A Friend Like Me

These are words he'll never say,
Not to me…
Not to me.
In My Life - Les Miserables

“Man,” Joe said, “I still have to get a date for that charity ball thing.”

“Oh yeah, that,” I remembered. “When is it, anyway?”

“Like…next week.”

“Why don't you just ask someone who's really close to you?”

By this, I meant me, of course. What? I'm just nudging him toward, well, me.

Apparently I didn't say this obvious enough, because instead of asking me to the ball, Joe said, “Yeah, well, like everyone's touring right now.”

HELLOOO! What about me? I'm perfectly tour-less right now!

Oh well. I'll live.

“Wait” Joe suddenly exclaimed. “You're right! You're someone who's close to me!”

…What?

“Do you know anyone who's free?” he continued.

“I don't know,” I said.

Joe sighed. “Well, can you think? Dude, all the good ones are probably taken by now or are busy or whatever.”

I looked at him in confusion.

“You know what I'm talking about. I mean, who wants to go with a complete monster?!”

I let out a sputter of outrage.

“A what?!”

Joe shrugged. “Well, you know. I think I'd rather go alone than go with someone covered in pimples.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Even if they happened to be the nicest person alive?”

Joe looked confused at my anger. “Dude, I'm going to be photographed with her. Why are you even so upset?”

“Because,” I snapped, “that's completely shallow.”

“If I do wind up with a date, I'm going to be photographed with them. That's what I'm saying.”

“And what, it'll ruin your reputation if you're seen with an ugly person?”

“It's not like I'm planning to marry her or anything!”

“So you'd take the most beautiful girl in the world, even if she was the most horrible person ever?”

“Well, yeah. I already said it: It's just four hours of my life!”

“So?”

“You know what? Let's just forget about this. I don't want to fight tonight. Besides, there's this girl I had fallen in love with.” He smiled that smitten smile of his and rubbed the back of his neck.

…Another girl? Didn't he just breakup with Brenda?

“It's this girl,” he continued, “that's just been with me through everything and I've practically known her for my whole life. Like…she's the girl who's been with me all along, you know? She's been the most loyal girl to me.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Rewind here. Is this really happening?! Maybe he means me! I mean, who else has been with him as long as I have? Other than his family, that is. And who else has been with him through everything? And what other girl has been this loyal to him for this long?

I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and gave him a wide smile. “Yeah.”

“Yeah. I asked Demi out when we were filming Camp Rock 2. Just thought I'd let you know.”

…Wait, what?

“D – Demi?” I managed to get out. “Sh-she's the one who...”

Honestly, I'm usually not this sensitive. It's just that…did he just…he just said that Demi's the one who's been with him through everything? The one who's known him for practically all his life? If you ask me, two years isn't “practically your whole life” if you're twenty.

“Whoa,” Joe said. “You okay, man?”

“No, I'm fine,” I said, not making sense at all. “I'm just tired. I'll see you tomorrow.”

The stitch at my throat was getting tighter as I made my way through a crowd.

“Ava?” I heard him call. I quickly walked around a corner and away from him, making sure to lose him. I wasn't going to cry in front of him. That would be too weak and stupid.

Realizing I was near one of my favorite places to be, The Blue Bean, I decided to head there. I quickly sat down on one of the tables, now extremely close to breaking down into tears.

I mean…it was just that he called her the one who's been there with him through everything, the one who's been there all along. What about me? I've been there through the Barney phase, elementary school, middle school, and that small part of high school. Heck, I was already friends with him when Nick was born. I mean, sure we always argue, but they rarely lasted long. We've been with each other for as long as I can remember, like Blair, Serena, and Nate (in the books. Not so much in the show. And we were only two people, not three).

Sniffling pathetically, I tried to wipe away the tears, which was pretty hard because of my glasses. Wow, I feel so spineless and pitiful, crying over a guy like this.

I felt someone touch me gently. I looked up to see a blonde man with deep blue eyes, this guy I've seen a lot before in this café.

