Bestfriends, Better Off as Lover(ch2)

Chapter 2

“Kae?” I heard Aaron whisper. “Kae, wake up. We have to go.” He said it so gently, almost as if he didn’t really want to wake me up. My body was suddenly forced upwards; I realized that my head had ended up on Aaron’s chest. I saw that he was now standing up, I tried to do the same, but my body was still asleep. It turns out I didn’t move at all when I tried. I also saw that his shirt was once again on, but I was too tired to care at the moment.  The next thing I knew, Aaron had his arms wrapped around my waist, helping me up with little effort on his part.
“You got it?” he asked, sounding amused at the brain-dead state I was in. “Do you need me to carry down the car, or are you going to be okay?”
I shook my head, ignoring the smirk he had on his face, and mumbled that I was fine and I didn’t need his help. He didn’t seem totally convinced. My eyes were half way closed as Aaron grabbed my wrist and started leading me down the trail. I felt like a zombie, walking around all dead-like. We were half way down the trail when I heard a loud crashing sound and I suddenly felt the damp forest floor against my body. It was cold and I wanted to get up, but I couldn’t move. A sudden shock of pain began to shoot through my head and then everything went dark. I remember as I faded deeper and deeper into darkness, I saw Aaron drop everything and bend down to me. I heard around say my name and a few choice words. I felt the warmth of his hands gently stroke my cheek and then I didn’t feel the damp earth below me.
I woke up the next morning in my soft, warm bed, with a splitting headache. I slowly sat up in my bed, holding my head, thinking of where I put the Advil. I looked around on my side table beside my bed, but instead of Advil, I found a note in Aaron’s handwriting. I picked it and began to read.          
‘Good morning Miss Graceful. I bet your wondering what happened last night? Well, being the klutz that we all know you are, you walked straight into a tree and blacked out. I hope you feel better, and I’ll give you a call tomorrow to see how your doing. Aaron.’
‘God, I’m such a loser!’ I thought to myself, as I got out of the bed. I walked past my mirror as I was about to go downstairs and stopped. I backed up and looked at my reflection. When I did, I saw a knot on my forehead the size of a quarter. I touched it lightly, but quickly yanked my hand away because touching it hurt.
“Perfect.” I said out loud.
I walked downstairs to find that mom and dad had already gone to work. I walked into the kitchen, mindlessly wondering around to find the Advil. I found it in a cabinet above the sink. Just as I was about to take it, the phone rang, sending a sharp pain through my skull. I let out a little yelp as I walked over to answer it.
“Hello?” I answered, still holding my head.
“Hey there Kae” it was Liz.
“Hey Liz. What are you doing?”
“Nothing, Aaron called me and told me what happened last night” she told me, laughing. “Only you, Kae.”
“Yeah, my head is pounding.” I told her, also smiling at myself for being so clumsy.
“What are you doing today?” she asked, calming herself down some.
“Nothing. Why?”
“I was just thinking that we could go get lunch and then go hang out at the mall for a while.” she told me.
“Um,” I wasn’t in the mood for the mall today, but lunch sounded good. “Can we just do lunch? I don’t think I can handle the mall today.”
“That’s okay. Lunch is great with me. Are you going to try your new look out today?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I guess.” I said. “But  what time would we be going?”
“Um,” she paused. “I was think we’d go around 12:30, which gives you an hour and a half to get ready. Is that okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’s plenty of time for me. I’ll just see you then.” After we hung up, I started to walk back over to the counter where I had found the Advil. I took two and then went back upstairs. I got into my room and walked over to my closet. I opened it and began rummaging through the mass of clothes to find something decant to wear today. I decided to wear a skirt Liz had given me a while back and a matching shirt. It wasn’t something that I would pick out to wear usually, but I was trying to get into the habit of not being the usual Kae. I thought that Liz would approve of the outfit. I slipped out of my sweat pants and slipped the jean skirt on. I flung my raggedy, old t-shirt off and pulled the shirt I was wearing on over my head.
