so amazing and irresistible that half of his friends were in love with him?

            “I don’t know, I really don’t…” Blake whispered, his eyes never leaving mine.

            “We need pizza in here,” Daph said, breaking the silence.

            “And drinks! Time to head downstairs,” Vanessa agreed. Both girls got up, “Come on guys,” she pressed, looking at Blake and I.

            We reluctantly got up, but that was enough for Goldilocks, and Mama Bear and he just headed downstairs.

“Thank you,” Blake told me as we walked out of my room.

I looked at him sideways. “For what?”

Blake shrugged slightly. “For not making a joke out of it.”

“It’s not a joke, it’s someone’s feelings,” I answered, not looking in his eyes.

“Well, thank you,” he pressed, and there was such sincerity and such gratitude in his voice that I couldn’t help look in his dark blue ones and it was there too in his eyes, just stronger, and my breath caught in my throat and all I could think about was that I couldn’t blame Alex for loving Blake, because loving Blake was the natural thing to do if you ever spent any length of time with him.

“You’re welcome.” I breathed. I love you.

As we walked to the kitchen I suddenly wondered, what were you supposed to do when you were madly in love with your bestfriend?