Ch. 11
The day before thanksgiving, School let out early. After school, I found Michael at his locker with one of his friends. When I got closer, they both stopped talking and looked at me. " Are we still on for tomorrow?" I asked.
"I wouldn't miss it," He answered, dropping a light kiss on my head.
"See you at eight." I walked down the hall feeling better.
If Michael wanted to spend time with Kimberly, then he wouldn't have agreed to come over to my house for thanksgiving. As Mimi had insisted, I was just being paranoid. ***
It was Thursday evening, and my mom and I were setting the table. "So Brady's not coming over?" my mom asked.
I shook my head. Brady usually came over on all major holidays, but this year we conveniently forgot about the tradition. Ever since our argument the week before, our friendship hadn't been the same.
"Michael and Brady aren't really friends," I said.
"That's too bad," my mother said. "You grandmother loves seeing Brady. He always makes her laugh."
I shrugged. "Well, she should be happy to meet Michael. I mean he's the one who's *my* boyfriend."
"Don't get so worked up honey. I'm sure your grandparents would love to meet Michael. I'm just saying they would love to see Brady also."
"Maybe at Christmas mom"
When the phone rang, I got a sinking feeling. I answered the phone in the kitchen.
"Hello?"
"Hey Chloe," Michael said.
"Hi, Michael." I forced myself to take a deep breath. Maybe he was just calling to see if he could bring something.
"Listen, I won't be able to make it tonight."
I tried to keep the disappointment from my voice. "That's too bad. Are your parents giving you a hard time or something?" I saw my mom looking at me.
"Ah, yeah. You know how it is. My family is here and everything."
"Yeah. I understand."
"I'll call you later?"
"Sure." I hung up the phone, and knew my mom was probably going to point out that Brady never cancelled on me last minute.
But instead of saying anything to me, my mom walked out of the kitchen. "Dinner's ready." She yelled.
Sitting down, I poked at my food. Suddenly, I lost my appetite.
When the doorbell rang, I jumped from the table and raced to the door. Maybe it was Michael and he talked his parents into letting him come over. Instead, I found Brady. He was holding a pumpkin pie.
"Special delivery." He said stepping inside.
Impulsively, I gave him a hug. I forgot that I could always count on Brady to improve my mood, even if I was set on being depressed.
"Shouldn't you be taking this pie over to Veronica's?" I asked.
He unzipped his jacket and pulled it off. " They went to new York to visit some friends. Besides, you don't think I'd let tradition slide, do you?"
"Brady Black!" I heard my grandmother exclaim. "Is it snowing outside?"
Brady walked over to my grandmother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It just started. Mother nature must have heard you were coming."
As I've said before, Brady had this ability to put everyone at ease. And no matter how bad his jokes were, my grandmother always laughed.
"You kids," she said. "I'm glad to see you here. Chloe's been moping around as if she'd just seen her last sunrise."
Brady looked over at me and raised his eyebrows. I shrugged.
"Don't just stand there with that dessert in your hands," My dad interrupted. "Go and get yourself a plate."
As Brady headed into the kitchen, I went to sit at the table. All of a sudden, pumpkin pie sounded like the perfect remedy for my case of the blues.
*** "Let's go for a walk in the snow," Brady said, an hour later.
We were all sitting around the fireplace and we just finished the pumpkin pie Brady brought. My grandparents were taking a nap, and it looked as if my parents were about to do the same.
Outside, the snow was everywhere, gleaming white. "Alright, let's go" I said, getting up. We grabbed our jackets and headed outside.
For a few minutes, neither of us spoke. The snow was starting to come down lightly, and I felt warm and cozy in my big jacket.
"Maybe we should have called Shawn," I said to break the silence.
Brady shrugged." He probably wouldn't have come anyway. I think he's secretly spending his nights looking at pictures of Belle in the yearbook."
"Why won't he just ask her out already?" I asked, kicking the snow.
"He's says he doesn't want to tie himself down, but I think it's just that he's afraid of being rejected." I nodded.
"Would you rather be with Michael right now?" Brady asked.
I didn't answer right away. In the last hour and a half, I'd completely forgotten that Michael cancelled on me. Being with Brady seemed like the perfect way to enjoy the snow.
"No, I'm glad I'm here with you," I said. "Why? Are you wishing you were with Veronica?"
Brady scooped up a handful of snow and packed it into a ball. "Nah. Veronica's not much fun to throw snowballs at!"
As Brady threw a snowball at me, I heard his laugh ring into the night. The snowball hit me right in the face, and I squealed loudly. Right away I scooped as much snow as I could, and I ran over to where Brady was laughing and dumped the snow down his back.
He screamed, trying to shake it out of his jacket. "This is war!" he cried out.
For the next fifteen minutes, we acted like lunatics, throwing snowballs and tackling each other. During the whole battle, I was laughing so much that my sides hurt.
Finally we collapsed next to each other on the snow-covered ground. I was exhausted and needed to catch my breath. I turned to Brady," That was fun, but I think it's time to seek shelter in the form of hot chocolate."
Minutes later we stood in my kitchen, breathless. We were both peeling off our boots, socks and sweaters.
Everyone else in the house was asleep, so I went to the laundry room and found a pair of my dad's sweats and a sweatshirt for Brady to borrow. Then I went to my room to change. By the time we sat down with our hot chocolate next to the glowing fireplace, we were both warm and dry.
Out of nowhere, Brady let out a deep sigh.
"What was that for?" I asked.
"I don't know. I was just thinking that tonight really seems like a perfect night for romance."
I stared into the fire, wondering if Michael was snuggled with Kimberly somewhere.
"Yeah." I whispered. "I know what you mean."
When Brady turned to me, his eyes looked so dark. He inched closer to me, then wound a few strands of my hair around his finger. My heart started beating quickly, and I felt all those confused emotions that I felt homecoming dance flood back to me.
"You know that song?" he asked quietly.
