Annette stood in the doorway with her arms cross, trying to look intimidating while Joe sat on his floor trying to feel intimidating.
"Well?" Annette said and raised an eyebrow. She wasn't going to let her best friend go through hell because of him.
Flashbacks began to play through his head. He shut his eyes and tried to forget like he had been doing all week but he couldn't forget, memories were flying at him stronger than ever. He tried to forget the silence that was almost never broken and the slow dance that almost never ended. The conversations about life's little nothings that carried into the early morning. He locked himself away trying so deeply to forget but how could he forget something that he wanted so badly to remember?
"I- I don't know." Joe stuttered.
"You don't know. You don't know? Well you better come up with something in the next twenty seconds." Annette was indignant. She was too mad to make sly comments or planned insults.
"I don't mean that, I mean that I didn't do anything." Joe managed to awkwardly say. He just wanted this conversation to be over.
"You were in my room with her weren't you?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"You better get your story straight Joseph before I throw that Xbox out the window." Annette threatened, she had no time for his games.
Joe stood up and looked at his sister, really looked at her. How her arms were crossed and her foot was tapping. Annette tried so hard to look tough, to scare Joe into telling the truth but the truth was that she was scared. She was scared for Beth and what would happen to her. She was scared to hear the truth because she knew the truth would change everything. The concern in her eyes was what made him come clean.
He sat criss-crossed on the floor and told the whole story while playing with his hands to avoid any eye contact. He told her how they sat in silence, how they slow danced so close, how he tried to kiss her and how the pained silenced came back.
"And now she's all I can think about." Joe said, wiping away a tear that somehow worked its way into his eyes.
Annette sat in silence, she was expecting a story but not something like this. Thoughts whirled through her head, too many to even bother organizing. One thought kept repeating itself, screaming to be said, as if she didn't say it, she would regret it.
"She is in love."
Joe looked up from his lap.
"Beth is in love." Annette whispered again, not fully wanting to admit it.
"Netty..." Joe slowly said.
"Beth is in love and it's tearing her apart and it's all you fault!" Annette's voice raised as she started realizing more and more.
"Netty what do you want me to do about it?" Joe responded with a bitter tone, raising his voice back.
"I want you to stop being the one she loves!"
Joe paused, he was shocked. They looked at each other as silenced filled the room. Somewhere inside him, he knew he loved her back. He knew that night changed them both but as Beth acknowledged it, Joe pushed it away. He sat in his room, blocking out the world and its memories. His headphones blocked out the sound of her voice, how she laughed at every joke and spoke thoughtfully but smoothly. His T.V. blocked out the beauty of her face, how her smile lit up the dark room and her magical, mysterious eyes always looked into his. His dirty clothes blocked out the scent of her sweet perfume. His blanket blocked out the feeling of her hug. He still hadn't found a way to block out the way she made him feel.
"She loves me? Bethany Bates loves me?" Joe said out loud for the first time although it came out more as a question, as if he was unsure if it was reality or not. Annette nodded at his response.
"Well that sucks because I love Bethany Bates."
"It also sucks because Bethany Bates is a liar and says she loves David Spencer." Annette admitted.
Joe can say he loved anyone and he chose Beth. He can say it over and over again, screaming out that he loves Beth. The problem with that is Beth can say she loves anyone too, and she chose David.
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Hey everyone! Sorry for the short chapter but now that it's summer I will have a lot more time for writing. Thanks to everyone who waited for this chapter, you guys are great! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Happy reading! -Ava
