Viral

Seven

Hey, hey! You, you!
I don't like your girlfriend
No way, no way
I think you need a new one!
-  Avril Lavigne

How would you describe vulnerability without defining it? Is it standing naked in a crowded room? Sharing your darkest secret with your best friend? Or is it as simple as wearing your heart on your sleeve? Will I spontaneously combust if I do all three?

I stood with my arms crossed at the end of my driveway. I was trying my hardest not to turn my head in the direction of Finn's house. Despite my best effort my eyes darted over to see his car still parked in his driveway. He was still busy with Carly.

Not that I care.

I had no plans of riding to school with him today. As soon as I gathered myself enough to escape from the muffled sounds behind his bedroom door, I texted Marcus to come get me. At the sound of him honking his horn I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Damn Beckett, what's with the face? Get in." I still hadn't opened my mouth to respond after I walked around his truck to the passengers' side. "Girl, you better talk to me or I'm not pulling off."

Today was not the day. No part of me was in the mood to entertain this conversation. Yet, we were still parked in front of my house and I wanted more than anything to pull off before Finn and Carly would inevitably come out hand in hand.

With every ounce of effort I had, I was able to whine, "Marcus, please?" My voice came out bare and softer than I had wanted it to. Something in the back of my throat was willing me to cry but I didn't feel like I had a reason to be sad. That didn't stop my vision from beginning to blur as tears formed at the corners of my eyes.

I blinked them away. Marcus turned to look at me then lightly grabbed my chin to hold my attention. "Seriously Beckett what's wrong? You and Finn fighting or something? I wasn't going to ask why you needed me to pick you up when Finn..."  I watched his eyes move from my face to what had to be movement behind me. His brown orbs widened before he turned in his seat to face the road and put the car in drive. There was no doubt in my mind he had seen Carly and Finn leaving together. "I get it."

"Get what?" I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to push a chunk of it to the left side of my face. Maybe if I can shield myself from Marcus he can't gather how I truly feel.

"You're jealous! Finn for the most part has always been yours, now he's all serious with Carly. What you feel like you're losing your best friend?" Hearing it out loud made me feel like it was true. I had been feeling Finn pull away at different stages of his relationship with Carly but this morning made it all too real. "You'll always have me." Marcus took his eyes off the road to smile at me. His smile stretching the corners of his mouth I couldn't help but smile back even if it was a tiny one.

"I'm not jealous and I'm not losing my best friend." My phone buzzed to alert me I had a message from Finn, I decided not to read it. "I just didn't expect to start my morning seeing them doing it." I lurched forward as Marcus slammed on the breaks, my seat belt restricting my movement enough to keep me from slapping the windshield with my face.

The car behind us was blaring their horn then swerved around us flipping the bird. Marcus seemed unfazed since he remained stopped in the middle of the road. "Yo! Swear?" He had held out the 'o' in yo for so long I had gotten annoyed. But not as irritated as I was as he began laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach.

He finally came to his senses as a choir of car horns were erupting around us and began driving to school again. Still laughing of course, he kept talking. "No way, Finn got in there." I felt my stomach turn. I had momentarily forgot I was one of the guys and none of them felt it inappropriate to say certain things in front of me. "I knew I should have started a bet on it, I would be $40 richer."