Glad to hear you like it, Dizuz. Your review made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. ;)
More reviews would be nice though. One review per chapter from the same person every time . . . not all that satisfying, to be honest.
As soon as she felt Phoenix's lips touch hers, Chandie pulled away. Her eyes widened in shock. She had never been kissed before. Well, not by a boy, anyway. But that was a memory Chandie did not want to dwell upon.
"Wha—wha—what was—? What?" she sputtered incomprehensibly.
Phoenix stared down at his shoes again. His face was red as a tomato. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. The expression on his face looked somewhere between embarrassment, deep depression, and pure exhilaration. "I just . . . I thought maybe you, uh . . . you . . ."
"I what?" Chandie asked, trying to remove the harsh tone from her voice, though it was still partially present.
"I don't know," Phoenix said, covering his face with his palms. He ran them down his face and dropped them by his sides. Finally looking up at Chandie, he continued. "Heat of the moment." He gave his friend an awkward smile. When the smile wasn't returned, Phoenix frowned. "I guess I just thought that maybe if I did something crazy . . . all my problems would seemingly . . . disappear."
"Did you now?" Chandie asked, still in shock from the kiss.
"Look, Chan," Phoenix tried. "I've had a very bad day, as you can imagine. I don't know what I was thinking. Can we just forget this ever happened?"
Chandie sighed. She would love to forget this ever happened. But was that even possible? "Sure," she agreed despite her thoughts.
"Thanks," Phoenix said with a smile. "Oh, and that kiss can be your birthday present. Since I forgot to get you anything." His smile turned to a smirk.
"Please don't make jokes now," Chandie requested.
"Do you know how many times in the years that I've known you that I've wanted to tell you the exact same thing?"
Chandie laughed. "Let's just go back inside and . . . stuff ourselves," she said, quoting Monty.
"Sounds like a plan." Phoenix stood up. "I'm really sorry about kissing you, though. I know there's this thing going on between you and—"
Chandie stood up abruptly. "There's nothing going on with me and Monty," she snapped. "There wasn't, there isn't, and there never will be."
"Okay," Phoenix said doubtfully. "Whatever you say."
Chandie rolled her eyes. "Let's just go stuff ourselves," she said again, this time with slight irritability in her tone, as they reentered the house. As soon as they did, they were met up with Monty.
"Hey, where were you guys? They missed you in there, Chan," he said, smiling.
Phoenix rolled his eyes. "More like you missed her," he muttered.
Chandie gave her friend a surprised, angry look. Luckily, Monty didn't seem to hear him. "Oh, uh, we were just, uh . . . talking," she spat out.
"Oh. Okay," Monty said. "Well, get in here. We're cutting the cake soon."
"Perfect timing," Chandie said. "I could use some cake right about now." She muttered the last part with a hint of frustration.
"Come on," Monty instructed, taking her hand in his and pulling her inside.
Chandie glanced back at an amused Phoenix. She whipped her head back around and now followed Monty willingly so it would seem less like the boy was dragging her.
When they entered the kitchen, Monty finally released his grip on Chandie's hand. She took another glanced at Phoenix. Things were going to be a bit awkward between them for a while, she knew that much. Especially with them living together. Maybe letting Phoenix move in with her wasn't the best idea.
No. She couldn't think like that. She was doing what she had to do to help her friend. It was the only option, as far as Chandie could see. She wondered if there was an alternative.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a chorus of happy birthday messages. Chandie decided to put off thoughts of Phoenix's situation and try to enjoy the rest of her party and whatever hours of birthday she had left.
"Where'd you run off to?" Richie asked.
"Nowhere," Chandie said quickly, maybe a little too quickly.
Richie gave her a skeptical look. "Okay. Whatever." After a moment of silent confusion, he shouted an excited, "Let's cut the cake!"
"Good thing it's not a cheesecake," Chandie mused. Monty handed her a knife and a stack of six plates. Turning toward him, she asked, "We eating this whole thing?"
"Why not?" Monty said with a shrug.
Chandie smiled. It was rare to hear Monty say anything along the lines of "Why not?" He was not exactly the most laid-back, relaxed, spontaneous person Chandie had ever met. He had once yelled at her for leaving a crumpled-up ball of paper on the table next to him. Apparently, trash belonged in the trashcan.
Chandie had never really minded such quirks, however. She knew it was just a result of his parents being so hard on him. No matter how bad her parents got, Chandie would always be thankful for how easy-going her mother and father could be. It managed to take quite a bit of stress off her shoulders. She could only imagine how tiresome it must be for Monty to constantly be trying to impress her parents, only for her older sister Rose to always be in the limelight. It almost made Chandie dislike Rose, though she knew it was not her friend's fault. Still, she felt bad for Monty.