I shook my head, unable to tear my eyes away from his. "What song?"
"If you can't be with the one you love."
"Love the one your with," I finished. My eyes dropped to his lips, and I felt mesmerized.
Brady put one hand at the back of my head and gently pulled my closer. I closed my eyes, wanting to fell his lips on mine.
As soon as I felt his kiss, a liquid fire spread through me. Without thinking, I clutched at the fabric of his sweatshirt, trying to pull him closer, not wanting him to let go. The fireworks that I wanted to feel with Michael finally went off. Every inch of my skin was alive and felt like it was on fire. The outside world vanished, and Brady was the only thing - living or dead - that existed on the planet.
A moment later he pulled away.
As soon as it was over, I felt humiliation wave over me. Had we really did that? Had I just kissed Brady, my best friend in the whole world? A million questions raced through my mind.
"Wow, I don't think that was such a great idea." He said, raking his fingers through his hair.
My sense of bewilderness was replaced with anger. "Why did you do that?" I hissed at him.
"What do you mean me?" he asked. "You were here, too."
"Well, it was your idea. Don't deny it." I was trying to keep my voice calm, but I felt like screaming.
Brady glared at me." Well, it was obviously a very bad idea," he said punching the sofa.
"You just can't stand the fact that there's one girl who won't want to go out with you," I said.
"Please, don't flatter yourself Chloe. It'll never happen again."
"Good!" I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"Good!" he said standing up. "Tell your dad thanks for the clothes and I'll return them as soon as I can."
"Don't do us any favors," I said stalking to the front door.
"Don't worry. I won't " He grabbed his wet jacket and yanked it on.
"Fine by me." I opened the door and stared at him. My hands were trembling, and I felt really close to breaking down in tears.
"Give your grandparents my regards," Brady said.
Then he stepped out into the snowy night, and I slammed the door behind him. The day had been the worst day of my life, and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry myself to sleep.
As I listened to Brady start his car and back out, the tears I'd been holding in started rolling down my cheeks. I stumbled into my room, choking on sobs that felt like they would never stop.
Once again I'd gone and made a huge mess out of my life. "Why me?" I whispered. "Why me?"
Ch. 12
When I opened my eyes Friday morning, I knew there was something wrong. It only took me a few moments to put together the disastrous events of the previous night. Then I remembered kissing Chloe.
I groaned, lightly knocking my head against the wall above my bed. In one swoop, I'd broken the cardinal rule of platonic friendship. Now Chloe hated me, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I replayed the scene over and over in my mind. Why'd did I kiss her? What made me do it? Was it the snow? The fireplace? I shook my head. The reasons were too painful to contemplate - not to mention irrelevant. I'd screwed up a good thing, and no amount of rationalization was going to change that.
There was also the matter of Veronica. Technically speaking, I'd cheated on her. Even if kissing Chloe had taken place a moment of temporary insanity, there was no denying that the kiss had taken place - not that Rebecca would ever find out.
Another question plagued me. If Rebecca did find out about the kiss, would she care? Sure, her ego would go down a bit and her pride will be hurt, but would she truly be upset or just angry? She promised to call from New York, but I haven't heard anything from hear yet. Was she with an old boyfriend?
The idea that she might be with another guy was oddly comforting. I mean, I wasn't ecstatic about the image of my girlfriend getting hot and heavy with another guy, but it did release a little of my guilt. I was still young, we make mistakes right? Right.
Having solved that issue, my thoughts shifted from Veronica back to Chloe. But before I could think of anything else, my mom knocked on my bedroom door.
"Brady? Are you awake?" she called.
"Unfortunately, yes." I rolled back on my stomach.
"Chloe's downstairs."
"She is?" I quickly sat up and jumped out of bed. "Give me two minutes and then send her up."
I hopped around the room, trying to put on my jeans and comb my hair at the same time. The door opened as I was pulling on my shirt.
"Can I convince you to give your former best friend a moment of your time?" she asked.
Right away the sick feeling I'd had suddenly disappeared. Chloe's voice sounded friendly, and I knew everything would be all right. "Only if you take out that 'former' from the question." I said opening the door for her.
Chloe plopped down on my chair. "I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Me neither. I felt like I had just came face to face with the apocalypse." I said leaning back on my bed.
"We can't let this ruin our friendship. We just overreacted."
"I couldn't agree more."
In the light of day, it didn't seem like a really big deal. We'd kissed. Sure it was a kiss that I would never forget, but one kiss could hardly end the world. After all, it wasn't like we committed a crime or anything.
"I mean, if we actually *enjoyed * kissing each other, then we would have a problem, "Chloe said interrupting my thoughts.
I nodded, wondering where she going with this.
"But if you really think about it, this whole scenario was almost a good thing," She paused for a second. "I mean, here we are two friends who are the opposite sex and it's natural that we have a certain amount of curiosity towards each other. "
"Curiosity," I repeated, letting her know I was listening.
"Yeah. So know that we got that kiss out of the way, we can just forget about it. We now know that we never want to kiss again. End of story."
I was a little upset that she could dismiss our kiss that easily. For me, the experience had been like I was shooting through space, holding onto a rocket ship. When I'd finally pulled away, it took me a couple of seconds to realize that gravity still existed. I couldn't deny that she excited me- to a very dangerous level.
But I wasn't going to argue. At that point, I would have agreed if she told me the world was flat. I just wanted to make up and move on. "End of story," I confirmed.
Chloe gave me hug, which I returned. "I'm glad that is solved." She said as if she was referring to a small argument over who had to take out the trash.
I gave her a smile. "Me too, Chloe. I'm sure now we'll both sleep better tonight."
"Oh yes. Thankfully."
I leaned back on my pillows, feeling relief wash over me. My world wasn't going to crumble after all, and I couldn't have been more grateful.
****
I had butterflies in my stomach as I drove to Veronica's house Sunday evening. She'd called me when she got back from New York.
