GirlxGirl Short Stories

My Friends Really Suck Sometimes (pt. 1)

Today is a half day because we're testing. I hate midterms, but I love all the free time that we get afterwards. Everyone has finally finished, and our teacher let us go to the gym because we've been sitting in desks for three hours staring at a screen. So now we're in the gym and I'm talking to my friends.

"Cami. Cami! CAMILLA!"

I snap to attention. "Huh? What, yes, someone said my name?"

"Jesus woman, I worry about you sometimes!" Nancy laughs. "Anyways, now would be a great time to talk to that chick you like! What's her name again?"

"Sophie... Sophie's her name," I mumble, staring at Sophie, who's jump-roping with a small group of her friends. She's stunning. She stands a few inches shorter than me and has an athletic build. She's got a cute little butt and when she jumps, her chest bounces with her brown hair — which is cut right to her jawline and frames her face. Her warm brown eyes look the prettiest when she's laughing.

"Cami, if you aren't careful, you're gonna get drool on your shirt," Nancy remarks, grinning and nudges my arm. "Go talk to her," she whispers.

"Uh, no. Are you crazy?" I whispered back, keeping my eyes on her. Her foot got caught in the rope and she's laughing about it with her friends. One of them says something in her ear and looks over in my direction. We make eye contact. My eyes get huge and I feel my face get hot. I turn away and look at the floor.

"Cami! That was TOTALLY her flirting with you!! Go talk to her," Nancy whisper shouts in my face. She grabs my shoulders and she looks me in the eyes. "Go talk to her. If you don't, she'll be snatched up by some horn-dog asshole that doesn't deserve her."

"But, Nancy, I don't want things to get weird between us! That would crush me," I say back, trying to prevent her from doing something she or I will regret. It doesn't work.

"You know what, I'm done with this pining bullshit." She looks over to where Sophie's group is. Oh no.

"Nancy, please don't—"

"Hey," she yells, "why don't you guys come over here?" She waves her hands towards us. Sophie's friend makes a weird face and elbows her. Sophie swats her hand away.

"Uh, ok!" Sophie responds. Her friend giggles and says something in her ear and Sophie turns red and whacks her. They begin to make their way over to us. I want to crawl under the bleachers and declare myself an official hermit. I hate everything. Please God, Satan, anything out there, if you are there, do NOT let me embarrass myself PLEASE. Just this once, I want to NOT be a total idiot. I am pulled from my frantic praying when Sophie's group stops in front of us.

"Uh, hey, did you guys want something?" Sophie says, looking a little confused. Nancy stomps on my foot.

"Oh! Um, we just wanted to uh, to talk," I said, nervously laughing at the end of my sentence. Nancy nods excitedly.

"Yeah! Do you guys have any tea to spill or anything?" She and the other members of Sophie's friend group immediately become engrossed with the details of a recent dating scandal. Sophie and I are left standing to the side. She grins.

"Anything interesting happen lately?" She asks. Oh god, not the small talk. Here I go.

"No, not really, other than the fact that I'm like ninety percent sure I failed the Math midterm," I laugh. She laughs, her eyes twinkling.

"Yeah, me too." She leans in closer suddenly and I jump at the sudden lack of distance between us. "So, how is it with the lady friend, eh?"

My face twists with confusion. "What?"

She laughs. "You know, your girl," she looks at me, raising her eyebrows. I look back, still confused. She sighs dramatically. "You know, Nancy, your girlfriend."

I stop and cock my head. "We're dating?" Her face goes blank and turns into an embarrassed grimace.

"Oh... I thought you guys were," she says sheepishly, stepping back and out of my personal bubble. "So there's nothing going on between you two?"

"Nope, we are both single and lonely," I laugh. She looks at me with a hopeful glint to her eyes. Or I'm just horny and making that up. Either way, I'll take what I can get.

"You just wanna walk around the gym and talk?" I ask. Oh god, this conversation feels so tense and forced. She smiles.

"Yeah."

The rest of the day flies by. Before I know it, it's dismissal. For once, I'm a little sad that I have to leave. It's been nice to get to talk to Sophie for so long. Just as I'm getting on the bus, my phone buzzes. I check it and see a notification from Sophie.

Hey, do you wanna come over later? There's something I really want to talk about with you.

Crap. I don't like the way that sounds. I shuffle to my spot and sit down. Nancy almost always rides the bus with me and she sees the text.

"Oh my god, what do you think that means?" She asks excitedly. I shrug.

"I dunno, it just makes me nervous."

"She invited you over, though!" She squeals. I roll my eyes.

"Whatever, it's probably—" I'm interrupted by my phone buzzing. I look down and read the message.

Would you be down to spend the night or something?

TO BE CONTINUED