Best Friends Since Kindergarten

Like a Puppy

RYAN

I watched her walk away with a pang. If she had turned around I wouldn’t have been able to resist and would have followed her like a puppy, but she kept her head facing away. I sighed, leaning on my hand on the table.

“Jeez, Ryan, what is up with you?” Susan scolded me.

“What are you talking about?” I snapped.

“You practically made Amy cry!” She scowled.

I rolled my eyes. “She doesn’t care.” My heart clenched, as I remembered her soft kisses on my neck last night. What the hell was she playing at?

“Seriously, Ryan,” Rob said. “You owe her an apology.”

I looked at him incredulously. “I owe her an apology?” I snarled loudly. The jocks at the table shot me dirty looks as I caught their attention. I lowered my voice. “At least I’m not going out with a blonde asshole tonight.” Rob scowled at me and was quiet for a moment. Susan, Giselle, and Lucy looked at me disapprovingly.

“Ryan, come talk with me for a second,” Rob finally said. I shrugged and we got up from the table. I followed Rob over to an empty table in the corner and sat next to him, looking out at the cafeteria. God, I hated this place. “Dude. What the f**k are you doing?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You just essentially kicked Amy in the face.”

“I did not,” I scoffed. Bitterly, I found myself saying “It’s not as if she cares about me.”

Rob rolled his eyes. “You are so dramatic. She didn’t even want to go out with Andres.”

“Then why did you bring it up first thing?” I snarled.

“I was hoping you’d try to win her over and get her to cancel the date.” He frowned at me. “Instead you were downright cold to her. She looked like she was going to cry when she left,” he snapped. “You owe her an apology.”

I sighed, raking my hand through my hair. “She can’t play with my heart and expect me to act the same, Rob.”

“Play with your heart? What happened last night?” Rob asked, eyes intense. “Did she say something to you?”

I sighed again. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Too bad. Sucks to suck. What happened?” Rob said sharply.

I glared at him for a moment, then frowned. “When she thought I was asleep, she kissed my neck and snuggled up with me. That’s it.” My face burned.

“Dude. Amy loves you,” Rob snapped, punching my shoulder. “She didn’t know you were awake, you ass! Listen to yourself! She wasn’t playing with your heart. You need to go talk to her now.” I sighed, scratching the back of my neck.

“Fine,” I grumbled, though my heart was racing. I knew where Amy would be. “Later, Rob.” I stood up from the table and walked out of the cafeteria. As soon as the door closed behind me all the way and I knew Rob couldn’t see me, I broke into a quick run. I trotted through the halls, keeping my footfalls as quiet as possible so school security wouldn’t hear me and come looking. It was a practice I’d perfected over the years. Finally I was outside the art rooms. I listened carefully for any movement. One of them had a full class, but the other two were empty. I peeked inside the first of the empty ones, but no one was there. When I approached the next door, I was able to hear soft sniffling from inside.

I carefully pushed it open. Amy was seated on the old sofa under the window, curled up in a ball. I quietly let the door close behind me. “Amy?” I asked. Her head shot up. She looked at me with tear-stained cheeks for a moment then quickly rubbed at her eyes with her hands.

“What do you want?” she asked. I walked over to her and sat down on the sofa. She glared at me. I reached out an arm and tugged her against my chest, stroking her hair softly. She sniffled for a moment, then wrapped her arms around me silently. I leaned forward to rest my chin on her head, humming softly. We sat like that for a few minutes. “Why are you here?” she asked, softer now.

“I’m here to say I’m sorry,” I said stiffly. She pulled back and looked at me suspiciously.

“Who are you and what did you do with Ryan?” she joked through her tears. I didn’t laugh, just looked at her seriously.

“Amy, I was mad but I didn’t want to upset you. I just felt… hurt,” I sighed.   

She stared at me. “Why would you feel hurt?” she asked softly. Looking into her eyes, I choked on my words. Because I love you. Because you’re going out with someone else. Because that someone else is a certain blonde jerk.

“I just… I thought…”I sighed in frustration and tugged on a strand of her hair. “I don’t know what I thought.” Yes I did. “Look, you just mean a lot to me. And I don’t want to ruin our friendship, but it made me feel sick to know you said yes to going out with someone else literally the same day we woke up together,” I word vomited. Unable to stop myself, I spat, “You agreed to go on a date with someone else while you were wearing my clothes.” I couldn’t look at her, the anger was boiling up in me again. I breathed deeply and leaned back to stare up at the ceiling.

“Ryan,” she said quietly. I didn’t look at her, just kept tracing the lines in the ceiling with my eyes. “Ryan,” she said more firmly. I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want her to find out like this but I’d dug my own grave. “Ryan.” She gripped my chin and pulled my face forward so that I was looking into her eyes. Her soft hand stroked my cheek. She was so close to my face. I could feel her breath on my skin. She looked… afraid. “I- I don’t know how to say this, but-“

The door to the classroom swung open and Miss Ophelia, the art teacher, walked in humming along to music playing in her earbuds. Amy and I sprang apart uncomfortably. “Oh!” she gasped, noticing us on the sofa. “Hey, you two! Long time no see, Ryan.” She smiled at me warmly. I hadn’t taken an art class since Amy forced me to do so with her freshman year, but Miss Ophelia never forgot a face. I smiled stiffly at her. Amy was a regular with Miss O- she’d been consistently taking art classes ever since the first one. She was basically Miss O’s daughter.

