Fell In Love With My Best Friend

Chapter 2

It was the first day of Christmas break, and Liam couldn't be happier. That morning, he woke up and went straight to Erica's house. When he knocked on the door, he heard someone walking down the stairs. When someone finally answered the door, he saw a very annoyed Erica. "Why are you here this early in the morning?" she demanded.
"I would rather explain it to you inside. It's sorta cold out here."
Erica rolled her eyes and headed back upstairs. Once she got in her room, she jumped in bed. Liam laughed which caused Erica to sit up again. "What's wrong with you? Why are you here anyway?"
"I thought you would've liked to see your boyfriend," he teased.
"We've been dating for a month."
"So? We're still dating," he said, walking closer to her bed.
"Yeah we are..." she admitted, sighing.
"Oh? You're not happy with me here? I guess I can just leave..."
"No. Just... I'm still tired, Liam. You woke me up at 8 in the morning, and I can guarantee you that if you would've woke my parents..."
"I would've been dead."
"Exactly."
Liam laughed and sat next to her. "What do you want for Christmas?"
"Christmas?"
"Yeah. You know the day that's coming up in 5 days..." Liam said, looking at her weirdly.
Erica punched him in the arm. "I know that, idiot. I'm just wondering why you want to know what I want for Christmas. You're only 12, it's not like you can get anything."
He shook his head and couldn't help but smile. "Really? You think because I'm 12 that I'm not able to get you something for Christmas?"
"Yeah. My family gets me what I want."
We'll see... "Erica, I'll get you something for Christmas. You'll see."
"Whatever you say, Liam. Can I go back to bed now?" she asked.
Liam sighed and said, "I guess so. I have to get going anyways." Hoping Erica would stop him, he stood up and walked toward the door. But she didn't stop him. She fell asleep as soon as her face hit the pillow.

***

"So...You want me to go to the store and buy Erica a Christmas sweater?" Liam's mom asked him.
"Yes. I need to get something for her for Christmas, but I'm not old enough to have any money. I only have a few dollars from tooth fairy money, which my friend broke the truth to me 3 years ago..." Liam said, losing his concentration, thinking about the day Bradley told him the tooth fairy wasn't real. He realized he was off topic, so he shook himself and turned back to his mom. "Anyways, just a sweater. Maybe some cookies," he said, smiling sweetly and innocently.
"Okay, Liam. I'll buy her a sweater," his mom said, sighing.
"Thanks, Mom!" Liam hugged his mom and smiled.
His mom laughed and said, "You're welcome. Are you going to get your two sisters something for Christmas too?"
"Isn't that the parents' job?"
"Liam..." she warned.
"Okay. Get them both teddy bears, but not the same color."
His mom shook her head and sighed. "Okay Liam..." she said, sighing a sigh of defeat. "You're a pain, you know that, right?"
"You asked for this."
"To have an annoying son? I don't remember that one."
"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time," Liam said, winking at his mother.
"Liam, that was just awful."
Liam laughed and grabbed his coat while running out the door to Erica's house. "See you later, Mom. Thanks."
"Man. I swear he spends more time over there than at his own home," she said out loud to herself. She watched him run down the sidewalk, knocking on Erica's door as soon as he got there. Then, she saw him walk in, shaking the snow off his shoes before walking in. At least he still has manners over there.

***

It was the day of Christmas, and Erica woke up at 8:30 a.m. with happiness. She ran downstairs, but her parents weren't down there. However, she still walked into the living room, and there before her was a colorful Christmas tree with a bunch of presents under it. She smiled and sat down next to the Christmas tree as she looked at all the presents. There were more presents than there were last year. Last year, her dad wasn't working much and neither was her mother, so there wasn't any money to buy a lot of things. This year was different because he has a job, and her mom was babysitting on weekends to get some more money. She picked up a present that was in the far back, and she was shocked. It was from Liam and his family. I didn't know he was actually going to get me something, she thought to herself as she started to take off the bow.
She dropped the present on the floor once she heard her parents coming downstairs, so she put the present back and pretended to be admiring the Christmas tree.
"Someone's eager," Mrs. Blake said, smiling as she sat down on the floor next to Erica.
"Maybe a little," Erica admitted.
"Where's Liam?" Mr. Blake asked.
"He does have his own family, Dad," Erica said, giggling.
"Right... Okay, let's get some breakfast."
"But..." Erica said, looking at the presents.
"You know the rules. Breakfast first," Mrs. Blake said, helping Erica off the floor. Erica sighed and walked into the dining room and sat down. "Do you want cereal or pancakes?"
"You know I only like my pancakes one way."
"I know. Chocolate chips," Mrs. Blake sighed.
Erica smiled. "We can have the pancakes since Liam is still with his family opening presents," Erica decided. So it was settled. They spent the next hour eating pancakes and going through their stockings, but they didn't open any of the presents yet. Erica wanted to wait for Liam, but it was already 10:00, and he still wasn't here. Erica was starting to get worried, so she went upstairs and called him.
"Hello?" It wasn't Liam. It was another guy's voice.
"Hey. I was looking for Liam."
"I bet you were. My son is a fine boy. May I ask who's calling, love?"
"My name is Erica. I'm Liam's best friend."
"I'll go get him for you."
Erica nodded as he heard the guy, who was supposed to be Liam's father, call for Liam. "Your best friend is on the phone. She says her name is Erica." For some reason, he pronounced it like Ee-rica. Erica just shrugged while she waited for someone to come back on the line.
"Erica?"
"Are you still coming over? I've been waiting for 2 hours."
"Oh, sorry about that. I was going to. My dad just came over at short notice, and I've been hanging out with him. I got distracted, but yeah I'll be right over."
"Okay. You don't have to. You can spend time with your dad since he hasn't been with you for long."
"No, it's okay. He'll be here all Christmas vacation."
"We go back January 4th."
"I know. I know."
"Okay... I'm going to start opening presents downstairs now."
"You haven't opened your presents yet?"
"I told you I was waiting for you."
"Oh...right. You should've opened your presents awhile ago. I'm sorry...I should've called."
"It's fine. I'll see you later."
"Okay. Bye."
Erica put her phone in her pocket and ran back downstairs. "There you are," her dad said, holding a wrapped present.
"I was calling Liam."
"We should just open these now..."
"That's what I was thinking too. Hand me a present," she said, getting into tearing mode.
Mr. Blake laughed and handed her one. As soon as she got the present, she started tearing up the present like crazy, and this process continued until she got to Liam's present. This was the last present she decided to open, but she thought that this present was special because it was from Liam. She carefully tore off the paper, and under the paper was a sweater, white Hershey bar, and a card. She looked at the sweater and what it said. It said: All I want for Christmas is you.
Next, she grabbed the card and read it carefully.
Hey Erica. I got this sweater for you. I hope you like it...Actually, my mom helped me get it for you, but it's still special from me. Have a Merry Christmas. Keep being awesome!

