Just Friends

Chapter Twenty

"Hey, Jo!!! Hurry up, we're going to be late!" Ellie yells from outside my bedroom door. When I open it, she jumps through the doorway, wrapping her arms around me tightly. "Happy Birthday!!" She shouts in loud, painful enthusiasm.

I wince a little at her screams. "How are we going to be late if we haven't even got a set time to be anywhere?" I ask, a little amused.

I don't really care all that much about my birthday but seeing the excitement on Ellie's face as she pulls away slightly, I can't help but catch some of that excitement too. If there's one thing I know about Ellie, it's that she does nothing in halves. At Christmas, she decorated the whole apartment with lights and trees, but because we weren't spending the actual day together, with the reluctance of some of our friends, she made us have an early Christmas day. Just us, with a massive feast and gifts.

"Jo!! It's your birthday! Cheer up!"

I smile a little and grab the bag from my bed.

I always spend my birthday with my family, with my dad, and recently I have begun to see Ellie as a part of that family. She was overjoyed when I asked her to come back home, to my dad's, with me for the day. I had teased her, saying that I would probably regret it because she would make such a big deal for my birthday, but we both knew I was lying.

Truthfully, I'm looking forward to spending the day with both of them.

I give her another smile and say, "fine, fine, come on, let's go, before we're 'late.'" I mock, giving her a teasing grin, but she doesn't seem fazed as she grins a genuine smile back.

Ellie grabs something from the sofa, quickly hiding it in her handbag. "No peeking!" she says when I try to take a peek. "You can have your present when we get to your dad's!"

I rub my eyes, clearing the sleep. "Remind me again why we have to set off so early?" I've been up so early the past few days I was hoping to have a little more sleep.

"We need to be there for at least a few hours! If we set off any later, we will barely have any time there!" Ellie defends. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She says as she spins around grabbing two takeaway cups, hopefully, filled with coffee, and handing one to me.

I hold the cup to my nose, taking in its hot bitter contents.

Noticing the grateful look on my face she says, "Do you forgive me now?"

I tilt the cup up to my lips and nod my head, my eyes close in bliss as I take a gulp. "All is forgiven," I say, "Even waking me up at this early hour on my birthday!"

She rushes towards the door, my hand in hers, and towards the car. She squeals as the light, yet plentiful rain assaults her perfectly styled blonde hair.

She drags me to the car, quicker now than before and she tries to cover her hair with her other hand. "I should have grabbed my umbrella!" She shouts.

"It's a bit of rain! It's not going to kill you!" I respond with a giggle.

"Maybe not," she retorts, giggling as she says, "but it will kill my amazing hair and makeup!"

She swings open the car door and as I climb into the driving seat, she immediately looks at herself in the mirror to check over her still perfect hair and makeup.

I grin a little, amused by her frantic panics. "All good?" I ask, amusement thick in my voice.

She smiles her wide smile and says, "All good!" before she reaches to turn on the music.

As we drive the rain hits the windshield, getting more intense the closer we get to home.

"I saw Braden yesterday," I say, after a short while of silence.

"Oooh! And?" She asks, probing for more details.

"He asked me to go play pool with him," I say matter of fact.

"And?" She says, a little more impatiently. She turns in the passenger seat to take a better look at me. I can practically feel the frustration radiating from her. Wow, it never ceases to surprise me, just how much she loves gossip, but I love her for it. "You said no?!"

I don't even have to look at her right now to know that one eyebrow is raised and her mouth is probably hanging open like someone hit pause on a goldfish.

"Yes, I said no."

"Jo!" Her voice thicker now with frustration. "Why would you do something like that?!"

"Well," I breath, "It's not as though it would have been just me and him. He was going with the rest of the team."

"The football team?" She asks, "Okay, yeah, I can get that. Still though, you could have spent some time with him" Her voice lifts slightly when she says this.

"Yeah that would have been nice and all, but maybe not surrounded by a group of 'lads'."

"Hmmm," Ellie sighs, "Well, maybe next time you'll get to have a little more alone time with him."

"What is it with you and trying to set me up with people?" I smile.

"I'm not trying to set you up with anyone!" She defends, her voice getting higher as she does. "I just want you to be happy... and maybe enjoy yourself along the way."

Again, without looking at her, I know that she is probably wiggling her eyebrows at me suggestively right now.

"Oh, also, I invited him to the party this weekend."

"What party?" She says, lying terribly.

"The one you are quite clearly planning for me. Although I didn't tell him when... or where. Which is a good job really because those are the only details of the 'surprise party' I don't know yet" I laugh.

Ellie joins in with the laughter, "Well, don't worry. I'm sure he'll figure it out."

My smile broadens a little more. Now that I come to think of it, it is weird he didn't ask those questions himself.

I do sort of hope he comes to the party, although I know I probably shouldn't. He is not the sort of guy I should be getting involved with right now. Sure, he's hot and he certainly knows how to charm his way through life, but he's not exactly the relationship type. The conversation I overheard with him and his football pals proved that much.

Is that what I want? A relationship?

No. I don't. I can't.

Thank you so much for reading, please don't forget to vote, comment and follow. I will try to bring out new chapters as often as I can, however as I also work full time, sometimes you may have to wait slightly longer. I hope you continue to read and enjoy my book.

I appreciate all your kind words and helpful, constructive criticism.