“Hey, Miss O,” I said in a fake cheerful voice. We went back and forth with pleasantries for a minute. I was painfully aware of Amy’s small form beside me. What didn’t she know how to say? That she didn’t feel the same? I felt nauseous.

“Ryan,” Miss O said. “You look a little pale. Are you feeling alright?”

“That’s actually why we came in here,” I said smoothly. “I needed to sit down for a moment.”

“Oh, you poor dear! Are you feeling any better now?” she fretted, starting to make her way over to us.

“Yes,” I said quickly. “I think I’m just going to walk to the nurse’s office now.” I stood up. Amy popped up next to me.

“I’ll walk you,” she offered. Miss Ophelia beamed at us.

“You two are such good friends to each other!” I winced. “Be safe! Let me know if you need anything!” We said our goodbyes and quickly made our way out of the classroom. We walked down the hall in silence. I kept my hands in my pockets. Amy looked at her phone as we walked.

“s**t,” she grumbled. “My free period is almost over.” I nodded and started walking her in the direction of her next class. She grabbed my arm and tugged me to a stop. I turned to look at her. “Ryan. I still want to talk with you.”

“We can talk later,” I said guardedly.

“Or we can talk now,” she insisted.

“You have class,” I reminded her.

“I don’t particularly care about that right now.” She tugged my arm and led me down a different hall towards the side exit. I followed quietly, letting her drag me around. She steered me outside and led me over to her favorite tree off to the side of the school, out of sight from the classrooms. She plopped down in the mulch under its branches and patted the ground next to her. I sighed and sat down with her, leaning my back against the wide trunk. “Ryan-“ she started.

“Look, I get it okay. Feeling’s not mutual. I can take a hint,” I said stiffly. “If you want to go out with Andres, that’s not my business but I-“

“Ryan!” she snapped, grabbing hold of my chin. I looked into her deep violet eyes in surprise. “Ryan,” she said, more softly this time, now cupping my face in both of her hands. She leaned in close to me. My heart pounded wildly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then quickly pressed her lips to mine. She started to pull away, only intending to give me a little peck, but my arms quickly wrapped around her, one hand pressing against the back of her head to deepen the kiss. Caught up in the moment, I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth. She let out a little gasp and I pressed my tongue into her mouth hungrily. Her tongue tangled with mine immediately. She pushed her tongue into my mouth and I moaned softly as she drew her tongue along the roof of my mouth. The whole world melted away as we kissed. All I could think about or feel was Amy. I just wanted more of her. When we finally pulled apart, gasping for air, I stared into her eyes. They were so bright now, mischievous and alive. She took my breath away. My hand slid around from the back of her head to stroke her cheek. My thumb grazed over her lips. Guessing what I wanted, she pressed her lips to mine again. This kiss was softer, less hungry and more gentle. My thumb stroked her cheek and my arm wrapped tight around her waist, squeezing her against me hard. She let out a little squeak, making me loosen my grip.

“Sorry,” I muttered. She smiled against my lips and sucked on my lower lip. I groaned at the feeling as she released me. She leaned back and looked at me, holding a fistful of my shirt in each of her hands. “Christ, Amy,” I breathed. She licked her lips and bit her lower lip, looking at me worriedly.

“Good Christ or bad Christ?” she asked.

“Definitely good,” I told her. She beamed at me. She was so radiant. I brushed the stray hairs from her ponytail away from her face, tucking them neatly behind her ears. She tugged me forward by my shirt, giving me another kiss. I held her face against mine, trying not to lose my mind and devour her the way I wanted to. I felt giddy. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you,” I told her huskily. She blushed a deep pink.

“I’ll talk to Andres,” she told me quietly. “I don’t want to go to the party with him. I want to be with you.” My heart felt lighter than it had in years.

“Which party?” I asked.

“Daniel’s. Tonight.”

“Do you still want to go out?” I asked mischievously.

“To Daniel’s?” Amy asked, bewildered. Another one of my favorite fantasies about Amy involved getting to actually spend time with her around her jock friends. Make them understand that I was more to her than they thought. Not just a pity case she tended to when my brother asked.

“Yeah- I’m technically invited too, y’know.”

“Why on Earth were you invited?” she asked, confused. I chuckled. Daniel was one of the football jocks. His brother Charlie wasn’t exactly my number one fan, but I sat with Daniel in psychology- one of the only classes I actually attended with any regularity, because the textbook made no sense on its own. Dan and I were lab partners- we’d clicked pretty quickly. Our senses of humor were remarkably similar.

“Guess you’ll just have to live with the mystery,” I told her. She pouted at me. “I promise I am actually invited though.

“Okay then,” she grinned. “I could do with a fun night.” I kissed her again, holding her close to me. She melted in my arms, resting her head against my chest. “I don’t want to go back to class,” she said with a sigh after about 10 minutes of just being together.

“I never do,” I joked. She snorted at me. “We could skip the rest of the day,” I suggested coyly.

“Can’t. Won’t be able to talk to Andres if I ditch. Then he’d show up at my house at 7.” I frowned. She made a decent point. Definitely didn’t want to third wheel with her and Blondie.

“Fine,” I whined, making her laugh. I grinned at her like an i***t, loving the sound. She’d always been my weakness, but I knew now that it would only get worse. She already had me wrapped around her finger.