My Dad is Bionic (3rd Book in Bionic Feelings trilogy)

2:Annalie

Annalie's POV

"Hey, An!" Eli, my best guy friend, says, walking over to me and my best girl friend, Nina. His best guy friend, Toby, and the guy I have a crush on, is with him.

"Hi Eli. Hi Toby." I feel my cheeks turn red.

"Hey Annalie." Toby says. Nina looks over at Eli and winks. He blushes.

"Wha-what is this?" I say, looking at my two best friends. "Are you guys..."

"I think they are, Annalie." Toby says.

"Fine. You caught us." Nina laughs and walks over to Eli, who kisses her on the cheek. "We're dating."

My jaw drops and so does Toby's. "And your BEST FRIEND is the last one to know?"

"No, my Dad's going to be the last one to know. Well, hopefully he'll never know for a veeeerrry long time." Nina shudders.

"And when did you plan to tell Annalie and I, your best friends?" Toby asks, leaving Eli's side and walking over to me.

"We...we were going to tell you, of course. We just didn't know how it would go over." Eli says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, Annalie, honey..." Nina walks over and puts a hand on my shoulder. "It's not hard to tell that you like Eli."

I yell out, "I DON'T LIKE ELI!", at the same time Toby yells, "You like Eli?"

"Are you sure?" Eli says.

"Yes!" I exclaim. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, you'd never tell us who you liked!" Nina exclaims. It's true. I've never told Nina or Eli that I like Toby.

"That doesn't mean it's Eli!" I shudder, thinking how gross that is. I've been best friends with Eli and Nina since kindergarten, and Toby since fourth grade when he moved to Mission Creek. "I'm leaving." I say.

"Annalie, wait!" Nina yells. I ignore her and keep waking. I hear footsteps that sound boy-like (You can sorta tell) and figure it's Eli.

"Eli, I don't want an apology. I thought we were friends but friends don't HIDE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" I spin around to face a shocked Toby. "Toby," I say in a much quieter and softer voice. "Sorry, I thought you were Eli."

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"I think I'm just going to walk home." I say, putting on my sunglasses.

"Uh, you want to go get pizza with me or something?" He asks, fidgeting with his hands.

"You aren't going to the movie?"

"I'm not gonna be the third wheel, especially with them two." He points to Nina and Eli, who are hanging all over each other.

"Sure, Toby. Let's go get pizza." I say. He smiles, and follows me out of the theater.

"Wanna go to Slicer's?" He asks, pointing to the pizza shop in the strip mall next to the theater,

"Sure." I smile, and follow him inside. The delicious smell of pepperoni, cheese and garlic fills the air at Slicer's, making it the best pizza place to go. "Mmm. I would so wear that as a perfume." I laugh.

Toby laughs. "And I'd so date a girl that had that as a perfume." He looks at me, then looks down at his work boots and blushes. I feel my own face start to blush, so I walk over to the cashier and order a slice of chicken-pepperoni-cheddar. It may sound weird, but it's the best on Slicer's entire menu. Toby orders a slice of the Meat Lovers (boys...) and then we sit down in a booth.

"I haven't had pizza in forever." I say, sighing as I take a bite.

"Me either." Toby says, piking a piece of pepperoni off of his pizza and popping it in his mouth.

We finish eating our pizza, sitting in silence. So much for small talk. Please say something. Please say something. PLEASE SAY SOMETHING. I suck at small talk.

"Sooo..." He says.

"Sorry, I don't."

"What?" He looks at me like I'm nuts.

"I don't sew. You said the so like 'sooo' and I said the 'sew' one...yeah it's not funny." I say, wanting to crawl under the table next to us and die.

Toby chuckles. "Yeah, that wasn't funny. But you're normally really funny." He says.

I blush again. "Thanks? Most times I'm not trying to be funny when I am though."

"Oh. Sorry."

I laugh. "Oh well."

"Well, you're really smart, too. And I know that just doesn't happen accidentally like your humor." He says.

"Thanks, Toby. You're really sweet." I say, causing him to smile and blush. He really has a nice smile. He really has a nice laugh. He really has a nice voice. He's really just nice in everything. I sigh in my head.

We sit there in silence, the good silence, not the awkward one before, but it's broken by my phone beeping. "Shoot." I say, digging into my pocket. I answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, sweetie." It's Mom. "Hey, something's...going on, and we need your help." I hear what sounds like wind whipping in the background.

"Mom, where are you?"

"A reeeeaaallly tall building. Just...go to the Money First Bank on Gamerow Street and wait for us in the lobby. Okay, Annalie?" That bank must be the really tall building.

"Mom?"

"So, how's the movie?"

"Um, I'm not at the movie. And Eli and Nina are dating. But, never mind. What's going on?"

"Everything's going to be okay." She says. I hear her yell away from the phone, "Chase, you're getting too old for this!"

"Mom?" I say. My fingers start tapping nervously on the table. "Mom?"

"Honey, I gotta go. Love you! OhmyGod, Bree!" She hangs up. I stare at my phone in a sort of shock. My heart's beating really fast, and my gut has that feeling where it knows something is wrong.

"Toby, I'm sorry, I gotta go." I say, jumping up and dumping my trash in the garbage can.

"Are you okay, Annalie?"

"Yeah yeah, fine. Everything's just peachy!" I say, forcing a laugh that just comes out a little nervous.

"How about I walk you home." Toby looks a little worried about me. Aww, how sweet!

"No, it's okay. Just a family emergency."

"Annalie..." He says.

"I'll be fine. And I'm not going home." I say, and start walking, then stop. "Umm, Toby, do you know where Gamerow Street is?"

Toby laughs. "Yes."

"Can you show me?"

"Sure. Come on, it's just this way."