A Friend Like Me

I can't help thinking this is how it ought to be,
Laughing on a park bench, thinking to myself,
Hey, isn't this easy?
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

“I can't believe you didn't tell him,” said Vanessa.

I groaned. “I know. I'll just tell him at that charity ball. It's probably going to be really boring anyway; the confession'll add some excitement.”

I thought about it. “Actually,” I said, “nevermind. I can't tell him. I know, I'm a coward.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “What?! Just. Tell. Him.”

“I can't! He's – ” I stopped when I spotted a pair of paparazzi taking pictures of us. I furrowed my eyebrows, looking sideways at them.

See, sometimes, when I'm out with Joe or his brothers, these camera guys pop out. I know, I should be used to them, but I'm not. I can't be used to them. Plus, I always end up making these weird faces because I'm not used to them.

“Just ignore them,” Vanessa replied breezily.

We walked silently until they left, either having spotted another celebrity or having run out of memory in their memory cards.

Where was Joe? Well, he was at a photoshoot interview thing or whatever. And I was having psychologist advice from Vanessa.

“As I was saying,” I continued, “I can't tell him. He's my best friend. You don't tell each other you're in love with them. I'll just ruin everything.”

“That's the oldest reason ever!” Vanessa said. “That's always the reason, so it's invalid.”

“Well, okay, fine. Say he did like me back. How would I be sure that he wouldn't hurt me like he's done to Taylor, Demi, AJ, and all those other girls? Or how do I know that I won't hurt him, ever, like Camilla's done? How do I know our relationship won't go down in flames?”

“One: Is he all you've ever wanted?”

I felt my face turn slightly pink. “Well…yeah.”

“Then that crosses out the “you'll hurt him” reason. Now, I think we both know – well, at least I do – that Joe cares too much about you to hurt you like that. So there goes the other reason. And you don't know that you'll break up. Chances are, you'll stay together. Have any more reasons I can shoot down?”

“Not right now. I'll tell you when I do find a reason.”

We passed by Barney's.

“Hey, that reminds me,” said Vanessa, looking at the store. “I need a dress for the dance.”

Come to think of it, I sort of do, too. See, I was thinking of just wearing…well, my graduation dress. Which was also coincidentally my dress to my cousin's wedding.

I know. I'm cheap. Don't get me wrong, though. I used to be a shopaholic, but I stopped. I don't want to go down that road again, so I'm going to be as cheap as possible.

“I'm wearing my graduation dress,” I stated.

Vanessa pushed open the door. “You can't wear that. If you're going to confess, might as well knock Joe off his feet in the process. So, today we're buying a dress. Also, you need a haircut. And maybe we'll go around and get our nails done, too.”

I thought about the haircut, which I guess could happen. I mean, I have been wanting to cut it, since it's too long (it was, by now, reaching my lower back).

“Okay,” I said, pulling out my Samsung Behold. “I'll call Master Cuts, then.”

Vanessa stared at me. “No. No Master cuts. We're going to my stylist. Here, look at the jewelry while I call.”

{∞∞∞}

“Okay,” Vanessa said into her phone, hanging up. “I have to go to an interview. Don't worry, I already paid. Bye!”

I waved at her as she left me waiting for the highlighter things to dry or whatever.

Soon enough, it did finish though, and I was free to leave the sophisticated hair salon thing.

I walked to the hotel the Jonai were staying at. Just as I was walking to the revolving doors of the hotel, though, Joe came walking out. Spotting me, he smiled and tried to fix his hair.

“Hey,” I said when he stood next to me.

However, Joe was sort of…staring at me, his eyebrows slightly raised. “Hey.”

Reaching out, he brushed the hair out of my eyes. “Your hair.”

“What?” I asked.

“It's different.”

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

“It looks really beau – nice,” Joe said. “Did you get a haircut or something? Because it looks shorter and it has some blonde in it.”

“Yeah.” I beamed. I mean, he said it looks nice! That's practically a “Your hair is really beautiful,” coming from him. And, well, directed towards me.

{∞∞∞}

“So, did you go shopping?” Joe asked, looking at the shopping bags I was holding.

“No, Joseph, I'm just holding these for fun. Anyways, we're here,” I said as we arrived at my apartment building.

“Yes!” Joe said excitedly, opening the door for me.

Holy crap! Is he really opening the door for me? He's never opened the door for me!

I walked into the apartment building, smiling and raced towards the elevator, jabbing the 'up' button in triumph.

I know it most likely sounds quite childish, but Joe and I always had this competition of pressing the elevator buttons first, regardless of where we were. We could be at the most lavish place in the whole world and still do this. I mean, the only exception would be if it was “Press the Elevator Button and Die.” Then we'd avoid it, but I doubt there's such a place.

I poked my tongue at him. “Ha!”

“Hey, that's not fair,” Joe said. “I'll win next time,” he mimicked the Teminator.

“The Terminator never said that.”

“Yeah he did.”

“No. It was, 'I'll be back.' Not 'I'll win next time.'”

“Well, if he was playing this game and someone won against him, he'd say that.”

“I don't think he'd be even playing this game in the first place, Joseph.”

The elevator doors opened and Joe rushed in, pressing a level. “Ha! I told you I'd beat you!”

I looked at the button he pressed and saw that he pressed '8.'

Laughing, I shook my head. “I'm on level six.”

“Oh.”

{∞∞∞}

“So,” I said, “this is it.” I placed the dress on the coat rack (I can hang it up later) and carelessly threw the other purchases on the couch.

I heard a soft click behind me and saw Joe with his SLR up to his face.

“Did you just take a picture?” I asked.

Still taking pictures, he nodded.

“What?!” I shrilled and stood with my feet wide apart, my arms stretched out on either side of me. “Don't! I didn't clean up!”

“It's not like I'm going to show it to everyone.”

“Stop taking pictures – did you just take another picture?!”

He gave a sheepish grin, giving me a slight swoon again.

Ava – 0, Love – 1.