My Crazy Best Friend

Chapter 5

"Wow, you must be Reed. You're so much prettier than I thought," Val says, holding her hand out for me to shake. I stare down at it her hand and then look back up at her.

"Sorry, Val. She doesn't really like to be touched by people she doesn't know. It'll take some time for her to get used to you," Kieran explains. Val makes an oh shape with her mouth and retracts her hand.

"Hi, Valerie. I'm Reed. It's nice to meet you," I tell her. I offer her a smile and she returns it.

Val and Kieran begin to tell each other how much they missed the other and how they need to go another date. I stand there staring down at the ground, avoiding there gazes. My heart rate begins to increase the longer I stand there. This is bad, this is so bad. I know they aren't talking about me but I can't shake the feeling that they are. My brain is screaming at me that I'm the third wheel, that I shouldn't be here, that I'm in their way. Maybe I should just go. But if I go, Kieran will get mad at me and I don't want him mad at me. What should I do?

My nails dug into my skin as my anxiety skyrocketed. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was messing up. My hand dug deeper, trying to draw blood. 'The feelings will go away,' my brain tells me. 'You just gotta dig deeper." I give in and push my nails into my skin, my body craving my demise. My head is full of doubt and it's too much. IT'S ALL TOO MUCH.

Tears form in my eyes and I push them back. I won't let a stranger see me cry. I don't even let Kieran see me cry. My throat closes up as I try to quietly take a deep breath.

"Hey, you're okay. Breathe, Reed. Breathe. I'm right here," Kieran's voice soothes me as he encircles me in his arms. I let out a shake breath as I push my face into his shirt. My eyes meet with Val's under his arm. The look on her face is pure hatred and disgust. I push away from Kieran, much to his surprise, and turn to Val.

"I'm fine. You all seem like you want to spend some time together so maybe I should go. I wouldn't want to impose," I tell the lovers.

Before Kieran can say anything Val cuts in, "Please don't leave. I really want to get to know you. I mean any friend of Kieran's is a friend of mine."

"I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Please, Reed. Don't leave," Kieran whines. I nod at him and Val leads us into her house.

"So, tell me about yourself, Reed," Val said once we had settled down in her room. "I'm so excited to get to know you."

"What do you want to know?" Im sitting toward the edge of the bed and Val is sitting in Kieran's lap at the top of the bed.

"What's your favorite color? Do you have any siblings? What's your favorite animal? Do you like anyone at school? Celebrity crush? What's a movie you can watch on repeat? What is a problem in America that you really care for?"

"Umm ok that's a lot. My favorite color is black, I don't have any siblings that I know of, my favorite house animal is a guinea pig, my favorite sea animal is a moray eel, and land animal has to be horse. I don't know if I like anyone. My celebrity crushes are Chris Hemsworth, all members of BTS, Park Bo-gum, and Zendaya. A movie I can watch on repeat is Justice League and a problem I really care about is systemic racism or just racism overall. I live in a poor neighborhood and it's no surprise that it is heavily black and latino. Most of my friends end up not going to college because their previous schools haven't set them up for success. It's honestly disgusting."

"Wow that's a really good point. I have a few follow up questions. What did you mean by not knowing if you have any siblings? And for the crush question is there a guy or girl you wouldn't mind dating?"

"My parents weren't exactly the loyal type so I might have other half siblings that I don't know about. For the crush thing, at my school the guy I would date is probably Ethan Wiles. He's really nice to me and he isn't too bad to look at. He's always there when someone says something and he backs me up. If I was going to date a girl it would probably be Mia. She hangs out with me most of the time. Oh, there was this one time when these two girls spilled their food and drinks all over me. Mia let me use her extra clothes and touched up my makeup. She's probably the only girl I've cried in front of." As I think about Ethan and Mia a small smile forms on my face. 

"You never told me about that." The voice is Kieran's.

"It was no big deal. There was no need for me to tell you. Besides Ethan took care of them for me." Our eyes met.

"It is a big deal. Ethan shouldn't of had to take care of it, I should've. You're MY best friend. It's our jobs to protect each other and tell each other the everything. Even if we don't think it's a big deal, Reed."

"Are you seriously mad at me because I didn't tell you about something that happened two weeks ago? It's over. Why're you making such a big deal out of it?"

"Because the fact that you went to Mia and Ethan shows you don't trust me."

"What the fuck, Kieran? How did this suddenly become about you? And you have no right to get angry. Half of the stuff I know about you is because other people told me. You didn't and don't tell me shit. Why should I tell you?"

I'm fuming now. This was literally the reason I didn't tell other people about me or my shit. They always turned on me. I knew I shouldn't of come here.