"Spot me?" Finny asked, after he had stretched and warmed up his muscles.

"Sure," I replied, feeling a little winded. Did he really trust me that much?

Finny lay down on the benching table after he had put 100 and 50 pound weights on each side.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" I asked him. "I mean, you haven't practiced or anything. Maybe you should start smaller."

"Nah," he argued. "I know I'm ready for this."

He placed his hands on the weight bar, slowly finding a good grip. I stood behind him, ready for any notice that he couldn't support all the weight. I wouldn't want his ribs to be flattened, or his neck either. He steadily lifted the weights over the bar they were resting on and lowered it over his chest. He then pushed it up at an arm's length away and then brought it slowly back down. It was a strange sight indeed. All the other boys that I had ever seen do it had made weird faces and noises when they pushed the weights back and forth. Finny did neither. He looked as he always did, although he was concentrating a little bit more. He managed to lift the weights up and down ten times before he all but slammed them back onto their rack.

He lay there on the bench, panting heavily. "Well," he said, simply.

"That was great!" I congratulated him. "If you can do that again in front of Coach Peters, you'll have the new school record!"

He shook his head, with his eyes closed. "No, I don't wanna do that. Let's just keep it a secret, all right?"

I was shocked, to say the least. "But why not?" I demanded. "You were just saying that that was the best our school could do, and now you've got a chance to prove them wrong and you don't want to?"

"Why spoil it for A. Patterson or whatever it was?" he asked. "It doesn't matter. Let's go."

He grabbed a towel and headed for the exit.

I could not believe what I was hearing. Finny, who always tried gaining the attention of everyone he could, didn't want anyone to know that he had broken a record? This was insanity. I decided that Finny was delusional and decided that it was a good idea to leave and head for home.

As he couldn't find anything important to talk about, Finny turned on the radio in his car as we were going down the interstate.

He began to sing along with one of the songs. Then, he changed the station and sang to that song, as well. He changed the station every ten seconds, and, without skipping a beat, sang whatever song was on. I was impressed.

Finny was so beautiful, with the wind flowing through his oddly-colored hair, his lips moving with the rhythm of the songs, his body shifting as he maneuvered the car around curves and bends.

I could stand it no longer. I had to be with him and I had to let him know.

"Finny," I said, softly.

"Yeah?" he replied, looking from me and back to the road a couple of times.

"I have something that I have to tell you."

"Oh-kay. Shoot," he ushered.

I closed my eyes tightly. "I like you more than a friend," I said. I didn't know of any other way to put it. I thought it best to break the news to him easily.

He glanced at me. "I've felt the same way for years," he told me.

I was overjoyed to say the least. I felt like hugging him and kissing him and holding him close. "Do you really feel that way?" I asked, wanting conformation.

"Of course," he replied, without a pause. Then, he said something that assured me that he and I would never feel the same way for one another: "You know you'll always be my best friend."

I couldn't reply. I nodded, so he wouldn't be able to tell that something was wrong. But, I felt it deep in my heart: my love could never ever love me back. I had never felt a pain that hurt so much and so deeply. It felt liked I had slit my heart open with a razor. I said nothing for the rest of the way home.

Once Finny dropped me off at my house, I went inside, straight to my bedroom. I couldn't help myself. I began to cry into my pillows.

No matter what I did, Finny would never love me back. He would never understand the way I felt. This pain I had been feeling, this longing and suffering would never be satisfied. I didn't know if I could go on living with these feelings.