It's Complicated

Chapter 13

Monday morning, I got to school early, practically dragging a half-asleep Larry behind me. I headed towards my locker, willing to wait right there until the bell for Mario.

Well, I intended to. When I got close, I was interrupted by George and his friends, who happened to be walking down the hallway.

"Hey, gorgeous," George said as he wrapped an arm around my waist with a smile.

"Hi, George. Justin. Harvey. Calvin." They all nodded at me but didn't say anything.

"So, what are you doing here so early?" George asked, bringing me down the hallway with him and his friends. They were probably heading to the cafeteria for food, so I guessed I was, too.

"I was, um." I trailed off. Mentioning anything about Mario felt too weird when I was with George. It almost felt as if they were two parts of my life that I needed to keep separate.

George knew me too well. "Mario," he said, something in his tone making the name sound like a swear. He fell back, letting his friends go ahead of us, and pulled me to the side of the hallway. "I honestly don't know why you feel you need to talk to him. He's up to something." His friends stopped at the cafeteria entrance, but he waved for them to go on in.

I blushed. "We're friends, George. Like us. I didn't text him all weekend, and I want to know if he's still mad at me." Sort of.

He frowned. "Daisy, I know you guys are friends. There's just something about him that doesn't sit well with me when you're with him. You never did tell me what you guys fought about, by the way. Would you care to tell me now?"

I ducked my head and fought the urge to take a step back at the hostile tone of his voice. "Um." I groaned quietly and looked away. "You're just going to get mad."

He gave me a blank look. "Mad at who?" His finger gently nudged my chin so I was looking him in the eye.

I swallowed, feeling a little scared. This could be the end of us, but I was oddly at ease about that. No, what scared me was what he might do to Mario when he found out. "Um." I pulled away from George. "What happened was, I let him come with me to that concert after the play, and we got locked out of his car. While we waited for his dad to come with the spare key, we sat on the ground and were talking. He leaned over really close, and then abruptly got up and began to apologize. I haven't spoken to him since."

George ran a hand through his hair as he studied me. His gaze felt like it was trying to find the lie, and I saw when he found it. "He tried to kiss you?"

"Well, kind of, but not quite. It seemed like it at the time, but now I'm not sure."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're not sure." I stared at him. "Stop lying to me, Daisy. You never have before. I thought you were always honest, if not to everyone, then at least to me." He shook his head and looked away. After a long moment of silence, he said, "Tell me one thing."

"Of course."

He studied me for a minute. "Do you like him?"

"As a friend, yes." That was very true. I loved him in that way.

"Nothing more?"

"No." As far as I could tell, we were friends and that was it.

He studied me a moment longer before letting out a breath and stepping closer. His hands touched my waist and I let him. "Daisy, lying to me makes me assume things, so, please, don't lie to me like that again." He kissed my cheek and held me a moment in a loose embrace before releasing me. "Well, I guess I'll see you in class." He began walking backwards before finally turning and jogging into the cafeteria.