Until I Met Her

Chapter 10

Something was happening.

Something was changing.

I was chilling, walking home after uni when I got a call... Eleanor wanted to hang out. Casually, no sex involved, she wanted to hang out.

Although, I was slightly disappointed when I arrived at the destination and realised that her plans for hanging out weren't really what I thought.

The guys were there. All of them.

I wasn't disappointed or anything...

We spent the afternoon at the local arcade and when we got hungry, we left for the local bar. Freddie and Eleanor teamed up when we got to the bar, they wanted to play pool. Billy and Mark played against them. Gio was texting, too distracted to focus on the pool game.

Lexi and I were the only slow eaters. I watched as Lexi ate all of her fries and left the burger for last.

"Do you think Billy's flirting with Eleanor?" Lexi asked, looking over at Billy who was chatting with Eleanor about something pool related, I guess that's why he was pointing at the table.

A cold current went through me. Something that felt like guilt. "Do you—" I cleared my throat. "Do you think he likes her? Like for real, for real?"

"With Billy you never know." Lexi shrugged. She grabbed the bottle of ketchup and poured some on top of the mayo.

I watched Eleanor and Billy. They had grown closer just like Eleanor and the rest of the group but while Mark and Joe kept it friendly, Billy seemed to want a little more. The thing was... with Billy, like Lexi said, you never really know. He liked girls for a week or two and then he'd move onto the next one.

Watching Eleanor and Billy made things very clear to me. Yes, it did bother me because it was suddenly very clear how easy it would be for Eleanor to just decide she was bored of me, and she could go have something serious with Billy. I mean, I'm not blind, he's a good-looking guy and well— Eleanor's gorgeous. They'd make a cute couple and Eleanor wasn't even like... into girls or something.

And if I thought about it, the problem wasn't whether or not Eleanor liked girls or whatever... the problem was that relationships, regardless of your sexual orientation, were fragile. One day you want something, the next you don't.

And then there was this... casual thing. We were, what, friends with benefits? I've never had that type of friend before and it was confusing.

I mean, if she was flirting, did that mean I could do it too? Would it bother her if I did? Would we argue if I did the same as she did? I mean, where is the crossing line? Flirting okay, touching and kissing a big no, right? And what's the difference between an open relationship and friends with benefits? I guess in order to be in an open relationship, you'd have to be in a relationship first and... I'm not in one, so...

I was staring at nothing, thinking about Eleanor and Billy when her laugh brought me back from my thoughts. Something had happened, Freddie and Eleanor were both laughing at Mark and Billy, Joe was no longer around.

Worst bit was that Billy was one of my best friends and if he liked Eleanor for real, then what do I do then? Would he be mad or would he be cool about it? And what would he even be mad about? Ididn't know what I had with Eleanor...

A light touch on my shoulder brought me back to reality. "What?"

"I'm talking to you, dumbass." Lexi rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her burger. "You're an absolute joke, you know that? What's gotten into you lately?"

"Alexandra, suck a toe, yeah?" I glare at Lexi, ignoring her mocking smile while she ate.

"Freddie, Gio, Joe and I made a bet." She said. I turned to her with a frown.