A/N: Ya'll ready for another curveball? I hope so…

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Chapter 17:

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James walked with Glenn down the hall after gym, and spotted Evelyn and Beatrice just exiting the girl locker room.

"Hey, hang on, Glenn," James told his friend, then scurried off toward the girls. Glenn followed at his heels anyway. Evelyn smiled when James ran up to them.

"Hey, James!" she greeted him with a smile.

"Yeah, hi," James said passively. Evelyn realized his distressed eyes were directed at Beatrice.

"Hey, Bee, listen," James said hurriedly. "I found out about Desiree. I had no idea…"

"Yeah, you and me both," Beatrice admitted, looking away with pain. James was worried for his friend, and wondered what he could do to help. Everyone could tell plainly that she was hurt very deeply.

"Hey," James said, stroking Beatrice's hair away from her face. "It'll be okay."

Evelyn frowned at this. Glenn noticed Evelyn's displeasure, and furrowed his brow in concern.

"How can you say that?" Beatrice said, shaking her head, fighting tears simply talking about Wayne.

"Because I know him, and so do you. And we both know that he's not one that would tie the knot willingly. Let me look into it. Alright?"

Beatrice nodded and sniffed.

"Alright," she agreed. "Thanks, Jimmy."

James embraced his old friend tightly in compassion… only Evelyn didn't see it that way.

"Anytime, Bee," James replied quietly. "Com'on, I'll buy you coffee. Evelyn, we'll hang later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," she agreed distastefully. She kept that suspicious glare on James's back as he walked off with Beatrice, an arm around her shoulder, and their heads leaning on one another's.

"What's up with James and Beatrice?" Evelyn asked Glenn.

Glenn shrugged like it was no big deal.

"They've been close friends since grade school."

"Yeah," Evelyn agreed with her anger obvious. "They seem like real 'close' to me."

Evelyn stalked off in wide steps, while Glenn pondered what she meant by those words. He watched James walk arm and arm with Beatrice, and furrowed his brow in thought once more. He had never thought of James and Beatrice that way. He had always thought James's rush to help in Beatrice's troubles was just a sort of 'brotherly' concern. Could he possibly…?

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"Your five minutes starts…" Beatrice looked to her watch as Wayne walked up to her, waiting outside her dorm room. Finally, she pointed at Wayne for the go-ahead.

"Now."

"Okay, listen."

"Believe me, Wayne, I'm listening."

"Don't interrupt, I have a limited amount of time here. Okay, about a year ago, Desi and I were crazy about each other. But with our families being rivals—you understand why we kept it a secret…"

"Get to the part where you married her," Beatrice pressed.

"We thought it would join the oath-takers together," Wayne confessed. "But after I did it, I got scared. I knew it wouldn't make centuries of rivalry just disappear, and I felt so rushed into it all, and I mean, we were young. So I ran."

"You ran…?" Beatrice repeated with unbelief.

"I'm not going to try and lie and tell you I wasn't in love with her. I was. She grew up loving me— it's just the way it always was. And we just seemed to fit, so we were."

Wayne grabbed Beatrice's hand.

"And then you moved into town…"

"Save it," Beatrice said, yanking her hand out of his. "Your time's up."

Wayne glanced at his own watch.

"I still have two minutes left!"

Beatrice opened the door to her dorm.

"Not with me," she shot back, then slammed the door in his face.

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Glenn couldn't let it go. Over the next few days, he watched James like a hawk. James wasn't acting much different persay, but the things he always had done could now be attributed to romantic intentions. The two were very touchy-feely, something Glenn would have passed of because of how long they had known one another. But was it flirting?

"Why are you so obsessed with James lately?" Rosie asked Glenn, setting her lunch tray down next to him.

Glenn snapped out of it to pay attention to his girl.

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Well, don't leave me in suspense!" she laughed, shoving his shoulder with hers. "What about?"

"James hangs out with Bee more than us. Lately, even more than Joe."

"Well, Joe hasn't really been around, and Beatrice is James's other best friend."

