Better Off Friends

“That’s over a month away,” I reminded her.

“Please, you’re not going to tell Levi what’s going on, are you?”

I got up and headed for the door. “Really, Emily? I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Where to start?

I got it. When somebody tells you you’re seeing things that would get them in trouble, you’re most likely not imagining it.

How about when someone tells you she’s hanging out with someone she used to have a crush on just to study, don’t believe her.

So true.

Or if your best friend says she’s going to a track meet solely to keep you company, you don’t assume she’s there to hit on another guy.

That was not why I went.

Who’s lying now?

I’m not lying. I can’t help it that my pale skin and sparkling charisma make me irresistible to men. What was I supposed to do, be rude?

Whatever.

I thought having a girl best friend and a girlfriend would’ve given me some understanding of how the female mind worked.

Yeah, not so much.

Things became really bizarre between me and Emily. She began being extra enthusiastic around me. And any time I mentioned Macallan’s name, she would laugh and then change the subject.

Macallan wasn’t much better. It used to be that whenever I mentioned Emily’s name, she’d smile. Now she winced.

A buddy of mine in Cali gave me his theory that they were both in love with me and fighting over me.

Yeah, right. Maybe if this was a dream.

I avoided talking about Macallan with Emily and vice versa. As long as Emily didn’t come up, things were normal between Macallan and me. So I was looking forward to going to the high school’s track and field meet with Macallan and Danielle.

We sat in the bleachers with Macallan in the middle. She held up her hand to shield the sun from her eyes. “Glad I brought sunblock,” she said before riffling through her bag and applying lotion to her face and arms. Macallan’s hair in the spring and summer was my favorite; in the sun it was almost bright red with an orange undertone. But if we went inside it looked like it did in the fall.

She continued to squint. “Here, take my sunglasses,” I said. I had a hat on so at least the sun wouldn’t bother me as much.

“Oh!” Danielle elbowed Macallan. “Look — Ian’s stretching.”

I couldn’t see Macallan’s reaction, but whatever it was made Danielle laugh.

Who’s Ian? I thought. I looked over and saw some guy stretching his hamstrings and doing a quick jog with his knees up. Did Macallan know him? I didn’t remember her ever talking about an Ian.

I studied Ian. He was tall and ski

He took to the starting line and was in the middle lane with seven other guys.

“What times are we looking for?” Macallan asked me. She didn’t seem too interested in him. Maybe Danielle was the one with the crush?

“I usually do the four-hundred in fifty-five seconds. So, hopefully, they’re around that time.”

The shot fired off and the ru

Ian was in a close second, and as they rounded the final corner of the track, he sped up.

“GO, IAN!” Danielle stood up and cheered. She grabbed Macallan to join her.

“Could you be more embarrassing?” Macallan asked her.

“Challenge accepted.”

Macallan waved her hands. “Never mind. I give in!”

They both cheered as Ian finished first by a hair. We waited for the official times to be a

“How do you know Ian?” I asked as Macallan watched him cool down.

“Oh, he came to …” She winced.

“He was at the New Year’s Eve party,” Danielle finished for her. “And he’s been asking about Macallan.”

“Oh.” I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me that Macallan would have guys interested in her. And I had a girlfriend, so it would’ve been completely hypocritical of me to be jealous that she could potentially have a boyfriend.

I told myself I wasn’t jealous. Just protective.

Danielle jumped up. “I’m going to get something to drink. And it so happens that I’ll need to walk right by Ian. Imagine that.”

Macallan groaned. “Have fun — not like I could ever stop you from doing otherwise.”

“At least you understand your limitations.” Danielle hopped down the bleachers and leaned against the fence as she talked to Ian.

“Is it too late to transfer schools next year?” Macallan asked.

“So, do you like him?” The words came out before I had a chance to stop them.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t really know him that well. He’s cute.”

So he was Macallan’s type.

“Well …” I didn’t know what to say. I knew I should’ve been supportive about it, but it was making me uneasy. I decided to pretend she was one of my buddies back home. “Why don’t you invite him out and we could go on a double date?”

That wince again.

I decided to not dance around this anymore. “Are you in a fight with Emily?” I asked.

“Not exactly.” Macallan started digging through her bag. I knew that meant she was avoiding something.

“What’s going on, then? You’ve been acting weird. You’re both acting weird.” I grabbed her bag so she would stop doing whatever it was she was doing and be forced to pay attention to me.

“I don’t want to be stuck in the middle between you two. Just talk to Emily,” she stated bluntly.

“I talk to Emily all the time,” I reminded her.

“MACALLAN!” Danielle screamed from the track below. “COME SAY HI!”

She groaned. “Look, Levi, I’m in a very awkward position between the two of you and I don’t want to have to lie anymore. So talk to Emily. Really talk to her.”

“What do you mean you don’t want to lie to me anymore? Have you been lying?” I’d never thought Macallan was the lying type.

“Not exactly.” She grabbed my hand and leaned in. “I’m really sorry. Just talk to Emily.”

She hopped up and made her way down to Ian.

I didn’t know what bothered me more: the fact that my best friend had been keeping something from me or that she was currently flirting with some guy.

I climbed the steps to Emily’s house slowly, feeling the weight of whatever revelation was on the other side of the door.

“Hey!” Emily greeted me with her usual kiss.

“Hey.” I tried to smile back at her, but I could tell something was wrong. Something was different. Maybe it had been there for a while, but now I was paying attention.

And so was Emily.

“Is everything okay?” she asked with a tilt of her head, like she was trying to size me up.

“Not really,” I confessed. “I think we need to talk.”

“Oh.” Emily didn’t seem surprised. She led me to the couch in the living room. “What’s going on?”

“I think you need to tell me.”

She paused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But that pause told me she knew exactly what I was talking about.

“I talked to Macallan today.”