The Young Love

The Celebration Night: The Hidden Feelings.

Drake was left staring at his best friend, Ashley. At that very moment, he could feel himself drowning in the feelings he had for his best friend but had kept hidden for the sake of their friendship. Shane noticed Drake was being a little too quiet, so she tried to get his attention by giving him a nudge on his stomach and commanding him to say something to their best friend.

" Drake, won't you say something to our stunning birthday girl here? " Shane asked Drake.

At that point, Drake realized he needed to say something, act like his normal self, and pretend once again that he wasn't feeling anything special for his best friend and the debutante herself, Ashley. But by that time, his feelings for Ashley will be a little harder for him to hide from the one whose eyes are focused only on him, Shane's.

" Ohh, yeah, right. Mmm... Happy Birthday, Ash. You... You look beautiful tonight. " Drake stutteringly said to Ashley.

Drake sounded different to Shane at that minute. Hearing Drake speak and greet Ashley that way made Shane feel some unexplainable tingling pain somewhere deep inside her. She looked at Drake, and she found him so lost in deep admiration of their best friend. She then realized at that point that the girl Drake told her he liked all along was actually none other than their best friend and the birthday celebrant herself, Ashley.

But the celebrant herself was preoccupied with all things concerning only Therence, so what arouses her best friend's attention did not actually arouse hers. It was only when she looked at Shane, who happened to be staring at Drake, with eyes that seemed to be crying with so much pain deep within, that she realized that something must be a little off for Shane, so, being the good friend that she always was, she felt that she had to do or say something for Shane to not feel anything she should not have, because for Ashley, the last thing she would want to do is hurt anybody's feelings, especially her best friend's.

" Shane also looks beautiful. What do you think, Drake? " Ashley asked Drake.

" Huh? Yeah, Of course, you both look beautiful. " Drake replied, wondering if he was being a little too obvious with the way he was acting that night.

Shane just sneered and couldn't find herself believing what Drake had just said.

" But not as beautiful as Ashley, right Drake? " Shane's indirect way of confronting Drake

Drake felt like he had been suddenly placed in the hot seat. He was clueless about what kind of answer he was expected to give to Shane's question. But before he could even give an answer, Shane continued talking, trying her best to compose herself because she didn't want to sound like a jealous girlfriend and because she knew she had no right to that thing.

" I mean, nobody here at the party tonight can be as equally beautiful as the debutante, right? Drake? "

Drake felt quite relieved after being thrown into a situation where he was struggling to find a safe way out.

" Oh, yeah, you're right. " Drake's short but safe response to what Shane said next.

But things were getting a little weird and messy already between the three of them, and Ashley knew that, so she wanted to have some private talk with her best friend, Shane, who by that time was trying so hard to prevent herself from having a meltdown after finding the truth behind Drake's feelings for her best friend, Ashley.

" Shane, can you help me with my gown? I think my zipper is stuck. Could you help me fix it? " Ashley asked Shane for a favor.

Shane, knowing her best friend's real intention of asking her for a favor, agrees to her excuse, and Drake leaves them alone.

" Now that he's already gone, you can say what you want to say. " Shane told her best friend, trying to dodge her eyes.

" Come on, Shane. " The only words that came out of Ashley's mouth, as a friend who doesn't know where or how to start a conversation.

" Come on, Ash. " Shane's words to her best friend, trying to hold back the tears that are about to fall from her eyes.

From that point, Shane stares into Ashley's eyes as she asks her best friend.

" You know it? You knew about it, right? You know about the feelings he has for you? You knew, yet you pretended in front of me? " Shane confronted Ashley about the truth.

" What? No! Shane, no. " Ashely disagreed with what her best friend was trying to impose on her. She continues, "It isn't like that. "

" So how is it then, Ash? " Shane asked Ashley, demanding some sort of clear explanation from her best friend.

" I... I just don't know how to tell you then... " Ashely tried her best to explain it better to her best friend, then Shane cut her off.

" You don't know how to tell me that while I'm madly in love with him, which you already knew because I told you about it and been telling you all about it, he, on the other hand, is deeply in love with you, which you also knew in some ways, I do not know because you kept it from me. " Shane said to Ashley, trying to stress her point.

" Shane, please listen to me first. " Ashley begged her best friend. She continues, " I didn't mean to hide it from you. I just don't know how to tell you about it without hurting your feelings. "

" But still, you chose to hide it from me when you knew it would hurt me more if I found it this way, Ash. "

Any clear explanation and pure intention would be rendered ineffective if it fell on deaf ears.