Rosie studied Glenn.

"Well, you're not jealous of them," she decided. "Perhaps suspicious?"

"I think James might be falling for Beatrice."

Even Rosie had to laugh at that.

"Com'on, Glenn, don't be ridiculous."

"I'm serious!"

"Aww, Glenn, you're cute." Rosie tried to stifle her laughter, reducing it to mere giggles instead. Glenn huffed and slouched in disappointment, so Rosie decided to humor him.

"Well," she obliged. "If you're so sure… then ask him."

"Ask him?" Glenn repeated fearfully, looking at his old friend once more. Suddenly Jimmy seemed very intimidating.

"Ask him!" Rosie encouraged.

But it wasn't so simple. One could not just walk up to James and ask if he was in love with his best friend. Glenn would have to approach it very politically.

He waited until Friday, when they would usually hit Nicky's for the night. His suspicions were only supported when Evelyn sat at a table with her friends, while James played pool with Beatrice. Glenn observed their game for a little while, waiting for a good moment to come. Finally, it did.

"I'm going to hit the bathroom," Beatrice announced after she had gotten beat a fourth time. "I'm tired of you cheating."

"I am not cheating!" James argued with a smile, shoving her playfully. She pushed him back.

"You were so cheating, and I'm going to catch you someday."

"Sore loser!" James called after her as she walked away. She waved him off as if saying: 'talk to the hand'.

James chuckled as he gathered the balls to rack them up once more.

"Hey, Jimmy," Glenn piped up. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, bud," James obliged. "What's on your mind?"

"Well," Glenn said smoothly. "You and Beatrice have been spending a lot of time together lately."

"Well, she needs some cheering up after what happened with Wayne."

"Yeah, that's too bad about that. I don't see why she's so upset though, I mean, she has a lot going for her…"

James took the bait like a charm.

"Yeah, I know-- she's funny, she's got a good head on her shoulders, and she's drop-dead gorgeous, you know? Any man would die to have her."

Glenn fought a grin.

"Sounds like you're one of them."

James turned to Glenn with shock and confusion all over his face.

"You did not just say what I think you said."

Glenn stood his ground.

"It's just an observation."

"You're sad, you know that?" James said, tossing his cue down on the table angrily. "Beatrice and I have a good thing going, and you're ruining it."

"I'm still waiting for you to deny it."

James folded his arms indignantly, glaring at his young friend.

"I'm not in love with Beatrice, Glenn."

Glenn nodded, still not entirely convinced but deciding it best to let the subject go for now, seeing as Beatrice was coming back.

"Ready to get your tail whipped and your ego humbled, Jim?" Beatrice asked James confidently. "This time you had better play fair."

James looked at the green felt of the billiard table and frowned, first at it, then at Glenn.

"Naw," James said, his eyes locked on his Ipswich brother. "I think I'm going to sit this one out."

"Oh," Beatrice said, taken aback by his dreary tone. "Sure."

James sulked back over to the table where Evelyn and Rosie sat, still mortally offended. Glenn followed at his heels. James never spoke another word the entire conversation, just stared at Beatrice playing pool by herself. He didn't dare accompany her again, lest Glenn go on with those foolish ideas again.

James dived deep into thought, resting his chin on his folded arms, putting his full weight on the table before him. Did everyone else think like Glenn did? Did it really look like they were flirting? It was a thing he had never thought on before now. There was no denying the fact that she really was a beautiful girl. Wayne only went for the best. But did James like her like that?

He stared hard at Beatrice, bending over to take another shot. Her jeans did carve out her butt quite nicely…

Oh, stop, he scolded himself. She was his best friend. Like a sister to him. It was just wrong to think of her any other way.

James sat up when he thought of something else:

He never had to tell himself not to think of her that way…

No… he wasn't in love with Beatrice. They were just close. Boys were allowed to be close with girls without feelings involved, right? Sure.

But the more James tried to convince himself that he wasn't in love with her, the more he began to realize…

He was.

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Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue