The Truth about Heather (gxg)

6 💕

Avoiding answering Drew's questions felt weird, but I knew that it beat the alternative. If I did talk to him about how I felt about the whole Heather thing, I knew that things would start to get complicated between the two of us. So, after a week had passed by, I had kept most of my thoughts to myself. In recent developments, Heather now spent every break and lunchtime with Drew and I. She had essentially merged herself into our friendship duo so it now had become a friendship trio. 

While at first it hadn't bothered me that much, it was starting to, especially when I had to listen to Drew talk about how stunning Heather was. 

It drove me crazy. 

It was fortunate that Drew wasn't my only friend in school because I probably would have gone insane if I had to spend every minute with him, while he talked about how much he liked Heather. Heather and her curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes that always seemed full of wonder. It would have been so much easier to hate her if she didn't spend so much time with us and if she wasn't actually so nice. 

I hadn't expected her to be as nice as she was. I supposed that bothered me, too. 

I knew that it was better than the alternative. Drew had liked a lot of mean girls in the past and had fortunately dodged those bullets. 

This time around, I was glad that it was different. I was glad that Drew had found a kind girl. However, that didn't change the fact that it led to a tension forming in my chest. One that I couldn't get rid of no matter how much I tried. 

That was why when Abbie Smith, my friend from math, wanted to hang out, I felt relieved. 

The only thing with Abbie, though, was that nothing got past her. 

As the two of us sat on one of the benches on the school grounds, she turned to look at me and her eyes seemed to analyse my face. 

"You have this glint in your eyes again," she said. 

"No, I don't," I said. 

"Yes, you do, Zoe. You can't even deny it. I see all. I know all. Let me guess, Drew's been spending more time with Heather now and you're jealous," she said. 

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. 

"Oh, I am so not jealous," I said. A lie, obviously, but who was Abbie to get me to admit how I truly felt? 

 "I'm sitting on this bench and I'm going to work out a way to get you to talk to me. You're my friend, too, remember?" she asked me, then. 

I felt a little guilty. I knew that I should have been able to talk to Abbie about these things. Besides, it wasn't as though she was going to rush off to Drew to tell him what I had said. 

"Nothing is going on," I said. 

"That's vague person speak for 'something is definitely going on'. So, Zoe, talk to me," Abbie said. 

I knew that she was going to persevere until she got answers. 

I could have probably ended up sat on that bench with Abbie until the early hours of the evening if I didn't say anything, so I decided to. 

"He likes Heather. I like him. You know how it is, Abbie. We've been friends for so long, how could I not have started to like him?" I asked her. 

"You can't choose who you like," Abbie told me, as a sympathetic expression formed on her face. "Hey, I know it's difficult," she told me. 

"More than difficult," I whispered. 

Abbie smoothed her shirt down over her small figure, before she spoke again. 

"It's not wise for you to keep everything bottled up. I'm here," she assured me. 

I was grateful for that, even if I felt as though it didn't change very much. It was a great thing, though, to have finally spoken to someone about it besides Riley. He was a smart kid, but I could get a different perspective from talking about all of this with another girl. 

"I don't know, Abbie. Maybe I catch feelings for people too easily," I said. 

 "Just like how Drew did, you mean?" she asked me. 

I felt a small smile form on my lips then. I couldn't argue with that. However, I could understand why Drew liked Heather. After all she was beautiful, kind and to top it all off, she was talented too. She probably had a voice of an angel as much as she looked like one. I wouldn't know about that, though, I hadn't yet been to one of their band practices, but I had promised them that I would attend one soon. 

"You're a good person, Zoe. That's just a fact. I know that you'll figure all of this out in time," Abbie told me. "For now, though, we have class. You coming?" she asked me. 

I hoped that I could get through one lesson without being swept back into my realm of thoughts again. 

"Yes," I said in agreement, as I fixed Abbie with an expression of gratefulness. 

It had been generous of her to spend so much of her break time with me. She probably had a lot to do now that she was on the student council. Nevertheless, Abbie always managed to be there for her friends and I was glad that she was. 

Abbie and I began to make our way through the school grounds, until we reached our math class. 

I went to sit down next to Drew, who turned to me with an expression of interest. 

"Where were you?" he asked me. 

"Talking to Abbie," I told him, as she passed by the two of us with a sympathetic expression. 

Abbie took the seat behind us, then. I only hoped that she wouldn't engage in a conversation with Drew during the lesson and tell him about everything. I thought that I could trust her, though. 

"Ah, cool," Drew said. 

I thought, for a moment, that concern had flickered in his gaze, but it was soon replaced with an expression of focus, as he looked back down towards his work.