By Sunday, the temperature in Salem was still below freezing. So when Veronica suggested we go ice-skating at the park, I thought it was a great idea. I imagined us holding hands skating in circles, and forgetting about everything else. Afterward, we'd go to her house and drink hot chocolate, or maybe hot cider would be a better idea, and cuddle on the couch.
When I arrived at her house, Veronica opened the door almost immediately. Before I could even say hello, she twirled around.
"Ta-da! Do you like my new skating outfit?" she asked.
"Wow." I said. She was wearing a short pink skating dress. To be honest, everyone I knew just skated in jeans and sweaters.
"Let's get going. Everyone will be there soon." She practically skipped to the car. I didn't exactly know who she meant by 'everyone', and I knew I wasn't going to like it once I did find out.
Once in my jeep, I kissed Veronica. I wasn't flying through space at the speed of light, and I felt slightly disappointed. I kissed harder, trying to forget about my kiss with Chloe. After a few minutes, I decided that the explosion I felt with Chloe was just because I missed Veronica. I was just releasing pent- up emotions. Yeah, that was it. I mean there were lots of psychological explanations.
Veronica giggled. "I've only been gone for four days," She said,
"We'd better go," I said.
The parking lot at the park was half full, and I recognized a few cars that were there. Suddenly I had a feeling who "everyone" was.
"The whole gang is here!" Veronica squealed happily.
"You didn't tell me that half of Salem high would be here," I said, getting annoyed.
"Isn't it great? I'm so excited to see everyone" She ran ahead.
A few seconds later I hear Veronica squeal. I saw her hugging Jan and Cynthia like they was her long lost sisters. I almost gagged. I thought both girls were superficial and stupid at best, and both backstabbing and manipulative at worst.
Veronica tugged me toward the skating area. As I saw Jeffrey, Hawk, and Philip Kiriakis, my dreams of romance evaporated. My opinion of Jeffrey hadn't changed since the day of his party, when I'd seen an almost indecent embrace with Michael. And I * absolutely * hated Philip Kiriakis.
Philip had a thing for Chloe our sophomore year of high school. She went out with him once, detested him, and never wanted to speak to him ever again. After that, Philip had taken it to himself to be incredibly cruel to Chloe at school. When Chloe didn't respond to his baiting, Philip wrote graffiti about her on the walls in the boy's bathroom. When I caught him in the act, it led to one of the biggest fistfight I've ever had. The next year, Philip switched schools and his parents moved to another district, and I've been able to avoid him ever since. And Chloe, by the way, never found out about the fight.
I put on my skates telling myself that maybe Philip grew up and became a human being. As long as I could be nice to him, we wouldn't have an ugly scene.
Veronica was already on the ice, skating around. I took a few breaths and joined her, determined to keep my cool.
I took her hand and we skated around. Ignoring the presence of Philip Kiriakis, I actually started to enjoy myself.
"This is so romantic," Veronica said, looking up into the sky.
I did a quick hockey stop when I saw Philip out of the corner of my eye. He was headed straight for us with a smirk on his face. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to calm down.
"Hey Philip," I said. "Do you know Veronica?"
His eyes traveled over her body, and gave her a smile. "Nice to meet you Veronica."
She gave him a flirtatious smile. "How come I've never met you before?"
"I don't go to Salem High. I moved awhile back, but I like to keep in touch with old friends." Philip looked at me, and I could tell that he was dying to tell me something.
I took Veronica's hand, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. "Shall we pick up where we left off?" I asked her, nodding bye to Philip.
At that moment, Philip put his hand on my shoulder stopping me. " Speaking of old friends, I heard that our mutual sweetheart, Chloe Lane, is going out with Michael Hensen."
I saw Veronica narrow her eyes. Philip made it sound like Chloe and I were an item. But I didn't feel like pushing the point. "Uh, Yeah. They're totally in love." I said, satisfied to see his sneer turn into a frown.
"Well, maybe you could pass a message from me to her." He said.
"And what's that?" I could feel my muscles tense up.
"I saw Michael and Kimberly look very friendly in dotcom the other night. In fact they were making out in the corner. " He grinned, then laughed.
"You're lying"
"I couldn't care less you believe me, Black. But you should tell your friend that Michael was just using her to get Kimberly back."
I was shaking with anger, and I couldn't stop myself from stepping closer to Philip. Whether he was telling the truth or not, I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.
"You're just jealous cause Chloe wouldn't go out with your pathetic self." I said angrily.
"Chloe's a loser," Philip said. "Ask anyone."
Then veronica decided to share her thoughts. "He does have a point, Brady. Everyone knows that Chloe is a little. strange."
"Thanks for your opinion Veronica. But no one asked for it, and this is between Philip and me."
"Want to fight, Black?" Philip asked.
"No, cause you're not worth it," I answered back. I noticed that Hawk and Jeffrey skated close to us.
While I was looking away, Philip seized his opportunity. Out of nowhere, his fist hit me squarely in the jaw. I fell back, with a groan.
"Chloe's the greatest girl I know," I shouted at him. "She puts any girlfriend you could get to shame."
As I tried to get back up, Philip lunged. But before he could take another punch, Jeffrey and Hawk grabbed him.
"I think this skating party is over," Hawk said. They hauled Philip off of the ice.
I stood up, furious. As I shifted my eyes from Philip, I saw Veronica glaring at me.
"If you like Chloe so much, maybe you should go out with her!" She yelled. " You two deserve each other."
I just stared at Veronica. When I didn't say anything she gave me a cold smile. "We're over."
I saw her untie her skates, and jog over to the parking lot. "Philip, wait up" I heard her yell.
I sank back down to the ice, too tired to move. I was sad that Veronica broke up with me, but I knew it was doomed from the start. She's always had more in common with Jan and Cynthia; now I could see how superficial she really was.
