Some say getting out of The Friend Zone is hard. Well, try getting out of The Sister Zone.
Vanessa Hayes-Wong has been best friends with Oliver Morrison for five years, one month, and fourteen days. Just as she starts to realize her feelings for him...
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Unlike our previous trip to the ER, Nessa and I barely have a conversation this time.
After the doctor stitches the wound on Nessa's scalp, he runs some tests on her and concludes that she had a minor concussion. To monitor her condition, the doctor asks her to stay in the ER for several hours. As I watch Nessa sleep, the burning-red dragon continues shredding my insides into pieces.
To say that nothing went as planned today is an understatement of the century.
I thought tonight Nessa and I would spend hours smiling and laughing until our cheeks hurt. I thought by midnight I'd get to kiss her—maybe even do more. I thought, for the first time in my life, I'd get to experience the joy of Valentine's Day with the person that matters the most to me.
Today was supposed to be the best day of our lives. But instead, it has been the exact opposite.
And there's no one else to blame but me.
By the time Nessa is discharged from the ER, the first spark of the sun has peeked over the horizon. The ride to her home is quiet. While Nessa sleeps like a newborn baby, the burning-red dragon drowns me in the crimson sea of guilt. Pikachu desperately tries to keep me afloat by letting me hold on to his water donut, but I can feel him getting weaker and weaker.
Arriving in front of Nessa's apartment building, I park Rusty on the side of the street and turn off the car's engine. I'm about to step out of the car and carry Nessa to her apartment when she shifts in her seat and opens her eyes.
Yawning, she stretches her arms and rolls her neck from side to side. "Are we there already?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks, Ol." She gives me a delicate smile, but there's something eerily wrong about it.
There are a million reasons why her smile always lights up my day—oh, who am I kidding? Her smile lights up my world. And one of the reasons is because it has always been full of life and—dare I say—love. But this time, something important is missing. Although I can't tell what it is yet, I know it's gone because of me.
"I'm sorry," we blurt out at the same time.
I let out a confused chuckle. "What are you apologizing for?"
"You had to miss the free dinner because of me, remember?" she answers, innocence in her tone. "And I know how much you looove free stuff—"
I stifle a laugh. "Don't worry about it. I should be the one who's apologizing."
"Hmm? What for?"
"For everything." I try to swallow the dragon creeping up my throat, but he perseveres. "For what happened earlier this afternoon and now . . ."
As she lowers her gaze, the dim light from the streetlamp outside the car allows me to catch a glimpse of the pain in her eyes. There's nothing I want more than to hug her tightly right now. But as I reach my hand out toward her, a tingle of fear trickles down my spine.
