Best Friends?

The Fight

Luke

Here I was, four days after I kissed my best friend, still throwing my pity party, ignoring her and pretty much all of our friends. The only interactions we've had have been short stolen glances, the second half of auditions Tuesday and rehearsals the past few days. It hurt not to speak to her, but every time I felt pain it was quickly replaced by anger and pride. I finally did something I'd been waiting fifteen years for, and she just pushed me away. I didn't want to embarrass myself further by forcing myself on her again.

Only half an hour left in practice, then I can quit torturing myself by staring at her the entire time.

"Okay," Mrs. Clark started, "What is the conflict between the two main characters in this play? Mazy?"

"Umm, the male lead, Brett, left Stella for Hayly. That's when the conflict started. When he returns, he finds that his brother quickly replaced his spot in Stella's heart, leaving the pair equally angry at each other, as well as Brett mad at Damon."

"Well maybe it isn't Brett's fault," I chimed in, "Maybe what Brett was doing was for her own good, or because he thought she was losing feelings for him. Maybe if Stella would've had a little more faith in Brett and waited a little longer, there wouldn't have been a conflict."

"Yeah, or a storyline," she shot back. Ouch. I guess I'm not the only one bitter about that night.

"Yes, but Stella has to understand he feels bad about what he did," I replied, as if her comment didn't phase me, "Its not like he purposely hurt her because he wanted to. Not all guys are just out to ruin some poor girl's life."

"And what about Hayly, huh?" she asked, clearly getting angry with me, "What is he going to do with her? Because the play has scenes between Hayly and Brett, and he never shows any sign of letting her into know what he's said or done with Stella. He continually confesses he's still in love with his old flame, but he always goes back to Hayly, not a trace of an intention to tell her how he still feels about Stella. You're telling me that he didn't mean to hurt both of them at the same time, but how do you do that unintentionally?"

"Well, how do you know he won't tell Hayly?" My toned matched the volume and intensity of hers. "Maybe he will at some point and just hasn't gotten around to figuring out how to break it off."

"Then he should do it instead of cheating on her and putting Stella in the awkward position of being the one he does it with! He needs to stop being so selfish and just figure out what the right thing to do is instead of what he wants. Because he's hurting not only T- I mean, Hayly... He's hurting Stella by putting her in the middle of it. Especially with Damon around."

That's what this was about... Something was going on between her and Liam! She didn't care about mine and Hayly's relationship, she just didn't want my kissing her to ruin whatever the hell was happening with the two new love birds.

"Really?" I said quietly, "Fine, she can go worry about her precious Damon. I guess that's why Brett gives up in the end, huh? He gets tired of trying, finally gets smart, and moves on. Sounds like a good plan to me."

Her eyes bore into mine with so much emotion, I nearly cried for her. I see flashes of anger and sadness and pain cross her expression so many times I lose count. I felt guilty, yet strangely satisfied...

I had to look away when I saw the tears brimming the bottom of her eyes. Four days, I'd been doing this four days and all she had to do was shed a tear to make me want to get on my knees and beg for forgiveness. What are we even fighting about? Me being an ass? Because that's definitely how I feel right now...

As I looked up to stop myself from apologizing, I saw that everyone, Liam, Terri, Michael, Mrs. Clark, and everyone else working on the play, was staring at us, eyes wide, jaws to the ground.

Mrs. Clark composed herself and cleared her throat before saying, "Well, that's very good kids. Umm, perhaps we should break early. You guys enjoy your weekend."

I turned back around to see Mazy sitting\on the ground and curled into a ball, probably trying not to cry.

"Mazy..." I whispered.

"Don't waste your breath!" she snapped, her rage filled gaze meeting mine, "Go find your precious girlfriend. You've already embarrassed me enough for the day. I don't feel like putting up with anymore, thank you very much." She jumped up hastily.

I shook my head. "I'm not trying to embarrass you, Maze, I'm-"

"Don't, 'Maze', me. I'm done. If the only reason you're going to talk to me is to make me feel stupid or guilty or whatever it is your trying to do, spare yourself some time and go use it doing something useful. Like making out with your slut of a girlfriend instead of me." She turned on the balls of her feet and walk away gracefully, as if we didn't just have that fight.

She really just said that... Thank God everyone left before I said something to her.

What did she mean she was done? Being friends? I don't think she meant that... I was sure I meant more to her than that.

Behind the curtain, I saw Liam consoling the girl I just broke, making the jealousy inside consume me. I stormed out of the auditorium, back into the school hallway. I glanced to my right and caught a glimpse of Tiffany. I really didn't want to deal with her right now, especially if she heard any of what just went down. Instead, I walked right out of the door, ignoring her calling my name as I got in my car and drove off.