I gazed around the now empty pond shaking my head. "I guess this mean I lost the bet," I said aloud.
Ch. 13
When Mimi and I were walking into our creative writing class Monday morning, I was nervous. I hadn't talked to Michael since Thanksgiving night, when he cancelled on me. I'd spent most of the time telling myself that he had a good reason for not calling.
Still, my hands were trembling. The pessimistic Chloe had burst through. I almost expected him to be wearing I sign that said, " I was making out with Kimberly"
"I'm sure he was just busy," Mimi said. "Besides, Kimberly has nothing on you."
"Thanks, Meems." I said.
When we sat down in our seats, there was no sign of Michael. I kept my eye on the door.
Five minutes after the bell rang, Michael walked in the door. He smiled an apology to the teacher and slid into the seat near the door. I tried to catch his eye, but he kept his focus on the handout the teacher passed out.
For the next half hour, I forced myself not to look over where Michael was sitting. It's over, I repeated to myself. He's still in love with Kimberly.
When Mimi tapped me on the shoulder, I nearly jumped out my chair. She handed me a note and nodded her head in Michael's direction.
My pulse was racing. The note read: "Chloe. Meet me right after school? Love, Michael."
I looked up and saw that he was watching me. I nodded and gave a small smile. Maybe he didn't want to break up. For now, I had to hope for the best.
***** "I can't talk long," I said to Michael, opening the passenger- side of his car. " I have to baby-sit Abby in half an hour.
He looked as handsome as ever, in a black sweater and jaded jeans. His eyes were bright. He looks happy to see me. I said to myself.
"I'm sorry I didn't call you this weekend," He said softly.
I shrugged, trying to act like I hadn't noticed. " That's ok. I've been pretty busy anyway."
Michael nodded. "Yea, I was pretty busy too."
I decided to look fear in the face. "So, did you see Kimberly this weekend?" I asked casually." I heard see was in town"
He bit his lip and looked a little guilt. "Uh, yeah. That's kind of way I was so busy."
"Oh." There was nothing more I could say. Like a fool, I didn't get out of the car. I just sat in stunned silence, waiting for him to say something.
"She didn't meet anyone at her school. And she really missed me. and I guess I missed her too."
"Oh," I said again. Tears were threatening to spill out, and I blinked rapidly. I wasn't about to let Michael see how humiliated I was.
"We decided to try a long-distance relationship," He continued. "It's not that I don't love you. I think you're great. But Kim and I- it's like we're destined to be together."
I swallowed hard and sat up straight. " I think that's great." I said. Amazingly, my voice sounded smooth and natural.
"It is?" He asked surprised.
"Yes. Because there's something I wanted to tell you too." I said.
"There is?" He sounded surprise again. His eyebrows were raised and he was looking me straight in the eye.
"Yeah. This weekend Brady and I realized we were in love." Even as I was saying it, I couldn't believe it was coming from my mouth. Sorry Brady, I thought silently.
"Oh." I felt satisfied that Michael seemed slightly off balance.
"Isn't this great?" I said lightly. "We're both lucky that we don't have to hurt the other person."
"Yeah." Michael agreed, looking confused.
"I guess I'll see ya around." I gave him a peck on the cheek, and then jumped out his car.
"Bye Chloe."
"Bye. Michael." I said slamming the door behind me.
It wasn't until he pulled out the parking lot that I felt the tears I was holding in, spill over my cheeks.
*** Usually I loved baby-sitting Abby. But that afternoon all I wanted to do was go home. She was asking me all these questions about boy-girl relationships, and I really didn't feel like talking about that subject.
"My friend's having a party this weekend.' She said.
"That's nice" I responded vacantly.
"And she's having boys." Abby continued. She seemed to be waiting for my response.
"How exciting." I realized I wasn't being very fair to Abby, and I felt really guilty when I saw a little hint or hurt in her eyes. "I'm sorry Abby," I said, hugging her. "I'm sure you'll have a great time."
Abby was young, but not dumb. She knew something was wrong with me. "What's wrong Chloe?"
I shrugged, fighting my tears. "Michael and I broke up. I guess I'm just not feeling too cheery."
"I didn't like Michael anyway." She said.
"You never even knew him," I pointed out.
"I know. But Brady told me about him."
"And exactly what did Brady say?"
"He said that Michael's a wimp and the you deserved better."
I almost laughed. Since when did Brady discuss my love life with a ten-year old? " Brady shouldn't have said that. Who I go out with isn't his business. Or yours."
"He's right though. Wasn't he?" She looked at me, her eyes wide.
"Yeah," I said. "I guess he was."
**** I stood outside of the Black's door, shivering because of the cold.
"Chloe!" The second Brady saw me, he pulled me into a big hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
I wiped my tears. "How did you know?"
"From the expression on your face I could tell that either someone died or you broke up with Michael. And since I just talked to your mom who sounded just fine, I made an educated guess."
I threw myself on his sofa. "I feel terrible."
"I know how you feel." He sat down next to me. I looked at him questioningly.
"Veronica dumped me on Sunday." He said, his voice neutral.
"Why?" This news was shocking and it made me forget my own misery for a second.
"Who knows?" He slumped back on the sofa.
"I never liked her." I said.
"And I never liked Michael."
"Um, Speaking of Michael, I kind of told him something stupid." I decided I might as well confess now. He was bound to find out anyway.
"What?" he asked.
"Promise you won't get mad."
"What? Tell me." His voice was impatient.
"Well, I was totally humiliated about Michael and Kimberly getting back together."
"And?" Brady pressed.
"And to save face, I kind of said that you and I were in love." I stared at him and waited for his anger. To my surprise, he laughed.
"Who cares?" He said.
"Really?"
"Sure. People always say we're in love. In a week, we could just tell people that we decided that we would be better as friends instead."
I smiled. "You're right!"
Brady nodded. " And I can't wait for the look on Veronica's face. It'll be a Kodak moment!"
