Falling in Love with my Best Friend

Chapter 21: The Concert

I spent the ride there looking out the window. Matt was chattering away happily with Jake and Tracy about the concert.

I ended up pretending to sleep so that Matt wouldn't try to include me in the conversation. I was just tired and hurt and I didn't want to be in this particular car with these particular people at this particular moment.

I pulled out my ipod, putting the earbuds on and leaned back, closing my eyes.

A little while later I was pulled out of my thoughts. I opened my eyes suddenly when I felt someone's hand on my arm.

"Stacy?" Matt said when he saw me open my eyes.

I took my earbuds out quickly. "Yeah?"

"We're at a reststop do you need anything?"

I turned my head to look out the window, noticing that Jake was walking into a convenience store next to the gas station we were parked at. Tracy was still in the car but she was typing away quickly at her phone, ignoring the conversation.

"Oh uh, no I'm good," I told him, smiling.

"Okay," he said, smiling back at me and getting out of the car. "I'll be right back."

His car door slammed shut and I turned back around to realize I was sitting alone in a car with Tracy. She continued typing away at her phone but the silence was deadly. I found myself wishing Matt hadn't been polite enough to wake me up.

I just sat their in silence, tapping my foot as I continually looked back at the door to the convenience store, praying for it to open.

I was fiddling with the hem of my shirt when a blaring noise caused me to jump in my seat. I realized it was Tracy's phone when I spotted it in her hand. She put it to her ear quickly.

"Hey," she said. Okay the awkward meter just increased by ten thousand percent. I fidgeted uncomfortably as she started talking about the concert and the beach house. I felt like I was listening in on a private conversation, the way she spoke. Heck any conversation she had with a friend was not one I wanted to overhear.

My attention was immediatley drawn when her tone turned sharp. "Kyle," she sighed and I imagined her rolling her eyes. "We've talked about this. It's just a couple of girls and me, it's not like we're going to go out and get drunk. It's just going to be a quiet night in."

My eyes widened and I bit down on my lip roughly. I glanced nervously back at the door to the convenience store, my foot tapping at a rapid pace.

"Yes, I promise," she said in a reassuring tone. "It's nothing. I'll call you tonight, okay?"

My heart sped up even more as I heard her ending the call. I tried to look out the window, maybe she would think I hadn't heard? I tried to look like I was spacing out. Think of something else, anything. Ducks. Ducks like to swim. And when they go under water their legs just wiggle in the air like crazy and-

She finally hung up and then for a moment she just sat there. The silence tensed noticeably. I chewed on my lip as I tried not to look at her. Ducks. Ducks. Duck feet. Duck bills. Maybe I could fake like I was asleep again? Or put my ear buds back in! Genuis! That's genuis! I was about to give myself a pat on the back when Tracy turned around in her seat to face me. I froze when her eyes landed on me, her lips pulled into a gentle smile.

"Kyle is such a worry wort," she explained, a smile gracing her lips. She shrugged. "He worries for no reason sometimes and I just knew he'd freak out about me being in a beach house with two boys and a girl." My heart was beating eratically as I tried desperatley not to look constipated with discomfort. "Because in his mind that means I'm staying in a hotel with one guy." She laughed, the tone soft and warm. "Just don't mention it to the guys. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?"