Jessica Thompson as That Girl

XXIV. Best Friend

"First heels. Then, makeup. Now, romance novels. It's been an exciting month." He looks stressed. "Would you like anything else? Would you also like to tear my heart out of my chest?" He looks like he's about to cry. How did this conversation escalate into tearing my dad's heart out of his chest?

"Don't you need it to continue living?"

"You didn't say no."

"I'm just saying. You need your heart more than me." Plus, what am I going to do with a heart? Decorate it? Frame it? Throw a little glitter on it to distract people from the blood? Somehow, my thoughts just went dark.

Dad exhales softly, "Let's go backward." He places the dry plate into the washing machine. The main character, two friends?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything. It's best to pretend that you don't know."

"Okay."

"The main character finds out that she may have feelings for two guys? One of them has a girlfriend?"

"Yes?"

"Do nothing."

"What? Nothing?"

"Well, I would suggest she goes for the guy who doesn't have a girlfriend."

"That would make sense." I hand him another bowl. Now, how do I tell him the other guy has a reputation? Not that I'm interested in making the bad boy my boyfriend or anything. Okay, maybe a little. Then again, which girl isn't a bit attracted to bad boys? I'm not saying all the girls will throw themselves at bad boys, but there's something about them. Something about dating a guy that your parents forbid you to date is just so darn tempting.

He rinses it off, "And the last one. The one that seems to be the biggest headache of them all. Well, has she said anything about their relationship before?"

"She did tell the best friend that she felt uncomfortable about her friend's advances towards her brother."

"And the best friend response?"

"She's backing away."

"Well, it seems like everyone is pretty deep in this." I agree. "The brother doesn't want to hurt the little sister's feelings. The best friend doesn't want to hurt her friend's feelings. If they get together, they may break up, which will hurt all three feelings. The brother has a rocky relationship with his girlfriend, so if the best friend leaps in after finding out the mutual feelings, it will label her as the one who broke them apart."

My eyes widened, and I nearly dropped the fork in my hand. I didn't even think of that. Also though Brody and Victoria's relationship is rocky, it doesn't mean they aren't together. If Krista finds out about Brody's feelings right now, doesn't that make her the bad person if Brody and Victoria broke up over her? I mean, I know they won't break up because of Krista, their relationships have been rocky for a while now, but it would seem that way.

Holy. How can my dad think of that, but I didn't?

"Then, there's also the case of the brother's girlfriend who may or may not know about her boyfriend's emotions towards another girl."

"What if she's mean?" I ask. "You know, to the younger sister."

"So? Even if she's mean, it doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings. And, believe it or not, sunshine, people aren't what they seem. She may behave rudely, but perhaps there's a reason why."

"Nothing can defend someone who bursts out of rudeness."

Dad lifts a brow, "Are you saying you never said anything that sounds rude to someone else before?"