More Than Friends

Chapter 40

Quick A/N before the chapter: it's 3,137 words long because of how much I wanted to put in here. Alright, to the ending now. 

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Flirting, I read somewhere, is best done by looking at someone for about two seconds, smiling, and then looking away. If that's true, I've flirted with basically every person in my life. In reality, I don't think that's qualified as flirting since we were eight years old.

Some people flirt in another way; most do actually. I mean, think of how many times you've flirted with someone by smiling for two seconds while holding eye contact. You can probably count it on one hand.

Flirting with friends, however, is much more complicated than that. When you're flirting with your friends, it can be disguised easily as a joke. That comes in especially well when they're not into it, I've learned.

Then, if your friend starts flirting back, there's the obligatory conversation about if you're more than friends or just friends. And that is an awkward conversation.

So, when we're walking to Ben's and Jackson starts flirting with me, you can understand my confusion. Yeah, we had feelings for each other a few months ago, but I thought they went away on both sides. Maybe he's just feeling flirty today; that would make sense.

We're only a couple minutes away from Ben's when he starts flirting with me. It's weird; I don't object to it. "Bold, are we?" I ask him, smiling.

"It's just flirting, Ramona," he corrects me. "I feel like being more open today."

Times like these, a SQUIP would come in very much handy. It's a shame I don't have any drugs that act like that. Advil doesn't do that so I guess I'll just have to settle for my own stupid brain and a flirty banter. "Open to what? STD's?"

I get a raised eyebrow in response, "No. I would prefer no STD's today.  God, you're hard to flirt with."

Aha! He is flirting. Quick, do I flirt back? Yes, the correct answer is yes. Right? I mean, it's just practice flirting. "Well, I'm sure that's just a part of my charm."

A smile appears on his face as we walk onto Ben's street, "You are very charming."

"You're not wrong there, but I have a feeling you're just saying that for some brownie points. As cute as you are, you aren't getting any extra brownie points." I respond easily. We jokingly flirt somet- no, we never do that actually, not when it's just with us.

We exchange a look of agreement that this is a joke, just for fun. Flirting is fine, especially if it's just for fun. "Calling me cute, Gibbler?"  

A smirk easily appears on his face when he notices that I'm intently staring at the sidewalk, a nervous habit. "Yes, like a puppy. Or my brother." Well, I'm a good liar. Not really, but at least I can lie to him... not a good thing, but at least it's convincing. 

"Good thing I think of you as my little sister then," Jackson smiles, but I can tell that it's a fake smile. I'll play along, though. Not gonna lie, being sister-zoned isn't great for my ego. "Now, let's mess with our friends before we go grab one of them, shall we?" With that, he grabs my hand and holds it. I smile, thinking about how we're messing with our friends today. 

At that, as if on cue, Ben's house comes into view, with Ben on the porch, very casually eating popcorn. "Hey Jamona," he greets us. Surprisingly calm for him.

"Sup loser?" I respond, smiling a little wider. I'm surprised he hasn't noticed the handholding yet.

He looks at the two of us, giving us a once over before saying, "You've got some explaining to do about all this." How is he so calm about this? It's Ben, for God's sakes, the one who flips when a couple of kids randomly start flirting!