The day before thanksgiving, School let out early. After school, I found Michael at his locker with one of his friends. When I got closer, they both stopped talking and looked at me. " Are we still on for tomorrow?" I asked.
"I wouldn't miss it," He answered, dropping a light kiss on my head.
"See you at eight." I walked down the hall feeling better.
If Michael wanted to spend time with Kimberly, then he wouldn't have agreed to come over to my house for thanksgiving. As Mimi had insisted, I was just being paranoid. ***
It was Thursday evening, and my mom and I were setting the table. "So Brady's not coming over?" my mom asked.
I shook my head. Brady usually came over on all major holidays, but this year we conveniently forgot about the tradition. Ever since our argument the week before, our friendship hadn't been the same.
"Michael and Brady aren't really friends," I said.
"That's too bad," my mother said. "You grandmother loves seeing Brady. He always makes her laugh."
I shrugged. "Well, she should be happy to meet Michael. I mean he's the one who's *my* boyfriend."
"Don't get so worked up honey. I'm sure your grandparents would love to meet Michael. I'm just saying they would love to see Brady also."
"Maybe at Christmas mom"
When the phone rang, I got a sinking feeling. I answered the phone in the kitchen.
"Hello?"
"Hey Chloe," Michael said.
"Hi, Michael." I forced myself to take a deep breath. Maybe he was just calling to see if he could bring something.
"Listen, I won't be able to make it tonight."
I tried to keep the disappointment from my voice. "That's too bad. Are your parents giving you a hard time or something?" I saw my mom looking at me.
"Ah, yeah. You know how it is. My family is here and everything."
"Yeah. I understand."
"I'll call you later?"
"Sure." I hung up the phone, and knew my mom was probably going to point out that Brady never cancelled on me last minute.
But instead of saying anything to me, my mom walked out of the kitchen. "Dinner's ready." She yelled.
Sitting down, I poked at my food. Suddenly, I lost my appetite.
When the doorbell rang, I jumped from the table and raced to the door. Maybe it was Michael and he talked his parents into letting him come over. Instead, I found Brady. He was holding a pumpkin pie.
"Special delivery." He said stepping inside.
Impulsively, I gave him a hug. I forgot that I could always count on Brady to improve my mood, even if I was set on being depressed.
"Shouldn't you be taking this pie over to Veronica's?" I asked.
He unzipped his jacket and pulled it off. " They went to new York to visit some friends. Besides, you don't think I'd let tradition slide, do you?"
"Brady Black!" I heard my grandmother exclaim. "Is it snowing outside?"
Brady walked over to my grandmother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It just started. Mother nature must have heard you were coming."
As I've said before, Brady had this ability to put everyone at ease. And no matter how bad his jokes were, my grandmother always laughed.
"You kids," she said. "I'm glad to see you here. Chloe's been moping around as if she'd just seen her last sunrise."
Brady looked over at me and raised his eyebrows. I shrugged.
"Don't just stand there with that dessert in your hands," My dad interrupted. "Go and get yourself a plate."
As Brady headed into the kitchen, I went to sit at the table. All of a sudden, pumpkin pie sounded like the perfect remedy for my case of the blues.
*** "Let's go for a walk in the snow," Brady said, an hour later.
We were all sitting around the fireplace and we just finished the pumpkin pie Brady brought. My grandparents were taking a nap, and it looked as if my parents were about to do the same.
Outside, the snow was everywhere, gleaming white. "Alright, let's go" I said, getting up. We grabbed our jackets and headed outside.
For a few minutes, neither of us spoke. The snow was starting to come down lightly, and I felt warm and cozy in my big jacket.
"Maybe we should have called Shawn," I said to break the silence.
Brady shrugged." He probably wouldn't have come anyway. I think he's secretly spending his nights looking at pictures of Belle in the yearbook."
"Why won't he just ask her out already?" I asked, kicking the snow.
"He's says he doesn't want to tie himself down, but I think it's just that he's afraid of being rejected." I nodded.
"Would you rather be with Michael right now?" Brady asked.
I didn't answer right away. In the last hour and a half, I'd completely forgotten that Michael cancelled on me. Being with Brady seemed like the perfect way to enjoy the snow.
"No, I'm glad I'm here with you," I said. "Why? Are you wishing you were with Veronica?"
Brady scooped up a handful of snow and packed it into a ball. "Nah. Veronica's not much fun to throw snowballs at!"
As Brady threw a snowball at me, I heard his laugh ring into the night. The snowball hit me right in the face, and I squealed loudly. Right away I scooped as much snow as I could, and I ran over to where Brady was laughing and dumped the snow down his back.
He screamed, trying to shake it out of his jacket. "This is war!" he cried out.
For the next fifteen minutes, we acted like lunatics, throwing snowballs and tackling each other. During the whole battle, I was laughing so much that my sides hurt.
Finally we collapsed next to each other on the snow-covered ground. I was exhausted and needed to catch my breath. I turned to Brady," That was fun, but I think it's time to seek shelter in the form of hot chocolate."
Minutes later we stood in my kitchen, breathless. We were both peeling off our boots, socks and sweaters.
Everyone else in the house was asleep, so I went to the laundry room and found a pair of my dad's sweats and a sweatshirt for Brady to borrow. Then I went to my room to change. By the time we sat down with our hot chocolate next to the glowing fireplace, we were both warm and dry.
Out of nowhere, Brady let out a deep sigh.
"What was that for?" I asked.
"I don't know. I was just thinking that tonight really seems like a perfect night for romance."
I stared into the fire, wondering if Michael was snuggled with Kimberly somewhere.
"Yeah." I whispered. "I know what you mean."
When Brady turned to me, his eyes looked so dark. He inched closer to me, then wound a few strands of my hair around his finger. My heart started beating quickly, and I felt all those confused emotions that I felt homecoming dance flood back to me.
"You know that song?" he asked quietly.
