No Turning Back

Las Luces Baila

To call or not to call. That was the question as I stared down at the little piece of paper that Mia had scribbled her number on. I had this little note for the past three weeks and I have yet to give her a call. I mean, we flirt every day in school but I haven't conjured up the guts to ask her out yet. I'm not even really sure why I was being so hesitant with calling her. I mean, I don't have to ask her out just yet, right? I could just call and we could have a nice conversation. Hell, I could even text her if that would be easier. I rolled my eyes at myself. If anything, keeping up a conversation in text was harder than on the phone. Or at least, I thought it was since I'm just that old school.

I grabbed my cell and began to dial in her number. I almost hit the call button but I stopped myself. What was I supposed to say? Damn, I hadn't kept up a steady girlfriend since Brittany and that had been almost a year ago. I shook my head at myself. I'd been so caught up with school that I didn't even have time to think about girls. I kind of still don't have time but Mia still seemed pretty nice. I could make time for her, I guess. My finger hovered over the call button but I didn't get the chance to press it before Melanie burst into my room. I will admit that a part of me felt relieved to not have to call Mia while another half felt as if my not wanting to call went deeper than me just being a rusty flirt.

"Get dressed, you're taking me out tonight," Melanie said as she walked towards my closet. I raised an eyebrow as I watched her shuffle through my clothes.

"Do you ever knock?" Melanie turned and raised a nonchalant eyebrow at me.

"Technically, I've seen everything there is to see so there is no need for that," she replied before turning back towards my clothes. I almost blushed at the memory of Melanie and I losing our virginities to each other. I mean, it was freshman year and we both had no idea what we were doing. All we knew was that we didn't want to spend our first time with people we didn't care about or didn't love us. I mostly remember fumbling around and Melanie laughing at me for most of the time. It didn't exactly help that we were with our families at our shore houses so they could've busted in at any moment. It was more like a stupid game than an actual, special event. But I can't say that I regret it.

I was suddenly thrown back into reality when I felt a piece of clothing collide with my face. I looked down to see that Melanie had thrown one of my fashionable black and blue plaid button up shirts and a pair of jeans at me. "Chop chop," she said as she clapped her hands together. "I'm starving." I smiled at her. If there was one thing I loved about Melanie, it was her bossiness. A strange thing to love, I know, but that's the whole reason we became friends as kids anyway. She practically ordered me to sit with her because all of the other kids were being mean to her and she thought that I seemed pretty cool. From that moment on, we've been inseparable. I'm not sure why I was so drawn into her commands but I just was. A part of me thinks it's because she reminds of me of my dad when he's working. He's not mean when he's ordering people around but instead he's getting things done. It's the same type of deal with her. She can attempt to boss me around but it's not to be mean. It's just so that we can get out of the house and do fun things. Plus, I think I just like myself an independent, outspoken individual.

I got up and began to get changed in front of her. Like she said before, she had seen everything there was to see so there wasn't really a big deal. But, I honestly didn't think there was much to me in the first place. My arms were subtly muscular and my torso had a nice six pack, I guess. My legs were long and everything. Apparently, my body made girls drool but I just didn't see it for some reason. I never really saw what everyone else saw about me, really.

Melanie wandered over to my desk, her eyes practically burning holes into the small note from Mia. I saw something flash through them but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what. Jealousy maybe. I mean, she was in love with me after all. I hated saying it like that but it was facts. I wished that I could try to return the feeling but I didn't want to ruin our friendship. She was my best friend. I needed her. I couldn't risk losing her. I loved her too much for that. "Who's Mia?"