Hilary panted as she reached the desired street. Pausing to catch her breath, she ran her fingers nervously through her ponytail. She wondered why she felt this way. After all, he was just her friend, always had been. Never mind that every time he grinned at her, it was like falling, both the good kind where you have a parachute, and the kind where you pull the cord and nothing happens…
The brunette straightened. "Okay, if metaphors say anything about you, then I need some serious help," she muttered, her eyes landing on a particular old Japanese style house. Taking a deep, calming breath, she raced towards it, pondering her feelings as the wind rushed past her.
It was ridiculous, she decided, to deny her feelings much longer. Though he was admittedly idiotic at times, and yes, they did have their conflicts, but even so, Hilary was mature enough to see that Tyson Granger meant much more to her than a friend. But therein lay the problem, she reflected, and pausing once more for a breather. She and Tyson had been friends for so long, six whole years, that it could very well be considered too long.
She brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face and sighed. Tyson was practically certified in stupidity and obliviousness, and a whole host of other unpleasantries, things which had helped her lie to herself, tell herself that he was just the obnoxious brother she'd never had. But underneath all of that was a person who seemed to truly care, and it was that person who Hilary usually thought about, the charming knight in shining armor type who would always be there for her. Having gotten her breath back again, she jogged over to his house.
On the entrance of the compound stood Grandpa who incredulously swept the front walkway. When the kendo master spotted Hilary, he beamed in excitement, making Hilary chuckle.
"Yo there, homegirl! Where's the fire yo?"
"Good morning, Grandpa!" Hilary bowed courteously to the elder, "Is Tyson home?"
"Up and shaking, H-G!"
Before Hilary could scamper her way into the dojo, a familiar head poked itself out of the door, followed by the rest of Tyson. Hilary was slightly disconcerted to see that he had grown taller, taller than her, even. That's not allowed, she thought to herself. But that was drowned out by the simple happiness that crashed over her, just at seeing her friend's face again.
"TYSON!" she screamed, charging at him and tackling him with a hug. She grinned, savoring the moment.
A moment which, sadly, was shattered by a sharp, questioning voice.
"Tyson, who is that?" Hilary stiffened, loosening her hold on Tyson and turning to the source, standing in the doorway and scowling. It was a girl, a bit shorter than Hilary, dressed in a fashionable - not to mention form-fitting – black and purple outfit. Her hair seemed to be a scarlet, matching her eyes. Eyes which were staring down at Hilary, despite the height difference.
Still with her arms around Tyson, Hilary raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
The red-haired girl flicked her hair back expertly. "The name's Lucy, L-U-C-Y, and I'll have you know you're hanging all over my boyfriend. Now, Tyson, be a darling and tell me who this… person is!"
Hilary was falling, and no matter how hard she pulled, her parachute simply refused to come free.
She concealed this, though, and answered for Tyson, letting go of him and stepping back a bit. "Oh, don't worry, Lucy, right? No, I'm just an old friend, sister, more like, I'm sure he'd tell you." She began backing down the path back to the road. "So, um, I'm clearly interrupting something, and I wouldn't want to do that, or else I'd have to hunt up a girlfriend for Tyson, and trust me, that is definitely not on my to-do list. So, yeah, happy sweet sixteenth, Tyson, many happy returns!" And with that, she turned and shot off, back towards a familiar place, leaving the two behind.
She managed to keep her emotions in check until reaching the summit of the hill. Then, as she ran down the hill, towards her house at the foot, the tears flowed seemingly out of nowhere and wouldn't stop.
It was bad enough that he had a girlfriend, Hilary decided as she ran like the wind down, down, down the hill. It was bad enough that she was admittedly pretty, and that's probably how she'd managed to snag Tyson. But the worst of it all, she realized, was that he had said nothing. Nothing at all.
Tyson watched as the brunette disappeared over the top of the hill. He then turned to Lucy. "Um, she seems kind of upset."
Lucy stared at him. "That's seriously all you can say? 'Oh, um, gee, she seems kid of upset'?"
"Now, Lucy, that's not an exact quote," Tyson objected, but Lucy was not to be put off.
"Tyson Granger, you're an idiot! I only agreed to this to try and get you two together, not rip you two apart! Speaking of which, can I PLEASE dress normally? I feel really uncomfortable dressed like this! I look like I am going to a goth party!"
"Wait, what?" Tyson asked confusedly.
Lucy looked ready to strangle him. "Tyson. This stupid, appallingly stupid scheme of yours has pretty much blown any chance you're ever going to have with her! I did exactly as you said, because you described her as someone who needs to attack people with words. But you know what? You know what Tyson? You don't understand girls at all! You just broke her heart, and I have no clue how you intend to rectify this situation. Now, if you will excuse me, Mr. 'Hey Lucy, will you be my fake nasty girlfriend so I can get my crush jealous', I am going to go change into sweats. This corset makes me feel slutty."
