AN: This idea was brought to me by Annabeth The Unicorn, via review on What It Means To Be A Friend. Love you, dearie! This switches perspectives every chapter, between Archie and Patrice. The chapter titles will be the person whose perspective it's in. Sort of like the book Flipped, if any of you have read it. Sort of following the original story line, but not at some points (i.e. movie theater scene). Hope you like it!
She likes him. No, she loves him. Even after he broke her heart in front of the entire school. I guess I should've seen it coming. The new kid, all mysterious and whatnot. It'll wear off. Oh, God. Who am I kidding? Of course she won't. She's a girl. I'm going to have to sit there and listen to all her stories about how he smiled at her, and apologized when he bumped into her and blah, blah, blah.
Why can't she see that I'm perfect for her? I've known her quite literally forever. I know all her quirks, all her secrets. We tell each other everything. I'm her shoulder to cry on. She's there for me when things look bad. Like, really bad. So bad, I may not live through it. Literally. It's the MD.
Sometimes, being Patrice's best friend isn't the greatest. Like when you have a huge crush on her. There are a few problems there. First of all, I have to listen to her go on and on about Evan, the new kid she's obsessing over. Second, she's my only friend, so telling her how I feel might make it all awkward. I can't have that; otherwise I'll really be friendless. Lastly, if Evan shows the slightest bit of interest, I'm screwed.
The worst part is Evan lives right next to Patrice. They see each other basically every day. They walk home together. Plus, she spent an entire month with him over the summer. I hate to say it, but he's winning her over. I can't let that happen. Every time I get up the nerve to tell her I like her, I wimp out and feed her some crap about Kendra. Yeah, right.
Anyways, Patrice was over at my house, as she is almost every day after school. We usually talk about people, who's doing what with who and who said what and whatever. But lately, all she wants to do is talk about Evan.
"You'll never guess what." She said excitedly, lunging forward a bit in excitement. I was sitting down beside her on my bed, my crutches lying on the floor beside us. Her face was about five inches from mine, and even though I liked having her that close to me, I had to disguise it. I used one finger to push her forehead back, as if she was too close for comfort.
"What?" I asked, sighing a bit. I almost said 'What did Evan do now?', but I figured that would be mean. Being mean is definitely not how you get a girl to like you.
"Today, after math, when he was picking up his books, Evan's hand brushed over mine! On purpose!" She squealed excitedly. I tried to look enthused, doing my best to hide the fact that my heart sank. "Just like this!" She added, brushing her hand over mine to demonstrate. I hoped to God that I didn't blush.
"Cool." I nodded, smiling a bit. She looked disappointed. "What?"
"I just expected you to be happier for me, that's all." She said. There was a long, awkward pause.
"What do you see in him?" I asked suddenly. She looked up at me, confused.
"I don't know, really." She said after giving it some thought. "I mean, he's cute, but that's only skin-deep, right? I wonder if that's the only thing I like about him. That's weird, isn't it?" She said sort of quickly. I guess she didn't feel like opening up. That's fine, I didn't really want to hear about how great Evan is, anyways.
"Yeah…" I said awkwardly. It was really weird. Things between Patrice and I are never awkward. Ever. We were like each other's private journals. Except, I would never tell her I like her. Hell no. Too risky.
"Well, I should get going. My mom's going to be wondering where I am." She smiled, grabbing her backpack off the blue sheets and walking briskly toward the door. Grabbing my crutches, I hobbled as fast as I could after her. She stopped at the door.
"See you tomorrow?" I asked, feeling stupid. What kind of question was that? Of course I'd see her tomorrow. There are only like, 20 people in the whole town. I'd see everyone tomorrow. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"Of course." She smiled brightly, turning and walking down the sidewalk. I watched her walk until she went around the corner. I gently shut the door and slumped against it, balancing myself so only one crutch was needed and using my other hand to run my fingers through my hair. Why is it that out of all the girls I couldn't get, I just happened to have a huge crush on my best and only friend? As if my life weren't difficult enough.
I staggered into the kitchen and sat at the table, pouring myself a glass of water from the pitcher that sat as a centerpiece.
How could I get Patrice? I mean, I really like her, but I can't come right out and say it, can I? That would just lead to her never talking to me again. She'd avoid me at school, start hanging around with Evan more… and bam. She's gone. No, no, no. I needed a plan.
Think, Archie. How can you get her away from Evan, but not let her know? How can you pull her toward you without her realizing what I'm doing?
I did a classic spit-take as I figured it out, spraying mom's new tablecloth with speckles of water. Oops. But I had a plan. An absolutely perfect, flawless, foolproof plan. Foolproof, maybe, but is it Archie-proof? I always find a way to screw everything up. Not this time. Oh, no. This time, everything is going to be perfect. I could feel it. Time to put my plan in action.
AN: I hope it was good! It was kind of short, but they'll get longer, I swear! So the next chapter is the same event but in Patrice's perspective. Then chapter 3 will be a new event in Archie's perspective, and then the same one in Patrice's and so on. Give me good reviews, guys! If you didn't like something, tell me! I would prefer a suggestion than just "Good chapter, update soon" any day. Not that hearing that you like it isn't great, but I'd like a bit more detail. What did you like about it? What didn't you like? Suggestions for next time? That sort of thing.
