[Chapter Four : Hearts Lies and Friends]

My mom and I went out to dinner at Olive Garden and she took me to Coldstone afterwards. If you don't know what Coldstone is, it's an awesome ice cream place where you choose your flavor of ice cream and you can put anything you want in it. I love that place. But anyways. It was around 11 when we got home. I was having a nice time just sitting with my mom and catching up.

"I'm going to bed mom. And tomorrow I'm going with Pete to meet his boys. Night." I said kissing her cheek and walking upstairs to my room to fall asleep in the big bed with my clothes still on.

I woke up at 11 the next morning. A good 12 hours of sleep. I walked downstairs to find a note from my mom.

Kelsey,
I'm at work for the day. I'll be home around 6 or 7. Have fun with Peter!
Mom.

I smiled. She had set out a box of cereal, Lucky Charms, my favorite and a bowl and spoon. My mom was thoughtful and I loved her a lot for letting me move back her as soon as I asked. Wait. Did I ask? I don't think so...Eh oh well. I finished eating took and took a shower, I was done at like quarter til 12. And of course, him being Pete and all was there 5 minutes later. I opened the door to his smiling face.

"You're early. What would you have done if I wasn't ready?"

"Waited for you. But come on we are going now!" He said dragging my away from the door, giving me just enough time to close it.

"Wow... I think you may be even more impatient than when i saw you last." I said, shaking my head as we walked down the street. That led to an awkward silence between us, but we stayed silent anyways.

'Man... this is so weird.' I thought to myself as we walked side by side down the road. 'Why do I feel so... so... whatever this is? I mean, this kid used to be my best friend...'

My thoughts were soon ended by Pete, who pushed me. I glared over at him. "Jeeze, I've been trying to get your attention for like, ten minutes now! What were you thinking about?"

I looked around. "Ten minutes? Try ten seconds buddy. You only live like, a minute away." I replied shaking my head, seeing as how we were still in my front yard. I looked over at him. "I was thinking about... um... nothing. I was just kinda spaced out."

'Fuck! What am I doing, lying to this kid?? He's totally gonna know.'

"Um... sure Kels. Whatever you say." Pete replied, looking at me with his eyebrows raised. I would have replied, but my mind went blank and we were at his house anyways.

Pete led me down stairs into his basement. It was almost exactly the same as when I left. There was no one down there though. I stood at the bottom step looking around as Pete walked over to the pool table.

"Where's everyone?" I asked, eyeing the pool stick that Pete was holding out to me.

"Oh... They'll be here." "Uh huh... when"
"I dont know.... jeeze. Cant I hang out with my old bestfriend for a while alone?"

'Old... I'm his old best friend.' I said to myself. That kind of hurt. Pete must have seen the look on my face because he quickly corrected himself.

"Hey! That's not what I meant!" He said, walking over to me. "I meant... that... You're one of my older best friends. Not old old... like age old. But old. And that doesn't mean that you're not still my best friend anymore. Unless, you dont want to be... That's --"

"Shut up Peter." I said, tossing a water bottle at him that I'd found just lying around.

"Now that was just uncalled for!" He said, grabbing a pillow off the couch.

I screamed and ran upstairs. He chased after me. I grabbed a pillow off the couch in the living room and kept running. I ran through the kitchen and into the front room. I turned to run upstairs but slipped on the hardwood floor and fell right on my ass. Pete, who had been right behind me, fell over me. He quickly jumped on me and started hitting me with the pillow. I had lost mine when i fell and was totally helpless.

"Pete!!!!" Someone screamed, walking in the door. "Oh... um... Hi."

"Hi." I quickly replied as I waved and then stole the pillow from Pete and started beating him over the head with it.

Another person walked in the door. He took the pillow from me. "Enough children. Pete, we've got some news."

"Hey! Gimme that!" I said, pushing Pete off of me and getting up. I grabbed the pillow and hit Pete with it one more time.

"What's up guys?" Pete asked, trying to take the pillow back from me.

"Dude, focus!" One of them yelled. We both dropped the pillow and looked at him. "Um... Wow."

"PETE WE'RE NUMBER ONE!!!!!" A third guy yelled, running into the house. I watched as Pete's face lit up.

"Number one..." He said slowly, looking back and forth between the three guys standing infront of us. "Wow..."

"Um... I dont mean to ruin this cute little moment... But number one for what?" I asked cautiously. I looked at Pete, who looked back at me, but he didnt answer. I looked at the other guys. "Anyone..."

"TRL..." A cute one with longish blonde hair said. I smiled. That was big and I knew it really meant something to these guys. As I glanced back and forth between the four guys standing in Pete's door way, I noticed that one of them looked really familiar. I stared at him for a few seconds and then it hit me.

"Joe!" I gasped. He had been in Pete's old band, Arma Angelus. I can't believe I didnt recognize him at first. He stared at me for a second or two, and then I'm assuming he realized who I was because he pulled me into a hug.

"Kelsey... Wow. What are you doing here?" He asked after he let me go. I looked down. Joe knew who Mason was and he hadn't liked him either.

"Mason..." I said looking away. Joe nodded and it was left at that. I looked at Pete, who was still just standing there smiling like an idiot. I held out my hand the the cute blonde one. "Since this asshole isn't going to introduce me, I'm Kelsey."