With that, she turned, slamming the door behind her. Tyson stared, perplexed, at the wooden door. "This has to be one of the worst birthdays ever," he mumbled, sinking to his knees in the middle of the walkway, wondering how in one day, he had managed to break the only girl he'd ever loved.
XXX
At Hilary's house.
Lucy hesitated, then tapped softly on the door. She waited. Nothing. She knocked again, a bit more forcefully this time. Still nothing. "Now what?" she hissed, playing nervously with strands of her navy ponytail.
Tyson peered out from behind the decorative bush. "I dunno, maybe she can't hear you," he offered.
The girl's eyes narrowed. "Really. You really believe that? You think she can't hear? Did it occur to you that she knows full well you're here and is just ignoring you because you, Tyson Granger, messed up big ti-"
"Shh!" Tyson broke in hurriedly. He cocked his head to one side, straining to hear - there it was again! A soft, gentle creaking, coming from the backyard. He knew that sound, knew it from a thousand days' worth of summers long gone. He motioned for Lucy, who apparently had heard it too, and she tiptoed over to him.
"What is that?" she whispered.
Tyson sighed, yanking his hat down to shade his eyes. "Porch swing. In the back. Can you-"
But Lucy was already rounding the corner of the house. Tyson waited a moment, then crept to the edge of the house, listening.
Hilary lay curled on her porch swing, face buried in the seat cushion, shaking slightly as she tried to stem her tears. She was calming down, she realized. At least, she was crying less as she focused on taking deep, even breaths.
Suddenly, a twig snapped, and the brunette's spine stiffened. She rolled over and, shading her eyes from the sudden burst of sunlight, saw Lucy cringing slightly in her backyard. Hilary stared at her, that girl who had taken Tyson away. For whatever reason, she was now wearing sweats instead of that ridiculous dress, but that wasn't all that important to Hilary at the moment. What did matter was that this little tramp was standing in her yard, uninvited.
"Wh-what do you want?" Hilary asked, trying to maintain an indifferent attitude, but failing as her voice trembled slightly.
Lucy twisted her hands together. "Um, I just wanted to say-"
"Sit down," Hilary interrupted, surprising both of them. She scooted over, gesturing to where her feet had been.
Lucy glanced apprehensively at the seat, then nodded and sat. "Um, well, I came here to-"
"How did Grandpa treat you today?" Hilary cut the other girl off, still in that cold voice, now without a tremor at all.
Lucy looked confused. "Uh, well, normally, I guess-"
"Define normally."
The other girl's eyebrows furrowed. "Just friendly, you know? With all that weird blabbering that I didn't understand…"
"Oh."
They sat in silence for a moment, then Lucy suddenly blurted out, "Hilary, what you saw, that wasn't-"
But Hilary held up a hand, silencing her. "No. It doesn't matter anymore."
"How can you say that?"
Both of the girls jumped, startled, as Tyson dashed round the corner. "How can you say that, Hilary?" he repeated, coming to a stop in front of her.
The brunette's face was an expressionless mask. "Hello, Tyson. Come to get your girlfriend?"
Tyson blinked, then nodded. "Yes, actually." But he made no move towards Lucy. Instead, he walked slowly to where Hilary sat rigid. Stopping in front of her, he held out a hand.
She stared at it blankly. "But - but - aren't you with her?" she stuttered, jerking a thumb at Lucy, who rolled her eyes.
"As if. I was trying to tell you that this was all an act, and that Tyson was just trying to make you jealous, because he's had a crush on you since - mmph!"
Lucy's little speech was interrupted by Tyson's hand, which clamped around her mouth. Blushing, he let her go, turning to Hilary. "And on top of everything, she talks too much," he muttered. Hilary giggled in spite of herself. Tyson then hesitated. "So, um, I'm really sorry, and I could have done this a lot better, uh, can you maybe forgive me?" He gazed hopefully at Hilary.
Her face hardened, and she rose from the porch swing, advancing towards him as he cowered. Then, she smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "I already have," she whispered softly. Then she pulled back, cheeks turning a bit pink. "Um, well, Tyson, I was originally going to give you your present at your house, but we got a bit, um, sidetracked, so, uh, now seems like a good time, so…"
Tyson blinked. "Aw, Hil, you didn't have to get me anything!" Then he glanced around. "Where is it? I don't see anything."
Hilary smiled, shaking her head slightly. "Oh, Tyson, you're so clueless." Then, before her courage failed her, she leaned forward and pecked him on the lips.
He stared, then grinned, grabbed her by the arms and replied with a real kiss. Hilary wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the moment. Behind them, Lucy smiled, happy for her friend, then tiptoed away so that they could enjoy their happily-ever-after.