“Are you alright?” he asked, having a British accent.

“Er,” I said, “not really.”

“Here,” he said. “Let me buy you something. You look like you need it.”

“Oh, no,” I reassured him, “it's fine. I'm Ava, by the way. Ava Summers.”

“Well, Ava, it's nice to meet you. I'm James Brown.”

Hey, this guy's polite! Unlike Joe, who only uses manners around some people. Apparently Kevin, Nick, Frankie, and I are the exceptions to his whole be-polite-to-everyone thing. Also, his name sounds so familiar for some reason.

“Are you sure you don't want anything?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “I'm not hungry.” Of course, right when I said this, my stomach growled.

Great timing, stomach.

“Okay, okay,” I admitted.

{∞∞∞}

“Ava, I know this seems quite early, seeing as we've just met today, but will you go to this ball with me?” James asked after we ate.

Huh. I wonder if that's the same ball Joe and I were talking about earlier.

“Yeah,” I replied, “okay. I have a question, though. Is this a charity ball held next week?”

“Yup,” James said. “Why?”

“Oh, my friend is going there, too. We were talking about it once.”

In fact, we were talking about it just about an hour ago. Then said friend said something shallow and took his best friend for granted.

“I better head home,” James said, checking his watch. “I need to study.”

“Wait!” I stopped him. “Where do you go to school?”

Oh gosh. I sound like such a creeper.

“NYU,” James responded.

“Whoa, seriously?” I said, surprised. “I go there, too. What are you majoring in?”

I really sound like a creepy stalker now. “Where are you majoring in so I can go over there and kill you?” is practically what I'm saying right now. Even though I didn't mean it like that, but still.

“Music,” James said. “I want to be taken seriously, but I didn't want to go to an Ivy League. I wanted to go to a smaller school, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh. I'm, uh, in film,” I said.

“So I'll see you soon?”

“Er, yeah. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Argh. I need to liven up my conversation skills.

{∞∞∞}

“You can ask that girl over there,” I suggested to Joe the next day, pointing to a girl who I though was pretty nice-looking. We were at Blue bean, looking for girls he can ask to that stupid ball of his.

Yes, the situation is this desperate now. Now, I thought he was going to ask Demi, but he told me to help him find someone he can ask. I'd suggest myself, but I already did suggest myself last night (okay, I admit, my suggesting was a bit subtle, not blunt) and I already am going with someone.

“Her nose is off-center,” Joe observed.

I raised an eyebrow at him in response.

“What? It is!” Joe defended himself. “Fine, I'll just ask Demi. It'll be awkward, though, because I broke up with her, like, last week.

Okay. Now I'm confused.

“Huh? Yesterday you said that – ”

“I said that I loved her, as in past tense. You should know, you're the smart one.”

“You're not making any sense.”

“Okay. I broke up with her, then I told you yesterday to see what you're reaction would be to see if I should get back together with her or not. Dude, your reaction wasn't very nice, so I'm going to just ask her and tell her that we're just friends. Besides, I think that's all I really did feel for her.”

“What? You just said you fell in love with her last night!”

This boy is so confusing.

“Ah, I thought I did. That's the point.”

“You're really confusing right now.”

“Dude, you're the one not getting it. What I'm saying is, now that I look back on it, I thought I loved her that way, but it turned out just like brotherly love.”

“Okay then.”

Suddenly, Joe looked excited and said, “Yes!” as a new song came on.

I laughed. “What was that?”

“This is that new song from James Brown.”

I nearly choked on my croissant. So that's why his name was familiar. It's familiar because he's Joe's favorite music artist of the moment. That also explains why he was told me he went to NYU because he wanted to be taken seriously. Wow. I feel so Dan Humphrey-like right now. I seriously cannot believe that I didn't notice that. I'm so stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Did you know he was going to do a little performance at the ball, too?” Joe continued. “Should I ask for his autograph there? Or would that be too weird?”

I shrugged. “I don't know.”

