Breaking and Entering (Reece Bibby)

Chapter 22

"So what facts do we know?" Leah asked, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen.

"Hmm, let's see." I thought for a second. "Well, George kissed me."

Leah nodded, writing it down.

"Okay, Reece is upset. George is upset."

Leah scribbled these down as well, seeming to find them important.

"I don't have anything else," I said, leaning back against the couch cushions, racking my brain for any weird things I had noticed.

"Well there was the whole flirting incident." Leah reached forward and grabbed the Cheetos again.

"Flirting incident?" I turned my head to look at her, my back still pressed against the couch.

"Yeah, on the train. When he tried to flirt with that girl and she totally rejected him." Leah popped a Cheeto in her mouth.

"Oh, right. What's that have to do with this? I mean other than it being George and all." I leaned forward and quickly grabbed a Cheeto while her hands were preoccupied.

"First of all, how dare you." She pulled the bag far out of my reach. "And second of all, how thick can you be?"

"What are you talking about?" I licked my fingers to get the orange dust off of them.

"George hit on that girl on the train, and then the next day he kissed you and declared his feelings for you." Leah adjusted her glasses on her face. "I mean, maybe it's just a coincidence but I'm not so sure. I reckon something fishy is going on.

"Wait a minute." I stood up quickly. "George never declared his feelings for me."

"He kissed you." Leah pointed out, looking up at me doubtfully.

"Correct," I said as I started to pace the floor. "But he never said 'I like you.' He just kissed me and left."

"You're saying he kissed you but doesn't like you? Why would he do that?" Leah stood up now, walking over to the sink to wash the Cheeto remains off her hands.

"What if he wanted this all to happen?" I walked over to where she was standing in the kitchen. "What if he wanted to hurt Reece?"

"Ava, that's ridiculous. Why would he purposefully hurt one of his best friends?" She put the Cheetos back in the cabinet before walking to the fridge to grab a can of soda.

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." I grabbed my keys off the counter and started heading for the door.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do?" Leah asked, gesturing about wildly.

"Keep Blake occupied and make sure Reece is alive. Tell them I needed to do some searching for writing inspiration."

"Okay. How are you going to find George?" She grabbed a few snacks in preparation for going to the boys' apartment.

"I'm not. He's gonna come find me." I waved goodbye before finally walking out the door and towards the elevator.

~~~

I was sitting in my usual seat at my favorite coffee shop, "Express and Pressed", while waiting for George to show up. I had sent him an SOS text, something that was supposed to be saved for actual real life crises. In my defense, this was kind of a real life crisis.

I kept looking up every time I heard the sound of the door jingle, hoping each time it would be George. He didn't respond to the text, but I knew he would come anyway. That's just who he was.

Finally, twenty minutes after I told him to meet me, George came rushing through the door. He looked around a little, searching the people sitting down, until his eyes finally landed on me. He quickly walked over, still slightly out of breath.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his breathing starting to slow.

"Well, George, it seems I just have a few questions for you." I took a sip of my coffee.

He rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you. Using the SOS text to get me to come to you. That's just cruel." He started to stand up to leave.

"Why did you kiss me?"

He stopped trying to stand, plopping back down in the seat across from me. "What?"

"Why did you kiss me?" I repeated.

"What do you mean?" He gave me a confused look.

"I mean just what I'm asking. Why did you kiss me?"

"Ava..."

"I'm serious. Do you like me? Is that why? Or is there some other reason why you decided to kiss me and hurt one of your best friends?" I knew I was being harsh, but I didn't care anymore.

"Why are you asking me this?" He refused to look at me.

"Because I want to know. Is it really so much to ask?" I watched him, seeing as he seemed to squirm uncomfortably. "Why did you kiss me, George?"
He finally looked up, locking his eyes with mine. "Because I'm in love with you."

I scoffed. "I don't believe you."

He gave me a confused look. "You don't believe me? How—"

"I don't believe you, because I know you. If you were actually in love with me there's no way you would have flirted with that girl on the train."

"Ava—"

"No, George. I tried to get you to tell me the truth but now you're lying to me. You don't love me. There's something else going on here. So, let me try again. Why did you kiss me?" I glared at him, my eyes digging into his soul, searching for the answer.

"I don't know what you want me to say." He looked away again.

"The truth!" I yelled, louder than I should have. I looked around and found a few people staring in our direction. "I want to know the truth George."

"I told you the truth. It's not my fault you don't believe me." He stood up and walked away from the table. I chased after him, not wanting to cause a scene in the restaurant.

George walked outside, seeming not to have noticed I was following him.

"You can't run away from me."

He jumped slightly, before scowling angrily. "Go away, Ava. Clearly I have nothing for you." He turned around and started to walk away.

"So that's it? You're just not going to talk to me anymore?" I stared at his back, waiting to see if he would turn around. He stopped, but didn't turn.

"I don't get what happened to you George. What aren't you telling us? Why are you driving everyone away?" I felt tears start to form in my eyes. "What happened to you Georgie?"

"Go home, Ava. Stop worrying about everyone else's business."

I watched him go, shocked. Something had happened, and he still wouldn't tell me. I wasn't sure how long I was going to keep trying to figure it out.

I felt the tears start to fall, unable to stop them. I started backing up, heading towards my apartment when I felt myself run into someone.

"Oh my, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

I looked up to see a girl just a little younger than me, her blonde hair blowing in the wind. Her blue eyes gave me a concerned look.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking..."

"Sophie."

"Thanks for asking Sophie. I'm Ava."