Silence filled the air. She stared out the window as he reached for her hand. His grasp tightened, her hand still limp. “Talk to me Daley. Please, say something, anything. I just want to know what’s wrong. Why won’t you talk to me??”

Daley. His best friend. His confidante. The most beautiful name he’d ever heard. The object of all his desires. The girl whose smile never faded, whose eyes sparkled when she spoke. Whose words were always kind, whose touch was always delicate, whose gestures were always genuine. But how would he ever be more to her? They’d known each other for so long. He’d never ask her how she felt-he’d never survive the humiliation. Maybe he could just show her. Or, at the very least, through someone else close to her, get her to feel the same.

But who? She had only one other best friend, Lainey. But, she hated him. Hated the attention of Daley’s that he stole from her. But, she was his only hope. He had to take this chance. He was tired of waiting for the impossible. And he had to act before someone else did. He just couldn’t bear to see her with someone else, someone undeserving of her love. Someone, who, inevitably, would crush her being.

He just had to get closer to Lainey, to get closer to Daley. But how? They couldn’t just suddenly be friends, she’d know something was up. Everyone would. But his desire to be close to Daley was enough to silence his logic. He knew that Lainey was a pretty cool person. He’d spoken to her before either of them had met Daley. Maybe if he’d just make amends….


“Hey, Lainey, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“What do you want?”

“Nothing, it’s just. I just wanted to see if we could try being friends. I don’t really understand whatever it is that I did to upset you in the first place. But, I’d like if we could call a truce, and, at the very least, try being friendly towards each other. You know, for the sake of our respective friendship with Daley.”

“The only way we can be ‘friendly’ is if you leave my best friend alone.”

“Lainey, please. Just hear me out, okay.”

“Why should I? You’ll just end up stealing her from me.”

“No I want. I just want to ease the tensions between us. I care about Daley, and I don’t want her to be torn because her two best friends can’t stand each other.”

“If you just stay out of my way, you won’t have to worry about that.” She turned to walk away.

“Lainey,” his hand rested on her wrist. “Please just give me a chance.”

Her mind spun. “Whatever.” Away, she hastened.

He drifted through the crowd, to his locker. “What was that? Why can’t I get her out of my mind? What does this even mean? I’ve never felt like this before…”


Lainey wondered what it was that he really wanted. There is no way he wanted to just be her friend. Not with the way he touched her. He even looked at her differently. Or was that just the first time she ever noticed his rich eyes?

He didn’t know what he was going to do. He couldn’t just leave Daley in the dust like this. Daley was his true love. His best friend. His confidante. The one he could always turn to. Lainey’s best friend. He’d just have to tell Daley how he felt. Lainey didn’t seem to care for him one way or the other. Gave him the death stare half the time.


“Hey, girl. Uhm, can we like talk. About Patrick.”

“What about him?”

“Uhm, well, do you know if he’s seeing anyone?”

Her heart sank. “Uhm, I don’t really know. Why? Are you interested or something?”

“Never mind,” she chuckled. “I was just wondering, you know?”

“Whatever, girl.”


“Hey Patrick!”

“Hey, Daley,” he only half-smiled. “Is it cool if I borrow your notes from chem?”

“Sure, but, there kinda sloppy. I couldn’t focus, you know? Mr. Hill’s so boring, I spaced out a couple of times.” Wow, I’ve never noticed those dimples before.


“Patrick, I need to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“Uhm, it’s just, uhm, I don’t know how to say this.” She blushed.

His heart sped up. “Well, just try, okay?”

“I, uh, uhm. It’s just, well, I don’t know, you know.”

He smiled. “Please just tell me.”

“It’s just, I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“Oh…”


How am I supposed to tell her? I know that I love Daley. She’s had me since that first time I looked into her eyes. But, I don’t know. These vibes from Lainey, are just, like. I don’t know. I can’t have both. What if it’s like an either-or type thing? I care about Daley too much to do that to her. But, I’ve known Lainey longer. If she didn’t hate me, it wouldn’t be so bad. But, it’s like she’s going to hit me half the time. And, know, it’s like, she’s always brushing up against me. But how do I tell her?

“Hey, beautiful…”

“What?” Did he just say what I think he said?
Having just witnessed a kiss, obviously meant to be kept secret, tears streamed down her face.

In unison, “Daley, wait!”

Silence filled the air. She stared out the window as he reached for her hand. His grasp tightened, her hand still limp. “Talk to me Daley. Please, say something, anything. I just want to know what’s wrong. Why won’t you talk to me??”
“How could you?”
“How could I what?”
“You know what!”
“Daley…”
“Don’t even bother. It’s obvious how you feel. I’ll just step back, and let you and Lainey be together.”
“Daley, please try to understand…”
“No, Patrick, I understand. My two best friends don’t even have the common decency to tell me that they’re dating each other. And you…” Her gaze fixed on Lainey. “You knew I liked him, and didn’t even tell me how you felt. I would never disregard your feelings in so gross a manner.”
Stillness. Her chair scraped back, and her shoes squeaked as she exited to the hallway. They just sat there, let her go. They knew she would get over it, but still knew that they went about this all wrong. At the very least, however, he’d never tell her why he talked to her in the first place. He’d never felt such butterflies before. And having his two loves furious at him wouldn’t solve anything…