"I'm so sorry, Amanda. He's such a jerk!" Nicki said, hugging me.
"He is not. I'm just stupid for ever thinking that maybe he liked me," I told her, frowning at my own stupidity.
Nicki took my arm and started walking down the tree lined street again. Our tree lined street, we'd lived her forever. "Mandy, even Einstein would've thought Henry loved him if he acted that way with Einsteiny like he did with you."
"He acted like nothing!" I turned to face her, annoyed. "Maybe he was just being nice and I misinterpret it," Then I muttered, "'cuz I'm that dumb."
Nicki turned to face me too, frowning and literally yelled, "Will you STOP degrading yourself?!"
Oh good Lord, bless my eardrums…
She continued, not yelling anymore, thank God. "He led you on; even I knew he was into you."
That emphasis was necessary. Nicki, with her blonde hair and sexy clothes, looked like your typical Barbie bitch going around town, but she wasn't. She had a steady boyfriend but I had to help her figure out all the relationship stuff, because she was so clueless. She still is, bless Adam (her boyfriend) to love her for her cluelessness to all things girly.
"He wasn't into me," I frowned. "He was 'intrigued'" I made quotation marks like I still belonged to seventh grade or something.
"Oh, there's a difference?" I wasn't sure whether she was being sarcastic or if she really didn't know.
I played along with sarcasm, anyway. "Come on, Nik. Who isn't intrigued by a sixteen year old with messy buns and philosophical theories, by a poet chick?" I started walking again.
She followed, "Everyone is. It's sexy. Different."
"It's boring. It's like I'm eighty, not sixteen."
She gave up. I knew because she sighed. "Who else have you told?" She grabbed at a tree above our heads and took off a couple of leaves, and handed one to me.
"Just Fray." Fray, short for Franklin (since he hated the name) had been my best buy-friend since two years. A cutie, but we'd always had this sister-brother relationship, nothing would ever exceed that. I was glad; I'd read enough teen books to know best guy friends got into lovin' the girl and almost ruin the friendship, blah.
"What'd he say?" Nicki bit her lip, probably kind of hurt I'd told Fray before telling her. Her phone was off when I tried calling her so I called Fray instead, I needed someone.
"That he'd be there for me, and if I ever needed to get Henry's ass kicked, I should call him up." Forever a dweeb, Frank was, I thought, rolling my eyes."
Nicki laughed a cute little laugh, and then said, "Oh! I gotta get ready for my date with Adam, you gonna be okay?"
I nodded. I really would be. I didn't even miss him anymore. Well, not that much anyway.
Nicki hurried off, waving to me.
My phone rang. After picking it up, I regretted deleting his number. Oh well.
"Sup, Hen?"
"Hey…do you know where Fanny is? She isn't picking up her phone."
Worried, much? I gulped. I hated jealousy.
"Yeah…dance practice. She shuts her phone off when she's there." Just like you do when you drive.
I didn't say it though. He didn't even know I knew every habit of his. Even after just seeing him for a few times in the past three years, I knew him so well. Now his family had moved here temporarily, for about five to six months, some family issues and stuff. I'd been excited about that once. Now… not so much.
"Thanks, Amanda. You da best," he chuckled.
Doesn't seem like it to me.
"Haha. Oh well, gotta go Henry." I shut it off. Torture! Okay, just kidding, I'm not dramatic, really.
Just before I reached my car, my phone rang again. Sighing, I answered. "Hello?"
Two minutes later, I was stuffing my keys into the ignition and thinking, Oh God, let him be okay.