I walked into my bathroom and got my makeup bag out and began applying it on how Liz had taught me that night I had spent the night. I started with some base, I put a little more on the shrinking lump on my head to cover it, followed by powder, mascara, eye liner, eye shadow, and blush. I brushed my teeth before I put my lip gloss on. I threw my hair up into a messy bun, but added a ribbon that would match my outfit to make Liz happy.
Once I had finished getting ready, I gave my mom and dad a call and told them my plans for the day. After that was taken care of, I sat down on the couch and flipped the TV on. Everybody Loves Raymond  was the only thing that was on. I was barely watching the show, I was actually thinking of the previous night. All those things I was feeling. All of those feelings that caused me to what I did. I really did have it bad for Aaron, there was no question there. Then I started thinking of something else…what if I was doing all of this for nothing? What if he finally saw the new me and still felt the same way? What if I was taking our friendship out of context, and that’s all we are ever suppose to be? Just friends.
I was suddenly sent out of my daydreaming by the telephone ringing. I got up and walked over to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Kae?” It was my little sister, Nicole.
“Yeah?”
“Hey. Okay, can you take me and Mary Allen to the movies in a little while?”
Nicole. What can I say about Nicole? Well, we are complete opposites, just like Liz and I. Nicole is the typical cheerleader type: blonde, beautiful, prissy, and all the guys love her. I, on the other hand, am the typical bookworm type: brunette, quiet, and it’s a miracle if a guy looks at me. Yep, Nicole got all the beauty, while I got stuck with the brains.
“No, Liz and I were going to get some lunch. Sorry.” Not.
“Couldn’t you just drop us off on your way or something?” she pleaded.
“No.” I said, bluntly.
“Ugh, whatever.” and then she hung up.
I hung up and set the phone and walked back over to the couch. I was only there for a little while longer. In just a little while, I heard a car horn honking in my driveway. I grabbed my purse and my phone. I walked out the door and locked it behind me.
As I walked over to the car, I saw Liz smiling. I opened the door and slid into the seat. I glanced over at Liz as I buckled up, noticing she was still smiling.
“What?” I asked her finally.
“You-you look so…” she was looking for the right word.
“Girly?” I suggested. By the way her face looked, my guess was what she was thinking.
“Yep, you sure do.” then she reversed the car and started driving.
We made small talk on the way to the restaurant, and some how Liz talked me into going to the mall. My head was feeling better, so there went my only excuse not to go. We finally pulled into the parking lot and were seated right away. The place wasn’t very crowded, so it didn’t take a long time to get our order filled and have it brought back to us. We took our time eating, considering it was still very early. Nothing very interesting happened while we ate. All though, Liz found our waiter hot and kept trying to flirt with him, even when I reminded her that she had a boyfriend.
“It’s harmless flirty, Kae. Chill out.” she said, with a grin.
After lunch we went across the road to the mall. Liz was determined to get me a completely new wardrobe while we were there. She dragged me into Hollister, American Eagle, and places like that. Each time we came out of a store, we came out with another bag. When I offered to pay for something, she would laugh and tell me not to be ridiculous.
We were almost finished for the day, when we walked out of the last store. Liz was trying to point out a guy to me on the other side the crossway as we were walking, which made me distracted. I suddenly felt myself ram into someone. My bags went flying everywhere.
“Oh my- I’m so sorr-” I stopped mid-sentence when I saw who I had run into.
“Kae?” he asked, a smile spreading across his face.
“Tom!” I said, standing up and giving him a short, some-what awkward hug. “Wow, its been a really long time. How have you been?”
“Yeah I know!” he replied. “I’ve been good. I joined the baseball team at school.” He told me, as he gestured to his shirt, which had the team’s logo on it. “How about you?”
“Me? Nothing really.” I answered, then I suddenly felt Liz jab me in the side with her elbow. “Oh, Liz, sorry. Tom, Liz. Liz, Tom.” I hated making introductions.
“Nice to meet you Tom.” Liz said.
“Same here, Liz.” He replied, smiling at her.
“So, um, how do you two know each other?” she asked, pointing at both of us.
“We went to school with each other in elementary school.” Tom explained. “We were in the same class for two years straight, right Kae?”
“Yep.” I replied, surprised he remembered. “I knew him before I moved here.” I told Liz.