Pushing the thought aside, Chandie used the knife to slice the cake in half. With two more cuts, she made six equal-sized slices. "Okay, so, I get five slices, and you guys can share the leftover one." When she didn't hear a single laugh, she frowned. "Crappy birthday to me." That sparked some slight laughter, perking Chandie up a bit.
Monty took over at that point, placing each slice onto a plate and handing the plates to each of the five others and taking one for himself. Chandie thanked Monty when she received her plate. Zoey skipped right over being polite and almost literally dug into her slice, making Chandie laugh. Phoenix managed a smile as he took his slice, but Chandie could tell it was forced. She hoped she was the only one aware of the fact.
There was a hint of wonderment in her mind that thought maybe Phoenix was upset about her rejecting him, but she knew the boy had much bigger problems at the moment. Chandie wasn't to blame for his sadness. Knowing that somehow managed to make her feel a little better.
She wandered around for a bit, trying to decide where to sit. For some reason, the group decided it would be a terrible, stupid idea for them to all sit together. Chandie let out a frustrated sigh.
Rose was talking to Richie on the couch. Zoey was at the kitchen table alone, digging into his cake. Monty was standing and eating by the counter where Chandie had sliced the cake.
She was considering going over to eat with him when something caught her eye: Phoenix.
How had she forgotten about him? She noticed Zoey; she noticed Monty; she noticed Rose and Richie. How had she not noticed Phoenix, sitting all by himself, once again staring at his feet, not even touching his cake?
Chandie immediately stepped outside and headed back over to the bench where they had kissed. Phoenix was sitting there now. It made Chandie sad to see him like this. He seemed to be trying so hard to pretend, to make her birthday special, but alas he could not.
"You know, it's pretty chilly out here," Chandie said, trying her hand at small talk. "The wind could blow your cake away."
"I don't care about the cake." Phoenix's voice was so distant, so emotionless, Chandie wondered if she had imagined it.
She once again sat next to her friend, on the very same bench where, just minutes ago, they had . . .
Frankly, Chandie didn't want to think about it. She really wished she could just forget the kiss completely. It wasn't like it had been a bad kiss—not that she really knew what a bad kiss was considering it had been her first. It was just that if Chandie had to choose among her three male friends as to whom she would kiss, her choice would not have been Phoenix.
"Please don't sit here," Phoenix said, in the same monotone. "I just . . . I just feel like being alone right now."
"Okay," Chandie said softly, standing back up. "Sorry." She headed back inside, the warmth of the home like a blanket surrounding her. She was once again left with the decision of where to eat.
She didn't want to disturb Rose and Richie from their conversation considering they were the only ones actually talking to someone else. Zoey was too absorbed in his cake, which he had miraculously not finished yet despite his ever quickening eating pace. Phoenix obviously wanted nothing to do with her at the moment. That left only one choice. Phoenix would have laughed at her for deciding to eat with Monty if he were in a better mood at the moment. Chandie missed thatPhoenix. Once again pushing all thoughts of the boy aside, she walked over to Monty.
"Hey, Monty," she greeted her friend casually, trying to hide her dismay at Phoenix's situation, trying to forget Phoenix completely.
"Oh, hi," he replied, smiling. "How's the cake?"
"Wonderful," she said.
"Really?"
Chandie could hear a bit of skepticism in his voice. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Except the fact that you haven't taken a bite yet."
Chandie looked down at the plate in her hands. "Oh. Right." She picked up the fork, dug it into the cake, and shoved the bite into her mouth. She swallowed. "My god, Monty. That's amazing!"
He rolled his eyes, looking insulted. "Sure it is."
"No, really," Chandie defended. "It's the best cake I've ever tasted. You're an amazing chef." She smiled hopelessly.
"I bought it at Publix."
"Oh." Chandie stared down at her plate, avoiding eye-contact with Monty due to embarrassment. How could she possibly make the scene more awkward? "Well, then, you're an amazing . . . cake-picker." That was how, by saying that.
"You know what, Chandie?" Monty said in a much less harsh tone. "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you're actually trying to give me a compliment in the words you're saying." He smiled.
Chandie returned the smile. "You see, I actually knew this cake wasn't made by you because it's just not as good as anything of yours I've ever tasted."
"Thanks," Monty said gratefully. "I know you're lying, but thanks."
Chandie laughed. "When will it be my turn to be the funny one?"
Monty chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "Chan, don't you see? You're already there."
This was more of a filler chapter than anything. It's really only here to help lead into the next chapter. I just don't like having super long chapters or super long amounts of time between chapters.
Sorry if Chapter Four was fairly boring. Chapter Five will be better, I assure you. ;)