Hanging With The Boys

25.

"CAN YOU BELIEVE them? How could they fight over something so stupid?" I ask Kenzie as we make drinks. 

"You being that something stupid?" Kenzie asks in a joking tone. 

"It's not me they're fighting over. It's the idea of me." 

"Okay, well what did Forrest mean when he said that Luke made a move on you?" 

"Luke kissed me at the New Year's Eve party we went to." I sigh. 

"He kissed you?!" 

"Yeah, but it's not a big deal. He said he was just caught up in the moment. And now Forrest is blowing it all out of proportion by beating up Luke and sending him to the ER." 

"I doubt he was just caught up in the moment." 

"What are you talking about?" I laugh, putting a lid on a cup of coffee as I hand it out to a waiting customer.

Kenzie rolls her eyes as she leans against the back counter.

"C'mon Henley. You seriously don't notice how he looks at you? The way his eyes light up when you walk into the room, like you're the only girl in the world. Whenever you're talking, he smiles. And don't you ever wonder why he always seems to think that no guy you're interested in is good enough for you?"

I let her words sink in as I think about everyday since I've met him. Luke knows me better than anybody else. He's the only one out of our friend group who knows the whole story about why I moved here. Him cancelling his plans so he can hangout with me or work on an assignment, calling me in the middle of the night for no reason other than just to talk, asking me who I would date out of the friend group.

"I think he's in love with you, Henley. And I think you love him too." Kenzie tells me, snapping me out of my daydreaming. "How can you be sure?" I ask but as much as it scares me, I realize that she's right.

Everytime I hear his name, he's all I can think about. Teasing each other all the time. The chills I get whenever our hands accidentally graze one another. Somehow knowing that he'll be part of my future even if I don't know what that looks like yet.

"You're the happiest when you're with him." She says and I know she's right.

Sure I have a connection with Forrest but it's nothing like what I share with Luke. Oh god, Forrest. "What am I going to tell Forrest?" I ask her, starting to panic. "What's he going to think? He'll hate me. Am I just supposed to dump him and then move on to his closest friend? What will people think?" I rant. "Who freaking cares what people think? It's your life!" Kenzie encourages me and once again, she's right.

Forrest already made plans with me to talk to him tomorrow morning before school starts so I'll just have to wait until then since I'm super busy tonight with work and homework. So until then, I'll just have to think about what I'm going to say to him and Luke.

I don't sleep much that night, tossing and turning as I think about everything that could go wrong. But come morning, I shove my worries down and get ready for school hurriedly so I can meet up with Forrest.

**********

It's pretty cool for a January day, so bundled up in my jacket, I make my way to the bleachers. "Hey." I smile at him, my hands tingly from my nerves. "Hey." He replies, giving me a small smile and I know this is going to be a serious discussion on his part too. "Look, I just want to start off by saying that I shouldn't have started that fight with Luke no matter how mad or jealous I was. And even if I did end up fighting, I shouldn't have hurt him as much as I did. Have you heard anything from him?" he asks. "He'll be staying at home for the next week because his ribs are bruised but luckily there are no fractures. I'm going to visit him at lunch." I tell him.