unrequited love • tee higgins

012

SECRETS

march 25, 2022

once we arrived at sam's house, it hit me what he probably wants to talk about.

emily and i were the last to arrive, and sat down on the couch.

"so," sam started. "i have something, well, trey has something he wants to tell you guys." he says.

"um," trey said. "so sam and i are dating." he said, he quickly looked around at our expressions.

"okay?" tyler said.

"i came all the way out here for this? we could've texted it or something." joe said.

"trey, hun." i said. "we all knew." i said.

"we were just waiting for you to say it." jamar said.

"okay, well someone else say something." trey said sitting back.

"jamar and i are dating." emily said.

"okay, now that is shocking news." joe said, giving jamar a fist pump.

jamar looked at tee, giving him the hint that now was the time to say it.

everyone looked at tee, knowing he was about to say something. "only 3 of us are single now." he said, a nervous laugh escaping his lips.

jamar looked at me, and furrowed his eyebrows, i just shrugged my shoulders.

"let's play truth or dare." trey suggests.

"lily, truth or dare?" jamar asks me. he has this sly look on his face, like he's trying to help me out.

"truth." i reply.

"what's something you hate, like absolutely despise?" he asks, i knew exactly where he was going with this.

"liars." i say.

"everybody hates liars, say something else." emily says.

"people who keep secrets from the people they love because they are scared of telling them even though they have no reason to be scared. and they are so selfish and only focus on their own feelings they don't realize the people they are hurting because they are pointlessly scared." i say, looking at tee.

"that was oddly specific." sam says. everyone has a feeling something more than a game of truth or dare is going on, except for sam.

he looks around, and has an 'oh' moment. "emily, can you help me grab something out of the fridge." jamar says getting up.

"joe, can i talk to you outside?" tyler asks. just sam and trey are left.

"let's go upstairs so we can," sam says trying to figure out an excuse. "uh, k, kiss." he says. that was the best thing he could think of?

"what's your deal?" i say to tee once we are alone. i'm not sure what my goal is with this conversation.

"nothing." he replies shrugging his shoulders, using my own tactics against me, well played.

"you can't lie to me, you've never been able to." i state. he rolls his eyes, knowing i'm right.

"are you embarrassed of me or something?" i say, i knew that he's not embarrassed of me, but a little guilt tripping wouldn't hurt.

"what? no. i'm not embarrassed of you." he says.

"then, then why won't you tell them?" i say, i have a feeling that this is working.

"lily, is isn't." he says before i cut him off.

"d, do, do you regret it?" i say, my eyes filling with tears.

"lily, no." he says taking my hands in his. "i don't regret it at all."

"b, but why won't you tell them then?" i ask.

"i didn't think the time was right, but i'll tell them, i promise." he says, planting a kiss on my temple.

"and stop fake crying." he says sitting back. i wipe my eyes and sit there shocked. how did he know?

"you really thought that would work on me lily?" he asks, tilting his head to the side.

"yes, i did think it would work." i say, crossing my arms of my chest.

"i know you too well and i've known you too long for that." he says.

"when do you think everyone is coming back in here?" i ask.

"don't know." he says.

"maybe we should get in an argument and one of us storms out." i suggest.

"who's gonna storm out?" he asks.

"i'll do it." i say.

"be prepared for me to lie through my teeth right now." he says. "what are we even gonna argue about?"

"maybe i'm cheating or something." i suggest.

"with who?" he asks, if this is going to work i probably should've though through a plan.

"i don't know, just make it up." i say.

"you we're facetiming him in the middle of the night!" tee yells.

"it's not that big of a deal, you're overreacting." i yell back, we both try to keep our laughter to ourselves.

"i knew something was going on between you two from the start! and you told me not to worry about it!" he yells.

"you still have nothing to worry about!" i yell back.

"what's going on?" joe asks, walking back into the living room, the rest following.

"then why are you always talking about him?" tee yells back.

"i am not always talking about him!" i reply. i had to get serious now.

"i can't believe you right now." tee says shaking his head.

"what's that supposed to mean?" i reply.

"you're my girlfriend but yet you are always hanging out with another guy and you claim he's your best friend!" he yells.

"it's always jamar, jamar, jamar." tee yells for some reason, this feels a little too real.

"it's not." i say back.

"yes it is, lily!" he says. "you told him about you cutting yourself before you told me! before you told anyone for that matter!" tee says.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

oops