"Rose! ROSE!" My best friend screams at me. We were walking to school and he was telling me about his band, that was when my brain decided to space out and just think about Him.
"What? Jeez, you don't need to yell in my ear, do you want me to be blind and deaf?"
"Well apparently I do, were you even listening to me?"
"I was, but you are SO boring." I joked. "I forgot to listen because I was trying so hard to stay awake."
"Ten bucks says you were thinking about that mystery guy you like. Who is it anyway?"
I shyly look down, "I don't know what you're talking about."
He sighed dramatically, "common Winter, PLEASE? Who is it? I won't tell."
"SHUT-UP JAKE! Just leave me alone!" And with that, I stormed off, leaving Jake behind. Don't get me wrong, I'm not usually like this, and I really want to tell him who I like, but I can't. I'm just scared that he'll look at me differently, you see, I, Rose Winters, like Jake Brockman, my best friend. Now he probably won't talk to me after this.
~~~~FF to Lunch~~~~
Brilliant, now Jake won't talk to me. He's sitting at another lunch table with his band mates Marcus and Luke, and my brother, David, shooting me sideways glances. I can't take this anymore, I stand up and excuse myself from the table I was sitting at with my friends, Mia and Lynnette, and run out, my urban waves flying behind me, tears threatening to spill from my blue eyes. Once I leave the cafeteria, I rush to a corner that Jake and I named, our 'secret spot'. Once I'm there, I slide down the wall and start bawling.
"Rose?" I look up, to see Jake. "Oh, gosh, Rose. Don't cry, please don't cry." He crouches down next to me.
"Why would you care? I've been a cow to you," I sob.
"I don't care, you're still my best friend," he smiles sympathetically. Realization hits me, I'm his best friend, nothing more, nothing less, and he would never like me. I cry harder. "Hey, hey, don't cry. Why are you crying?" His soothing voice, as he tries to reassure me.
"Because, I almost lost my best friend," my voice cracks, "and the guy that I like…" I pause and breathe deeply. "The guy that I love, he only sees me as a friend, and could never love me." I start to cry even harder.
"You never lost me, hell, Rose; I love you, more than my best friend." He waits for a bit, and I stay silent from shock. "I guess you don't love me back." He stands and goes to leave.
"I love you." I whisper.
"What about Marcus?"
I look up, seriously confused. "Marcus? What about him?"
"You like him, that's why you always come to our band practices and performances, and that's why you always stare at him during class and lunch." He looks down.
I laugh, hard. "You think I like Marcus?" He nods and I stand up and walk over to where his is standing. "I go to your band practices and performances to hear you. I stare at you at lunch and class; you just always sit next to him. Jake, I like you, no, I love you. That's why I wouldn't tell you, if I liked Marcus, or anybody else for that matter, I would have told you."
He smiles and hugs me tightly, like he never wants to let go. I know this is the end of a great friendship but the start of a beautiful love.