“I’m actually a year or so younger than Kae, but my grades were so good, they bumped up a grade.” he told Liz, proudly.
“Isn’t that neat?” Liz replied, trying very hard to sound like she cared. I let out a snort of laughter. Tom didn’t notice.
Tom and I played catch up with each other for a while longer. I could tell that Liz was feeling like the odd one out; she would giving me that desperate look and nervously clearing her throat every once and a while. I finally had to find a stopping place with Tom. He was so easy to talk to, it was harder than I would have imagined.
“Well, Tom-” I paused, trying to think of a good excuse for leaving in the middle of a conversation. “Liz and I have to get going; we have some stuff to catch up on before school starts up.” I know, what a lame excuse, but I had nothing else.
“Oh, well okay.” He looked sadden, but otherwise convinced. “But before you go… what are you doing tonight?”
“Nothing, why?” I replied. I should have lied.
“Would you like to go have dinner with me?” he turned to Liz. “You could come, too.”
I shot Liz a anxious look, she returned it. But then I said something that shocked us both.
“Sure, why not.” What? Why did I just agree to this? I looked at Tom, who looked like the carnival had come to town. He smiled a ear-to-ear grin.
“Really? That’s great! Um, I guess I will pick you up around seven?” he looked at me, still grinning.
Just as I was about to answer, another thought popped into my head, and I blurted it out before thinking. “Yeah, that’s good. But do you think one other couple,” Tom’s grin grew larger at the word, but I ignored it. “could meet us there?”
“Sure, whatever.” he replied. He gave me another quick hug and turned to walk away. “See you at seven.” he called out. I didn’t reply.
Once he had turn the corner, Liz and I started walking back to the parking lot. It was quiet, and for Liz, that was not normal. I began digging in my purse, looking for my phone, when she finally spoke.
“That was beyond awkward!” she emphasized. “And now we are going to dinner with him? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he’s a great guy and all, but..” he voice trailed off. “Who are you calling?” she asked noticing I had my phone out.
“Aaron.” I answered shortly.
“Why?”
“Well, he was who I was talking about a little while ago. I want to see if he wanted to come.” I answered as I dialed his number.
“You know he would bring a date, right?” she asked, as we walked out the door.
“Yeah…so?” I said, as I put the phone up to my ear.
“That date would most likely be Tracy.”
“I know.” and I hated it.
“Then why are you asking-” I cut her off.
“Hello?” I heard Aaron’s deep, raspy voice say as he answered the call.
“Hey Aaron. What are you doing?” I asked.
“Oh, hey Kae. Nothing much just about to go cut the grass.” I wish I was home to see that. “What about you?”
“Liz and I are just leaving the mall.” I informed him. “What are your plans for tonight?”
“Well, Tracy and I were trying to get together, but we can’t think of what to do, so I don’t know. Why?”
“Well, do you think you would want to triple with me and Liz?” I asked nervously.
“Oh, um, sure. That would be cool. Where are we going? Dinner, movie…?”
“Dinner, at that new place down the road from the movie theater.”
“Yeah, I know where you’re talking about. I heard that place was really good. Who is all going?” he asked me, as Liz and I were climbing into the car and buckling up.
“Well, you and Tracy, Liz and Tyler, and me and some guy from my old school.  We ran into each other today and got to talking.” I explained.  “And the next thing I know, I had a date with the guy. So, will you come? For emotional support, of course.” I added.
“Yeah, Trace and I are in. What time?”
“Tom is coming to get me at seven, so I guess we could just meet up at my house and you guys follow us.”
“Okay.” he seemed to be thinking. “Well, I have to go call Tracy. But I guess we’ll just see ya’ll tonight.” with that, we said our good-byes and hung up.
I closed my phone and shoved it into my purse. I glanced out the window, thinking. Why did it have to be Tracy? I mean, anyone else but her. I looked over at Liz, who was shaking her head.
“What?” I asked her, confused.
“Why are you doing this, Kae? Hurting yourself like that, I mean.” she glanced over at me, for a brief moment. “You knew that he would be bringing Tracy. Heck, I even told you he would. And yet you set yourself up for it.”