From: Liam

Erica smiled and slipped the sweater over her head, over her tank top she wore to bed.
"That's cute," her mother said, smiling at her.
"Thanks, Mom. Thank you guys for the presents..."
"We didn't get you all the presents," her dad said, smirking.
Erica laughed and nodded. "I know. I need to thank Liam, too."
"You guys are so adorable."
Erica just stared at her mom for a minute. "What do you mean you guys are adorable? Are you talking about Liam and me?"
"Yeah. You guys are such a cute couple," her mom said.
"Couple? How did you know we were dating?"
"It's so obvious, Erica. He's been coming over a lot more, he's getting you gifts, he's always calling. This is more than a friend relationship."
Erica was so embarrassed, but she wasn't going to let it show. Then, she finally said, "We're just twelve, Mom. It's not a real relationship..."
"I already know that. You're just like me. When I was your age, I was always hanging out with boys other than girls. I get it. Now... When you turn 16, this will be a different story..."
"We have a while for that..."
"Not as long as you think. You're in middle school already. Time flies! You can wake up tomorrow for your first day of sophomore year of high school!" Mrs. Blake exclaimed with a mixture of excitement and sadness in her voice.
Erica smiled and started to take most of her stuff upstairs, but she stopped to sit on her bed and do some thinking. Is it really true? Will I be 16 before I know it? I know I'm in 7th grade, but I didn't know it would go by so fast. I don't know if I'm ready for all that. Once I'm 16, that's where all the responsibility comes around. That's when you get a car, get a license, get a job, get a boyfriend... She sighed, running her fingers through her messy blonde hair. She looked around her room and outside her window. Wow, I didn't know that life could go by so fast. Does Liam realize how fast life can go? He needs to know that he needs to start thinking about what he needs to be doing. I need to start thinking about my future... Erica was interrupted from her thoughts by her phone ringing. She jumped and grabbed her phone.
"Yes?"
"I can't come over."
"Why?"
"My mom wants me to spend time with my family."
"Oh OK. Have fun."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Liam. I'm just thinking. Call me tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll see ya."
"Okay."
Erica hung up and laid on her bed. "What do I want to do with my life?"
She stood up and looked out the window. She saw a couple inches of snow covering up the sidewalk, her yard, some of the cars. She hasn't been outside, so there weren't many footprints which made it look beautiful. When the snow was untouched, it was sparkly and beautiful. The bare trees had snow all over them which gave them a beautiful look, too. She could see her reflection in the window and looked at herself. No makeup, unbrushed blonde hair falling around her shoulders. She was beautiful, no doubt about that. She looked away from her reflection, and she looked over to see Liam's mom's car in the driveway. A beautiful family with flaws.

It wasn't a bad thing. Liam just has been through a lot with his family. His dad has been in and out of his life, trying to find his purpose in life, Erica guessed. She figured that is no excuse to leave his family. But, she never said anything. It wasn't her place to say anything. Not even Liam knew the whole story, so she clearly didn't either. Erica always worried about that and how Liam coped with his dad leaving all the time. Erica rubbed her arms, feeling a chill go through her body, causing goosebumps to rise on her arms. She shivered as she stepped away from the window. She turned and grabbed a fuzzy blanket that she just received from her parents this morning. She wrapped it around her as she sat down on the edge of her bed. She sighed, looking at her phone. No new messages. A few notifications of people liking her pictures, but other than that...Nothing.
"Erica!"
She jumped. "Yeah?"
"Come on down! Your father wants us to watch a couple movies," her mom said.
Erica sighed. "I'll be right down, Mom."
She put her hand on the doorknob, turning her back to the wintery scene outside. She walked down the stairs and sat on the couch between her parents, curling up in her blanket.
Her dad looked down at her, the remote in his hand. "Are you okay, Erica?"
She nodded. "I'm fine. Just cold." She looked down, trying to push the thoughts of getting older and Liam out of the way. She looked at the television screen as her dad pushed play.