I shook my head, unable to tear my eyes away from his. "What song?"
"If you can't be with the one you love."
"Love the one your with," I finished. My eyes dropped to his lips, and I felt mesmerized.
Brady put one hand at the back of my head and gently pulled my closer. I closed my eyes, wanting to fell his lips on mine.
As soon as I felt his kiss, a liquid fire spread through me. Without thinking, I clutched at the fabric of his sweatshirt, trying to pull him closer, not wanting him to let go. The fireworks that I wanted to feel with Michael finally went off. Every inch of my skin was alive and felt like it was on fire. The outside world vanished, and Brady was the only thing - living or dead - that existed on the planet.
A moment later he pulled away.
As soon as it was over, I felt humiliation wave over me. Had we really did that? Had I just kissed Brady, my best friend in the whole world? A million questions raced through my mind.
"Wow, I don't think that was such a great idea." He said, raking his fingers through his hair.
My sense of bewilderness was replaced with anger. "Why did you do that?" I hissed at him.
"What do you mean me?" he asked. "You were here, too."
"Well, it was your idea. Don't deny it." I was trying to keep my voice calm, but I felt like screaming.
Brady glared at me." Well, it was obviously a very bad idea," he said punching the sofa.
"You just can't stand the fact that there's one girl who won't want to go out with you," I said.
"Please, don't flatter yourself Chloe. It'll never happen again."
"Good!" I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"Good!" he said standing up. "Tell your dad thanks for the clothes and I'll return them as soon as I can."
"Don't do us any favors," I said stalking to the front door.
"Don't worry. I won't " He grabbed his wet jacket and yanked it on.
"Fine by me." I opened the door and stared at him. My hands were trembling, and I felt really close to breaking down in tears.
"Give your grandparents my regards," Brady said.
Then he stepped out into the snowy night, and I slammed the door behind him. The day had been the worst day of my life, and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry myself to sleep.
As I listened to Brady start his car and back out, the tears I'd been holding in started rolling down my cheeks. I stumbled into my room, choking on sobs that felt like they would never stop.
Once again I'd gone and made a huge mess out of my life. "Why me?" I whispered. "Why me?"
Ch. 12
When I opened my eyes Friday morning, I knew there was something wrong. It only took me a few moments to put together the disastrous events of the previous night. Then I remembered kissing Chloe.
I groaned, lightly knocking my head against the wall above my bed. In one swoop, I'd broken the cardinal rule of platonic friendship. Now Chloe hated me, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I replayed the scene over and over in my mind. Why'd did I kiss her? What made me do it? Was it the snow? The fireplace? I shook my head. The reasons were too painful to contemplate - not to mention irrelevant. I'd screwed up a good thing, and no amount of rationalization was going to change that.
There was also the matter of Veronica. Technically speaking, I'd cheated on her. Even if kissing Chloe had taken place a moment of temporary insanity, there was no denying that the kiss had taken place - not that Rebecca would ever find out.
Another question plagued me. If Rebecca did find out about the kiss, would she care? Sure, her ego would go down a bit and her pride will be hurt, but would she truly be upset or just angry? She promised to call from New York, but I haven't heard anything from hear yet. Was she with an old boyfriend?
The idea that she might be with another guy was oddly comforting. I mean, I wasn't ecstatic about the image of my girlfriend getting hot and heavy with another guy, but it did release a little of my guilt. I was still young, we make mistakes right? Right.
Having solved that issue, my thoughts shifted from Veronica back to Chloe. But before I could think of anything else, my mom knocked on my bedroom door.
"Brady? Are you awake?" she called.
"Unfortunately, yes." I rolled back on my stomach.
"Chloe's downstairs."
"She is?" I quickly sat up and jumped out of bed. "Give me two minutes and then send her up."
I hopped around the room, trying to put on my jeans and comb my hair at the same time. The door opened as I was pulling on my shirt.
"Can I convince you to give your former best friend a moment of your time?" she asked.
Right away the sick feeling I'd had suddenly disappeared. Chloe's voice sounded friendly, and I knew everything would be all right. "Only if you take out that 'former' from the question." I said opening the door for her.
Chloe plopped down on my chair. "I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Me neither. I felt like I had just came face to face with the apocalypse." I said leaning back on my bed.
"We can't let this ruin our friendship. We just overreacted."
"I couldn't agree more."
In the light of day, it didn't seem like a really big deal. We'd kissed. Sure it was a kiss that I would never forget, but one kiss could hardly end the world. After all, it wasn't like we committed a crime or anything.
"I mean, if we actually *enjoyed * kissing each other, then we would have a problem, "Chloe said interrupting my thoughts.
I nodded, wondering where she going with this.
"But if you really think about it, this whole scenario was almost a good thing," She paused for a second. "I mean, here we are two friends who are the opposite sex and it's natural that we have a certain amount of curiosity towards each other. "
"Curiosity," I repeated, letting her know I was listening.
"Yeah. So know that we got that kiss out of the way, we can just forget about it. We now know that we never want to kiss again. End of story."
I was a little upset that she could dismiss our kiss that easily. For me, the experience had been like I was shooting through space, holding onto a rocket ship. When I'd finally pulled away, it took me a couple of seconds to realize that gravity still existed. I couldn't deny that she excited me- to a very dangerous level.
But I wasn't going to argue. At that point, I would have agreed if she told me the world was flat. I just wanted to make up and move on. "End of story," I confirmed.
Chloe gave me hug, which I returned. "I'm glad that is solved." She said as if she was referring to a small argument over who had to take out the trash.
I gave her a smile. "Me too, Chloe. I'm sure now we'll both sleep better tonight."
"Oh yes. Thankfully."
I leaned back on my pillows, feeling relief wash over me. My world wasn't going to crumble after all, and I couldn't have been more grateful.
****
I had butterflies in my stomach as I drove to Veronica's house Sunday evening. She'd called me when she got back from New York.
