The Prom Queen's Sidekick

Chapter Fifteen: Tell Her You Love Her

The next morning, I was having breakfast in Kendra's house. I explained everything that happened last night to her. When I finished, she rolled her eyes and grumbled some inappropriate words under her breath. "Damn, I feel so sorry for James," she said, shaking her head. "His parents are so... are so..."

"I know," I sighed sadly. "And what's worse for me is that I can't do anything for him. I can't talk to his parents because I know they wouldn't listen to me. I feel so useless."

"Have you talked to him today?"

"Not yet. And somehow, I don't want to," I replied. "I just need to stay away from drama, you know? I want to de-stress or something."

Kendra suddenly grinned brightly. "I know what we could do. We could go to Topher's gig tonight! It'll be fun, I promise."

I scratched my head, unsure. "Well, I don't know... I'm not really a big fan of their music and, well, I think it'd be weird."

She gave me a look. "Why would it be weird? You're just going to sit down, have some drink and listen to Topher's Gophers. It's summer, Dee. You shouldn't be stressed all the time. You should relax!"

"Are you going to be there as well?"

"Of course. I have to de-stress too," she said and scowled. "Do you know how annoying my boss is? He's, like, screaming at us all the time. I don't even know what the hell his problem is. It's not like the customers are going crazy. And he doesn't pay us that much."

"Why don't you resign, then?" I asked. "Look for another job. You could be the new lifeguard in the public pool. You're so good in swimming."

"Maggie Shaw is the lifeguard in the public pool," Kendra pointed out, sighing. But then she brightened once again. "So, are we up for tonight?"

I sighed and nodded. "Okay, fine. I think it's best to relax once in a while."

"Great! I'll see you around six, okay? Topher's going to be so excited once he sees you there," she gushed.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "He likes to talk about you now. I don't know why, he wasn't like this before. You know Topher and I don't talk much because we're both busy with our jobs and whatnots, but every time we do talk to each other, his first sentence will be 'How's Dee?' or 'What's up with Dee?' It's kind of depressing since I'm his sister, but you know, whatever," she tried to joke.

I let my lips spread out into a small smile. "So he likes to talk about me now, huh?"

Kendra noticed my expression and burst out laughing. "What is that creepy smile on your face?" she choked out.

I dropped the smile and blushed. "Ugh, Kendra. Please start acting maturely."

"No, honestly! You were smiling creepily!" she chuckled. "But, seriously, yeah, he likes to talk about you. It's like he has a crush on you or something. Which is impossible because he has a girlfriend. Sarah the Monster, remember? And why the hell would he start crushing on you? Why now?"

"I wasn't assuming that he has a crush on me," I made up, and rolled my eyes to emphasize. "I was just asking. He has Sarah, I have James. It's going to be weird if he likes me."

"It's also going to be weird for my part," she told me. "Having my best friend dating my brother is quite absurd."

"But you were fine with me having a crush on him before."

"Dee, that was when we were five. I didn't really think about it," Kendra said. "It was just a childhood crush."

"I guess you're right," I murmured. I checked my wristwatch and my eyes almost bulged out of my eye sockets. "God, would you look at the time! I'm late for work! I got to go, Kendra."