Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Chapter 8

Bertram's POV

I have to finally admit it, I have a huge crush on Nancy. I think I have had a crush on her since I met her last summer, but I didn't realize it till she left. You don't know what you have until it's gone. I learned the hard way that that phrase is right. I didn't know I had feelings for Nance until I thought I lost her forever. Now that she is back, I want to show her how I feel. The only problem is, I have no idea how to do that. After a lot of thought and consideration, I decided to ask someone for advice about my romance troubles. Who am I going to ask? I, of course, am going to ask my best friend who is in a stable and adorable relationship. Benny.

Benny and I had second period together, so that was a perfect time to confide in him. Even more perfect, second period was study hall. This meant that I didn't have to be sneaky or avoid any teachers to get the advice I needed. I don't know how everything worked out so well, but I couldn't be happier about it.

I didn't waste any time when I got to study hall. After Benny and I sat down, I started asking questions right away. "Hey Benny, can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can," he said.
"Okay, how...umm...how did you know you liked June?" I asked.
"I don't know, it just kind of hit me one day," his answer was too vague for me. I needed more information. I needed something that would make me know how to address and express my feelings.
"What do you mean it just hit you?" I just heard my own voice for the first time during this conversation. I sounded eager, anxious, and somewhat scared. I feel like those aren't a good mixture of emotions.
"I don't know how to explain it. You are hanging out with someone and they smile at you - or something like that - and then you just realize it. It just hits you," his answer was way more helpful this time. I remember when it hit me. It hit me the day Nancy left. "Why are you asking me about crushes Bertram?" Benny asked while I was still analyzing his previous answer.
"No reason," I muttered.
Benny sighed quietly. "You like Nancy, don't you?"
I panicked. "How did you know that?"
"Unlike you, I actually know when my best friends have crushes on people," he said.
"I should have seen that coming," I replied.
"You should of," he snickered. "Now that we made it past that point, what do you really want to know?"
This was the moment I have been waiting for. My entire day had been leading up to this climactic conversation. "How do I tell Nance that I like her? Do I tell her or would it be better not to? Do I try to show her how I feel? Do I make a sad attempt to flirt with her?"
"Woah! That was way too many questions at once," Benny remarked. "For starters, I would wait a little while before you tell her. Not too long, but just a little bit. I don't think now is a good time considering everything going on with Ham and Alicia."
"Okay noted, but what about all the other stuff?" I asked.
"That's all you! I'm not going to tell you how to live your life man. If you are ready and comfortable enough to confess your feelings, then do it! If not, then try to flirt with her if you want. It's all about what you want to do," Benny talked like a motivational speaker. A good motivational speaker too.
"Alright, I know I'm not ready to tell her yet. So how do I flirt with her?" I inquired. I inquired about a lot of things today.
"Honestly, just be yourself. Don't go out of your way to make it seem like you are flirting with her. All that will do is make you self-conscious and act weird," he explained.
"So just be myself and be nice to her?" I was confused and my voice definitely conveyed that.
"Do exactly that," Benny said with a smile. I nodded and that was the end of that conversation. We started talking about random stuff after that.

I now have one thing I didn't have before, I had a plan. For now, I would be kind to Nancy and that would be my best attempt at flirting. I will eventually tell her how I feel, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Even though I had a plan, I was still nervous. It's like I had all the tools in the toolbox, but I didn't know how to use the tools.

Author's Note: Chapter 8! I finally wrote from Bertram's point of view!! I've been wanting to not write from Nancy's point of view for a while now, but I just couldn't. All the previous chapters needed to be from Nancy's point of view. I'm glad that I finally got to write from someone else's point of view.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! 😊❤️
Like always, I proofread but if you find any typos please let me know! 👍