Uh...would this be the time to tell him I was going to the ball with James? And that I actually know him? …Er, you know what? I'm not going to tell him. He'll either make fun of me or not believe me.

“Um, hi?” Joe said hesitantly, looking over my shoulder.

I turned around to see Alex Tamsin, a slightly chubby, pimply guy who I've helped a bit in school.

“Hey, Ava,” he said. “I was just wondering if maybe you'd…you know.”

I blinked at him. “What?”

“See, you're always so nice to me, so, um, will you go to the charity ball with me?”

Is that all anyone talks about these days?

“Oh,” I said worriedly. I mean, how was I going to say this to him? “I'm already going with someone. I'm sorry.”

“Oh – that's fine,” Alex said, quickly hurrying off.

Joe frowned at him. “That was really weird.”

“He came out of nowhere, actually,” I said. I mean, really, he was just suddenly behind me! “All he did was ask me out. How is that weird?”

Suddenly, Joe sat up straighter and looked as me as though in a new light. “Hey, he's right!” Joe said excitedly. “You are a girl!”

I stared at him. “What?!”

“He's right! You're a girl!”

…What is this. Is he serious?! This is so – ugh. How can somebody be so…so I don't even know what. I mean, did he seriously take seventeen years to realize that?! Seventeen years!

“Oh really?” I said venomously.

“Yeah! You can go with me!” Joe suggested.

“No, I really can't.. I'm going with someone, remember?”

“No, you're not. You just said that to get rid of that guy.”

Um…what? Honestly, sometimes I can't believe how thoughtless this guy can be.

“No,” I snapped. “Not everyone takes seventeen years to realize that I'm a girl.”

Staring at me, Joe blinked and then grinned. “Okay, okay. You're a girl, problem solved. Now will you go?”

“No! I'm going with someone already! If you were smarter, you'd have asked me earlier and I would've said yes!”

Oh crap. Did I really just say that out loud?

Joe was silent. Then he said, “This is getting ridiculous. Stop lying and just be my partner!”

Standing up, I grabbed my purse off of the table, about to leave. “You're right. This is ridiculous, but it's because of you, not me. I told you; I'm already with someone.”

Holding out an arm to stop me, Joe stood up as well and blocked me from leaving. “Okay. Fine. Just don't leave.” He paused. “Who're you going with?” he said sharply.

“Why do you even want to know?” I snapped. “I thought it was ridiculous that I ended up with a partner.”

“Fine. Don't tell me.”

I glared at him. “What's your problem?”

“Well, why won't you tell me who you're going with? That is, if you are going with someone.”

“I am and I don't have to tell you. I don't have to tell you anything.”

“Fine.”

“Why are we even friends?”

Now, I don't know where that question came from. I mean, I know it came from me, just not…like…you know.

Joe furrowed his eyebrows and leaned back on his chair. “Well…because. Because we are.”

Nice reasoning.

“I mean, there's more to it than that,” he continued. “It's because even though we argue, we always make up in one way or another. And I can't imagine like…not having you. I mean, you've always been here. And we have fun.”

I smiled. “Fair enough. Hey, remember that time when we got lost at the Izod arena and ended up at the basement?”

Joe laughed. “And that time we got lost in the NBC studios and I needed to get to Entertainment Tonight! And that other time we were making pancakes for breakfast and I tried to spread butter on them using those big knives.”

“How can I forget? I have evidence for that.” Smiling, I pointed to the small scar on my right hand. “I can't believe you used a butcher knife for spreading butter.”

“Hey now, all the knives for butter spreading were gone.”

“And you say that while laughing, you sick, morbid child!”

“You're laughing, too.”

Just then, a girl with platinum blonde hair walked in. With long legs, a skinny body, and sleek, shiny, and straight hair, she was practically the utter definition of model.

“You could've asked her,” I mumbled after she left.

“What?” Joe asked, tearing his gaze away from me. “Who?”

That's extremely odd, how Joe didn't notice her.

Oh well though, right?