“For what?” I knew where she was going with this, but I couldn’t say it. She was right.
“Heartbreak. You always get all sad  when he mentions her. But you did it to yourself this time, sister.” I usually loved how Liz and I could be honest with each other, but right now, not so much.
“Yeah, you right. But, for some strange reason, I thought that if Aaron saw me and Tom together, he would get…”I stopped, knowing how stupid it sounded.
“Jealous?” Liz finished for me. I glanced over at her, while a tear trickled down my cheek, and nodded my head, dumbly. “Kae…”
The rest of the car ride was quiet. Liz had turned the radio on, and was softly humming along. I, on the other had, was staring out the window, watching the scenery pass by us. I was thinking. Thinking about everything; thinking about who stupid it was to agree to my date for tonight, stupid for thinking it would make Aaron jealous, stupid for thinking that I even had a chance with him. I was so stupid.
Liz finally pulled into my driveway and helped me carry my new things up to my room. As usual, no one was home. Liz stayed a little longer, helping me hang me new clothes and removing the tags. She sat on my bed and stared at me.
“You know, its not stupid.” she said, its like she could read my mind. “You wanting him to like you isn’t stupid.”
“Thanks Liz.” I walked her downstairs and gave her hug. “See you tonight”
I watched her pull out and waved. I closed the door and walked back up the wooden steps to my room. I had just gotten into my room when the phone started to ring. I let out a frustrated grunt and quickly ran downstairs to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Kae, can you take Mary Allen to the mall?” it was Nicole.
“No, Nicole. I have plans tonight. If you wanted to go, you should have let me know a little bit earlier. Wait. Why can’t you just get Mary Allen’s mom to take you guys?” I mean, she was staying over at their house for the week.
“She doesn’t want to take us.” she relied.
“Well, then I guess you guys can’t go. Sorry.” but I really wasn’t.
“Kae! You are such a-” I hung up the phone before she could finish that sentence. I put the phone back on the hook and glanced over at the clock on the over.
4:34.
Wow. Liz and I had been out for a while longer than I had thought. I still had a little time left before I would start getting ready, so I walked into the living room and switched on the TV. 7th Heaven was on. Not my first choice, but I was to lazy to look for the remote. I hated coming into a show late, it always makes me so confused. I finally started to get it when one of the kids was explaining everything to the mom. I ended up watching the rest of that and then went to jump in the shower. I made it fast, because I hated taking showers when I was home alone. Don’t ask me why, I just don’t.
I walked into my room, wrapped in my towel and shut the door. I walked over to my closet and opened it to find something to wear. It took a while, but I finally picked out something; a brown dress with a V-neck, a tank top to go under it, brown flip flops, and matching jewelry. After I was dresses I walked over to my mirror and looked at myself. I didn’t look half bad. I walked into bathroom and began to scrunch my hair, which I knew how to do thanks to my cousin teaching my last summer. I had put the last squirts of hairspray in my hair when I glanced over at my clock.
6:01.
Okay, I still had time. I grabbed my makeup bag off of the table in my room and took a seat in front of my mirror to put it on. I had really gotten good at doing my own makeup. First, I dabbed the foundation on and rubbed it in. Followed by powder and blush. I use brown eyeliner, because people say brown makes blue eyes stand out more. Now, I don’t know if that’s true or not, but whatever. I even mastered the eyelash curler. I laid the bag to the side for a second and got up. I walked into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. After that was taken care of, I walked back into my room and over to my open make up bag. I grabbed my lip gloss out of it and quickly coated my lips with it. I had finished getting ready with just enough time to call my parents and tell them what was going on and that I’d see them later tonight.
I was pacing in front of the door for a good five minutes before I heard Aaron’s truck pull up in the drive way and another car following it. It was a minute later before there was a knock at the door. I had butterflies in my stomach. I knew that it was Aaron at the door, and usually I would be jumping over things to get to the door faster, but I looked different from what he was used to. What if he didn’t like it? But, what if he thought that it was cool that I was trying something new? I couldn’t not open the door. I took a deep breath and turned the door knob.