"Patrick. It's nice to meet you." He said, laughing a little and shaking my hand. I smiled back and turned to the other guy who had ran in screaming.

"Andy." He said. "You'll have to excuse this kid. He really is a moron."

"Oh... I know. I've known him for like... ever!" I said laughing. I motioned towards the kitchen. "Come on. We can leave the smiling idiot here."

"Hey, that's not very nice." Pete said, coming to his senses. I stuck my tongue out at him and walked into the kitchen.

All the guys laughed and followed me into the kitchen. We grabbed some drinks from the fridge and then sat down around the table.

"So, someone want to fill me in on what happened to Arma? And everything else that happened after I left...And where the hell is Hey Chris? I know he didn't leave this town. He couldn't if he wanted to."

"He's around. We just got home like, 2 days ago from tour so we're still trying to catch up." Patrick said, taking a sip of his rootbeer. "Usually he's the first to see us though."

"Yeah, he's getting a F minus at the moment for not hanging out with us." Pete said, pushing me over so he could share the chair with me. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Does that mean I get an A plus?" I asked him. He shook his head. "And why not?"

"You're still in the C, B minus area for dating that asshole Mason." Pete said with almost total seriousness in his voice.

"Man, I'm never gonna live that one down, am I?"

"Nope." Joe and Pete replied at the same time. I sighed and took another sip of soda, hoping the topic would change.

"So who's this Mason guy?" Andy asked.

'Ugh... great. Here we go.' I thought to myself.

"Dude, he's this total asshole that Kelsey here fell head over heals in love with like, the second she saw him." Pete said. I turned about 12 shades of red.

"Pete, please. Dont." I muttered. He looked at me. There was a look in his eyes that I'd only ever seen once before. I felt tears coming on. I shook my head and got up. "I'll be right back."

As soon as i turned the corner out of the kitchen the tears fell down my cheeks. I ran up the stairs and into Pete's room. I shut the door and fell onto the bed crying. I wasnt even sure why I was crying. Maybe it was that look he gave me. That only other time I'd ever seen it was when I was pulling out of my driveway to go to Seattle with Mason.

10 or 15 minutes later I heard the door open. "What?" I asked irritably. I had stopped crying by now.

"I'm sorry..." I heard Pete say. I glanced up at him; he was leaning against the door frame, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his head down. I stayed quiet and watched as Pete walked over to the bed. I turned my back to him when he sat down. "Kels, come on. Dont be like that."

"Be like what?" I asked, a fake innocence in my voice. He touched my shoulder and I tensed up. I had a really weird feeling in the pit of my stomach and it was creeping me out.

"Kels, look at me." Pete pleaded, pulling gently on my shoulder. I turned over but kept my eyes down. I felt like if I looked at him I might start crying again. That, or spill my heart to him. And I definitely wasnt ready for that. "What's wrong?"

"What was that look you gave me?"

"What look?"

"Downstairs... I've only ever seen it once before..."

"Um.. I... Uh, nothing." Pete said, scratching the back of his head. You could tell it meant something, and that he was contemplating whether or not to tell me.

"Please Peter." I looked up at him. He looked nervous.

"Ok... from the day you met that kid, I had this feeling that I was going to lose you. And when you left that day, I knew I had really lost you. And to be completely honest, I thought you were gone for good. Watching you pull out of that driveway, I knew I had lost my best friend..." Pete said, quickly looking away. I sat up.

"Dont you remember the promise we made?" I asked him. He nodded.

"I thought you forgot..."

"Pete! No... I'd never forget."

"Well, it sure seemed like you did..."

"I didnt. I just... No..." I said, biting on my lip, praying I wouldnt start crying again. "You were my best friend..."

Pete looked at me and then stood up. "Then why does this feel so weird?" He demanded, pacing back and forth. "Why do I get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach when I look at you?"

"We've grown up Pete. We've both changed..." He stopped. I had no idea what i was saying. "But that doesnt mean we're not still best friends."

We both stared at eachother. That definitely didnt come out the way I had wanted it too. I always sucked at trying to explain things. Pete started pacing again. It was driving me insane. I could tell he wanted to say something.

"Just say it..." I mumbled. Pete shook his head and kept pacing. "Why not?" He shrugged. I stood up. "Please?" I looked him straight in the eyes. He stopped walking and looked back at me.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I cant."

"Cant what?"

"I dont know."

"Pete, what are you talking about?"

"Dont worry about it." He said, turning to leave his room.

"But I am worried about it!" I said loudly. He turned back.

"Why?"

"Because I want to know what's going on. What happened to us...?"

"What happened to us... What happened to us....... Hmm... Lets see. We were best friends, and then one day you realized I wasnt good enough. So you went and found some other guy that could sweep you off your feet... And you wouldnt listen to anything anyone had to say. Not even your own fucking mom. She told you she didnt like him much from the begining. And after that day I saw you less and less, until it came to the point where I wouldnt see you for months. And.. And even when I did see you, its not like it mattered, you were always with him, so its not like you'd acknowledge me or anything......." Pete said bitterly. My jaw dropped. I couldnt believe he was actually saying this. He looked down. "And.... and i'm sorry, but I cant be best friends with you... Its not enough..."

A single tear escaped down my cheek as he walked out of his room, shutting the door.