By Sunday, the temperature in Salem was still below freezing. So when Veronica suggested we go ice-skating at the park, I thought it was a great idea. I imagined us holding hands skating in circles, and forgetting about everything else. Afterward, we'd go to her house and drink hot chocolate, or maybe hot cider would be a better idea, and cuddle on the couch.
When I arrived at her house, Veronica opened the door almost immediately. Before I could even say hello, she twirled around.
"Ta-da! Do you like my new skating outfit?" she asked.
"Wow." I said. She was wearing a short pink skating dress. To be honest, everyone I knew just skated in jeans and sweaters.
"Let's get going. Everyone will be there soon." She practically skipped to the car. I didn't exactly know who she meant by 'everyone', and I knew I wasn't going to like it once I did find out.
Once in my jeep, I kissed Veronica. I wasn't flying through space at the speed of light, and I felt slightly disappointed. I kissed harder, trying to forget about my kiss with Chloe. After a few minutes, I decided that the explosion I felt with Chloe was just because I missed Veronica. I was just releasing pent- up emotions. Yeah, that was it. I mean there were lots of psychological explanations.
Veronica giggled. "I've only been gone for four days," She said,
"We'd better go," I said.
The parking lot at the park was half full, and I recognized a few cars that were there. Suddenly I had a feeling who "everyone" was.
"The whole gang is here!" Veronica squealed happily.
"You didn't tell me that half of Salem high would be here," I said, getting annoyed.
"Isn't it great? I'm so excited to see everyone" She ran ahead.
A few seconds later I hear Veronica squeal. I saw her hugging Jan and Cynthia like they was her long lost sisters. I almost gagged. I thought both girls were superficial and stupid at best, and both backstabbing and manipulative at worst.
Veronica tugged me toward the skating area. As I saw Jeffrey, Hawk, and Philip Kiriakis, my dreams of romance evaporated. My opinion of Jeffrey hadn't changed since the day of his party, when I'd seen an almost indecent embrace with Michael. And I * absolutely * hated Philip Kiriakis.
Philip had a thing for Chloe our sophomore year of high school. She went out with him once, detested him, and never wanted to speak to him ever again. After that, Philip had taken it to himself to be incredibly cruel to Chloe at school. When Chloe didn't respond to his baiting, Philip wrote graffiti about her on the walls in the boy's bathroom. When I caught him in the act, it led to one of the biggest fistfight I've ever had. The next year, Philip switched schools and his parents moved to another district, and I've been able to avoid him ever since. And Chloe, by the way, never found out about the fight.
I put on my skates telling myself that maybe Philip grew up and became a human being. As long as I could be nice to him, we wouldn't have an ugly scene.
Veronica was already on the ice, skating around. I took a few breaths and joined her, determined to keep my cool.
I took her hand and we skated around. Ignoring the presence of Philip Kiriakis, I actually started to enjoy myself.
"This is so romantic," Veronica said, looking up into the sky.
I did a quick hockey stop when I saw Philip out of the corner of my eye. He was headed straight for us with a smirk on his face. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to calm down.
"Hey Philip," I said. "Do you know Veronica?"
His eyes traveled over her body, and gave her a smile. "Nice to meet you Veronica."
She gave him a flirtatious smile. "How come I've never met you before?"
"I don't go to Salem High. I moved awhile back, but I like to keep in touch with old friends." Philip looked at me, and I could tell that he was dying to tell me something.
I took Veronica's hand, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. "Shall we pick up where we left off?" I asked her, nodding bye to Philip.
At that moment, Philip put his hand on my shoulder stopping me. " Speaking of old friends, I heard that our mutual sweetheart, Chloe Lane, is going out with Michael Hensen."
I saw Veronica narrow her eyes. Philip made it sound like Chloe and I were an item. But I didn't feel like pushing the point. "Uh, Yeah. They're totally in love." I said, satisfied to see his sneer turn into a frown.
"Well, maybe you could pass a message from me to her." He said.
"And what's that?" I could feel my muscles tense up.
"I saw Michael and Kimberly look very friendly in dotcom the other night. In fact they were making out in the corner. " He grinned, then laughed.
"You're lying"
"I couldn't care less you believe me, Black. But you should tell your friend that Michael was just using her to get Kimberly back."
I was shaking with anger, and I couldn't stop myself from stepping closer to Philip. Whether he was telling the truth or not, I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.
"You're just jealous cause Chloe wouldn't go out with your pathetic self." I said angrily.
"Chloe's a loser," Philip said. "Ask anyone."
Then veronica decided to share her thoughts. "He does have a point, Brady. Everyone knows that Chloe is a little. strange."
"Thanks for your opinion Veronica. But no one asked for it, and this is between Philip and me."
"Want to fight, Black?" Philip asked.
"No, cause you're not worth it," I answered back. I noticed that Hawk and Jeffrey skated close to us.
While I was looking away, Philip seized his opportunity. Out of nowhere, his fist hit me squarely in the jaw. I fell back, with a groan.
"Chloe's the greatest girl I know," I shouted at him. "She puts any girlfriend you could get to shame."
As I tried to get back up, Philip lunged. But before he could take another punch, Jeffrey and Hawk grabbed him.
"I think this skating party is over," Hawk said. They hauled Philip off of the ice.
I stood up, furious. As I shifted my eyes from Philip, I saw Veronica glaring at me.
"If you like Chloe so much, maybe you should go out with her!" She yelled. " You two deserve each other."
I just stared at Veronica. When I didn't say anything she gave me a cold smile. "We're over."
I saw her untie her skates, and jog over to the parking lot. "Philip, wait up" I heard her yell.
I sank back down to the ice, too tired to move. I was sad that Veronica broke up with me, but I knew it was doomed from the start. She's always had more in common with Jan and Cynthia; now I could see how superficial she really was.