When the door was open the first person I saw was Aaron, who’s crooked smile I loved so much was fading fast. He stared at me with a look of confusion. I wanted to explain everything to him, but before I had a chance to say anything to him, Tom popped up from behind him. He had flowers in hand and a smile on his face, it was hard not to smile when you were around Tom. He was such a great guy. And even though Tom was doing an okay job at distracting me until Liz and Tyler to show up, I still couldn’t shake that look Aaron had on his face when he had seen me. It was stuck in the back of my head the whole night.
It had to have been the longest date I have ever been on. It felt like it would never end. Dinner was great, and so was Tom. But Aaron kept staring at me the whole night. It was like Tracy was barely there. She would have to say things to him three or four times before he would realize she was even talking. I mean, not that I mind the attention, but it wasn’t the stare I thought I was going to get from him. I wanted him to stare like I was more beautiful than Tracy. But this look was something different; it was like he was confused, hurt, and something else I just couldn’t figure out. That all changed though. The moment Tom worked up the courage to put his arm around my shoulder. I looked over at Aaron and I could have sworn his nostrils flared. He looked angry and shocked. It’s not that I like seeing Aaron angry, but that was what I wanted. I wanted him to be jealous. I was getting what I wanted. It was a strange high. That emotion grew stronger in Aaron later that night before Tom and I got into the car to go home, when he leaned over and kissed me. It was very awkward, and I didn’t enjoy it. But it seemed to get Aaron furious. I loved it.
After Tom dropped me off and I walked in the house, my mom asked me how everything went. I told her almost everything, leaving out the part of me kind of using Tom to get Aaron jealous. My dad had already gone to sleep, so as I walked up the stairs I had to be quiet. I walked in my room and changed out of my dress and into some comfortable clothes. I walked into my bathroom and washed my face and finished getting ready for bed. I walked past my TV on my way to my bed and flipped it on. I climbed into my bed and looked at my phone,
2 missed calls.
I flipped open my phone and checked who they were from. Aaron. Of course. I dialed his number and he answered immediately.
“Hello?”
“Hey Aaron. Did you call me?” I asked.
“Uh- yeah.” he paused. “About tonight…what was with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, when did you start becoming such a- a girl?” he asked in a snotty tone.
“Well, thanks.” I said, sarcastically.
“Oh, Kae, you know what I mean. It was like, one day, you were wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. And now you are wearing dresses and fancy girl clothes.” he paused again. “And what was with you friend? Who does he think is, putting his arm around you and kissing you like that? He’s what…ten?”
“Aaron, he is a year younger then us, that’s not much. And he was my date, that’s what he is suppose to do. Why is it bothering you?” I was so confused. How could everything I have been planning for have backfired so badly?
“It’s not so much him that bothered me, it was you.”
“What’s the matter with me?”
“You looked so…” his voice trailed off.
“Different? Is that what you were going to say?” I asked, angrily.
“Well, yeah.” he said, more softer now, knowing he said something wrong.
“Well, Aaron, I’m sorry you don’t approve of my new look. But just incase you didn’t know, I’m not looking for your approval.” I was becoming a pretty convincing liar. “And if you have a problem with it, you are going to have to get over it.” and that’s all I said.
“Okay, well, I’m glad to know how you feel Kae. I’ll just talk to you later.” then he hung up. Without waiting on me to say something. The guy hung up on me! I was so mad, I was crying. I hated that I cried so much, but I just couldn’t help it. I threw my phone down on my bed and sat there with my arms crossed, still fuming. Then a surge of sadness washed over me. He was mad at me. We have never had a fight that lasted over night and it made a hurt that he was made at me.
My phone started beeping a few moments after I had calmed down a little bit. I picked it up and read the text message that was just sent to me.
‘Hey, sorry about that. I‘ll call you tomorrow. I‘m not mad, just incase your thinking that. A.’
It made me laugh. He knew me to well. I was going to text him back, but I decided that I’d just wait until he called me tomorrow to talk to him. I hooked my phone up to the charger and turned my lights off. Before I fell asleep I thought about what had just happened. I wish I could just fast forward all the downs of my life and just get to the good parts.