Chasing Shadows

20 Friendship

R E A G A N

My phone buzzed endlessly until I finally turned it off. Pierce looked over at me, the sun shining in his hair like a brilliant halo.

"You're missing a great day," he said.

Gentle waves rocked us in his father's sailboat. Sun reflected off the water, making the ocean look like an undulating crystal. I leaned back and watched clouds roll by. There fluffy white body shifting in the slight breeze.

"Just turning my phone off," I said.

"Is he still bothering you?" Pierce lay down next to me. He wrapped his arms around me, entangling me next to his body.

"We're friends and he-"

"A friend would let you make your own decisions," Pierce cut in. "I know you had feelings for him and he's having a rough time with the fallout with Ella, but come on, Reagan. He wants to sabotage this." He pointed at both of us.

"We were both in the friend zone with each other," I sighed. "Now I've found someone and it's like, just my friendship isn't good enough anymore. Now that I've extinguished my torch for him, I'm not good enough."

"You're too good for him. Don't let his childish behavior get you down."

I nodded and moved further into the crook of Pierce's arm. His hand rested on my bare stomach, leaving a warm imprint on me. Yet I still felt cold. Deep down inside me, my flame for Alec flickered a little. Had I done the right thing being here with Pierce?

Ella and I had settled into a nightly routine of rom-coms, popcorn, and giggling in the three days I stayed with her. We never talked about Alec or even Pierce. We talked about everything else we could think of though. She shared her love of art with me. I talked about literature. We discussed which incarnation of Hugh Grant we liked best. She liked the 90's Grant, in the era of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. While I gravitated to the more dignified Love Actually and About a Boy Grant. We both agreed his work with Bridget Jones was the best though.

We settled in for the night, trying to decide what to watch. Ella flicked through the various streaming services with her lips pursed.

"What do you feel like?" She asked.

It had rained most of the day, only letting up in the last hour or so. Still, we had been housebound all day. It soured my mood a little. Being outside the house kept me away from my thoughts. At night, when I laid down, I had nothing but the fights with my mom and Alec to keep me company, but as soon I went out with Ella or Pierce, they were pushed back. There had been nothing to push them back today. Even Ella was in a mood today. We had spent part of the day apart.

"I don't know," I said. "I feel all bleh."

"Yeah, me too."

Ella made an annoyed sound and threw her head against the back of her recliner.

"I never thought I'd say, but I don't think I can handle another Hugh Grant movie."

I clutched at imaginary pearls. "My dear, Ella, you can't be serious! Whatever will we do?" I pretended to fan myself and swoon.

"How do you feel about slasher movies?"

"Annoying teens getting chased through the forest while they ignore the obvious escape route and a guy with a big knife chases them? Sign me up."

Ella picked a gorefest from the 90s and we settled in for the ride. About halfway through a masked serial killer slicing through the girls' volleyball team, my phone rang. It had been a few days since Alec had tried to reach me and aside from him, no one had tried to call me. It had been texts all the way.