I gazed around the now empty pond shaking my head. "I guess this mean I lost the bet," I said aloud.
Ch. 13
When Mimi and I were walking into our creative writing class Monday morning, I was nervous. I hadn't talked to Michael since Thanksgiving night, when he cancelled on me. I'd spent most of the time telling myself that he had a good reason for not calling.
Still, my hands were trembling. The pessimistic Chloe had burst through. I almost expected him to be wearing I sign that said, " I was making out with Kimberly"
"I'm sure he was just busy," Mimi said. "Besides, Kimberly has nothing on you."
"Thanks, Meems." I said.
When we sat down in our seats, there was no sign of Michael. I kept my eye on the door.
Five minutes after the bell rang, Michael walked in the door. He smiled an apology to the teacher and slid into the seat near the door. I tried to catch his eye, but he kept his focus on the handout the teacher passed out.
For the next half hour, I forced myself not to look over where Michael was sitting. It's over, I repeated to myself. He's still in love with Kimberly.
When Mimi tapped me on the shoulder, I nearly jumped out my chair. She handed me a note and nodded her head in Michael's direction.
My pulse was racing. The note read: "Chloe. Meet me right after school? Love, Michael."
I looked up and saw that he was watching me. I nodded and gave a small smile. Maybe he didn't want to break up. For now, I had to hope for the best.
***** "I can't talk long," I said to Michael, opening the passenger- side of his car. " I have to baby-sit Abby in half an hour.
He looked as handsome as ever, in a black sweater and jaded jeans. His eyes were bright. He looks happy to see me. I said to myself.
"I'm sorry I didn't call you this weekend," He said softly.
I shrugged, trying to act like I hadn't noticed. " That's ok. I've been pretty busy anyway."
Michael nodded. "Yea, I was pretty busy too."
I decided to look fear in the face. "So, did you see Kimberly this weekend?" I asked casually." I heard see was in town"
He bit his lip and looked a little guilt. "Uh, yeah. That's kind of way I was so busy."
"Oh." There was nothing more I could say. Like a fool, I didn't get out of the car. I just sat in stunned silence, waiting for him to say something.
"She didn't meet anyone at her school. And she really missed me. and I guess I missed her too."
"Oh," I said again. Tears were threatening to spill out, and I blinked rapidly. I wasn't about to let Michael see how humiliated I was.
"We decided to try a long-distance relationship," He continued. "It's not that I don't love you. I think you're great. But Kim and I- it's like we're destined to be together."
I swallowed hard and sat up straight. " I think that's great." I said. Amazingly, my voice sounded smooth and natural.
"It is?" He asked surprised.
"Yes. Because there's something I wanted to tell you too." I said.
"There is?" He sounded surprise again. His eyebrows were raised and he was looking me straight in the eye.
"Yeah. This weekend Brady and I realized we were in love." Even as I was saying it, I couldn't believe it was coming from my mouth. Sorry Brady, I thought silently.
"Oh." I felt satisfied that Michael seemed slightly off balance.
"Isn't this great?" I said lightly. "We're both lucky that we don't have to hurt the other person."
"Yeah." Michael agreed, looking confused.
"I guess I'll see ya around." I gave him a peck on the cheek, and then jumped out his car.
"Bye Chloe."
"Bye. Michael." I said slamming the door behind me.
It wasn't until he pulled out the parking lot that I felt the tears I was holding in, spill over my cheeks.
*** Usually I loved baby-sitting Abby. But that afternoon all I wanted to do was go home. She was asking me all these questions about boy-girl relationships, and I really didn't feel like talking about that subject.
"My friend's having a party this weekend.' She said.
"That's nice" I responded vacantly.
"And she's having boys." Abby continued. She seemed to be waiting for my response.
"How exciting." I realized I wasn't being very fair to Abby, and I felt really guilty when I saw a little hint or hurt in her eyes. "I'm sorry Abby," I said, hugging her. "I'm sure you'll have a great time."
Abby was young, but not dumb. She knew something was wrong with me. "What's wrong Chloe?"
I shrugged, fighting my tears. "Michael and I broke up. I guess I'm just not feeling too cheery."
"I didn't like Michael anyway." She said.
"You never even knew him," I pointed out.
"I know. But Brady told me about him."
"And exactly what did Brady say?"
"He said that Michael's a wimp and the you deserved better."
I almost laughed. Since when did Brady discuss my love life with a ten-year old? " Brady shouldn't have said that. Who I go out with isn't his business. Or yours."
"He's right though. Wasn't he?" She looked at me, her eyes wide.
"Yeah," I said. "I guess he was."
**** I stood outside of the Black's door, shivering because of the cold.
"Chloe!" The second Brady saw me, he pulled me into a big hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
I wiped my tears. "How did you know?"
"From the expression on your face I could tell that either someone died or you broke up with Michael. And since I just talked to your mom who sounded just fine, I made an educated guess."
I threw myself on his sofa. "I feel terrible."
"I know how you feel." He sat down next to me. I looked at him questioningly.
"Veronica dumped me on Sunday." He said, his voice neutral.
"Why?" This news was shocking and it made me forget my own misery for a second.
"Who knows?" He slumped back on the sofa.
"I never liked her." I said.
"And I never liked Michael."
"Um, Speaking of Michael, I kind of told him something stupid." I decided I might as well confess now. He was bound to find out anyway.
"What?" he asked.
"Promise you won't get mad."
"What? Tell me." His voice was impatient.
"Well, I was totally humiliated about Michael and Kimberly getting back together."
"And?" Brady pressed.
"And to save face, I kind of said that you and I were in love." I stared at him and waited for his anger. To my surprise, he laughed.
"Who cares?" He said.
"Really?"
"Sure. People always say we're in love. In a week, we could just tell people that we decided that we would be better as friends instead."
I smiled. "You're right!"
Brady nodded. " And I can't wait for the look on Veronica's face. It'll be a Kodak moment!"