TROY

I wish the stairs weren't closed.

The elevator doors are taking FOREVER to open.

Literally.

But when they do open, none other than Gabriella Montez was leaning against the wall, looking down at her feet.

"Hey," I tell her.

She looked up at me, tears running down her face. Tears she quickly wiped away.

Shit. She's crying. Is she okay? I walked in there and I think she meant to walk out, but she just stood there and then the doors shut before she could anymore. I think she was caught a little off guard that she doesn't really know what's going on right now. "You okay?"

"I was supposed to get off," she steps forward.

"Um, yeah, well, I'm only going two floors up," I tell her, clicking the number 3, "what's up? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

I don't believe her. She's crying in an elevator in a hospital.

If I saw my friend crying in a hospital, I'd be worried and a million things would be rushing through my head. But I'm calm and just a little curious right now because Gabriella's dad works here. His office is on the 5th floor and I'm just assuming that's where she's coming from and maybe they fought or something.

I don't know.

"Were you up with your dad?"

"Can you not ask me any questions?" She asks me, "and you didn't see me here."

"What?"

She shakes her head as the elevator doors open. Without thinking, I grab her hand and pull her out with me.

I need to know what's going on here. "Gabriella, what's wrong?"

"You just didn't see me here, Troy," she says again, "please. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," I nod.

She wipes her eyes and then takes a deep breath. "You're a great friend, Troy, and I trust you, but if tomorrow morning, Chris comes up to me and is like, why were you crying at the hospital yesterday then... you know what, that's dumb. Never mind. Forget I'm saying anything. I'll see you tomorrow."

She pressed the elevator button and it quickly opened.

What just happened?

There are moments or days in your life that you just remember every detail about.

It doesn't matter if you're 5 or 75, you just do.

A few include the day I found out my mom was pregnant with my sister. I was 4 years old, but I remember the exact words she told me and how my dad picked me up, gave me a big brother shirt and told me I was going to be the best big brother ever. I remember when I was 11 and my grandma got diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the worst day of my life and the whole day, it's so embedded in my brain, I wish I could just forget it. I cried for an hour, my grandpa took me to get ice cream, my little sister asked if I was okay, my dog cuddled me for two hours knowing something was clearly wrong with me, I rode my bike around the block ten times. My mom made lasagna for dinner that night. We prayed in my living room. I laid in bed tossing a soccer ball in the air for an hour. I just remember every single moment of that day. Same with the day I scored three goals at my soccer game when I was 13. Start to finish, I remember what I ate, what I did before and after, who I saw and hung out with. If something memorable happens, you remember it.

Meeting Gabriella Montez is one of those days I remember clearly.

And it fucking sucks.

Because she's my best friend's girlfriend.

How can you not remember the day you met her, though? She's beautiful and she lights up a room the second she walks through the door.

It was second semester sophomore year when she came.

The new girl.

I remember it being strange because it was a Friday. She started school on a Friday.

I was sitting in the office waiting to talk to my guidance counselor about a possible schedule for next semester. I had taken AP classes and she wanted to know if it was something I wanted to continue to do so I was there bright and early. Well, not too early. But you know...

And then she walked in.

With her beautiful brown eyes and her long brown hair and... everything about her captivated me. I couldn't stop staring at her.

Mrs. Cross asked her to take a seat next to me.

So, she did.

I figured I was the first person she was seeing that day and that maybe I should welcome her.

Nervously, the most nervous I think I've ever been in my life, I turned to her with a small smile and in the lamest way possible said, "welcome to Cherry Creek High" and she flashed me a smile that was laced with relief and gratefulness and we struck up a small conversation about where she was from, why she was starting school on a Friday, what grade she was in, and I almost slipped in that I thought she was beautiful, but I kept that to myself.

She was called back and she told me thanks and she'd see me around.

Hope so, I thought in my head.

The day went on. She was in one of my classes, AP History. She sat in front of me and it was pure torture that I had to stare at the back of her head.

I watched as Morgan Brown introduced herself and told her she could show her around.

Damn.

That's what I should have done. Offered to show her around.

And then morning turned to afternoon and I saw her floating around with Morgan at her side and it made me smile that Morgan befriended her because Morgan is one of the nicest girls I know. She has an early birthday so she got her license first semester a little before Winter Break and so she'd literally trek around town and pick up whoever needed a ride to school that morning and after school. She's just nice.

I went home, laid on my couch wondering what the hell to do tonight all while thinking about how beautiful Gabriella was. I couldn't get over it.

It was on another level.

It didn't jump out at you, but at the same time, you couldn't help but notice her in the room.

I got a text from Chris telling me about a party.

I was in.

8 o'clock rolled around and we were all in David Hause's backyard. I was driving so I didn't touch a sip of alcohol. I was standing there talking about the roster for the Denver Broncos with a few friends when she walked in with Morgan looking insanely nervous and like maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Right away, Morgan introduced her to people and she seemed a little more relaxed.

I felt like a fucking crazy person.

My whole day consisted of being on the look out for her, my thoughts being consumed by someone I didn't even know.

So, I decided to change that a bit and talk to her.

And we did.

I asked how her first day was and that everyone around here is really nice, she doesn't have much to worry about. If she was a football fan, if she liked sports, if she played any, what she thinks of Greenwood Village, just a bunch of questions that came to my mind at the time. I asked if she wanted a drink and she told me no, she doesn't drink. She laughed at some dumb joke I made about one of the football players. I watched as she tucked some hair behind her ear revealing a few piercings running up her ear. She also smelled zesty. I couldn't place the smell, but it was a little fruity.

Morgan pulled her away and I went back to hanging out with my friends. Chris asked who the new girl was and some guy said he didn't know.

Chris said she was hot and I immediately told him I kinda know her.

He asked if I was into her.

Hindsight is 20/20. I should have said yes, but it would have been a lie because I hardly knew anything about her.

So, I said no.

He said cool, dibs, I'm going to go talk to her.

Chris Murphy was not shy. He could sweet talk anyone. I get nervous. I don't necessarily want to give an oral report. I'm afraid of rejection from a pretty girl. But not him. Not Chris. He went right up to her, introduced himself and the rest was history.

They didn't date right away, but she was on his radar and so she was definitely off limits. Eventually, they got together and have been together since.

And so she's just my friend.

It went from wanting to know her to keeping my distance to being her friend because of Chris to hiding my feelings for her.

I am one hundred, no one thousand percent, into Gabriella Montez.

So much so that I think I love her sometimes.

But it's silly.

How could I love her when she's not my girlfriend? When I don't know her on that kind of level? When I've never even kissed her or held her hand or anything like that? It doesn't even make sense. But it's a feeling I have sometimes. This overwhelming feeling of want for her that I think it's... pure love.

Okay, I did hold her hand one time and it was the best 20 seconds of my life.

I grabbed it as we made our way through a sea of people at the town carnival last year and that energy I felt when I held it, I knew what I felt was real.

Have you ever had feelings for your best friends girl?

It sucks.

Don't ever do it.