Just a Crush

I had known the Gomez family since I met John in elementary school. We were in the same second grade class and at first, we hated each other. We had to sit next to each other and you know how kids are, "girls have cooties and vice versa." Then one day he saw me get pushed down by another guy in our class and he stood up for me since he'd been taught you never, ever hurt a girl. He and I have been best friends ever since.

In middle school, John and I spent almost every waking moment together. I had some close girlfriends but nobody was like John and he really was my closest and best friend. At the end of our seventh grade year, this guy that I really liked, who was more on the popular side, asked me to go to the spring dance. I was excited but John warned me to be careful.

"What, you don't think that Seth could like me?" I asked him, feeling a little hurt.

"Mel, that's not what I said," he replied. "It's just that Seth isn't the nicest guy and I just don't want you to get hurt, okay. You're my best friend and if he hurts you I'm going to have to kick his ass."

I laughed and smiled. "Okay," I said not believing he would since John was such a stick.

Needless to say, John's feeling was right. Seth stood me up. When I finally realized that he wasn't going to show, I called John, on the verge of tears.

"I'll be over in ten minutes," he said.

"No, don't. Lacey was so excited that you asked her to go to the dance. She'd be so upset," I told him.

"Fine, well don't go anywhere. Ten minutes," he said hanging up.

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. I expected it to be John but when I opened the door, it was Stephen. I stood there not saying anything because I really didn't know what to say. I guess you could say that Stephen and I were friendly but we weren't friends and I had no idea why he'd be at my house.

"Umm…John said that you needed a date to the…uhh…dance. So I'm at your service," he finished lamely.

"Okay," I finally said. "Ummm…let me go get my bag and a jacket. I'll be right back."

Twenty minutes later, Stephen and I walked into the middle school gym. I saw people looking at us and I started to feel uncomfortable and I knew that Stephen could tell that I was getting uncomfortable.

"Look, let's go get some punch and we can go sit down over there," he said pointing to an area of the gym that wasn't overly crowded with students.

We walked over and sat down. We sat there for fifteen minutes before I finally blurted out, "Why did you agree to take me tonight? You had to have better things to do on a Saturday night."

"Well I-" he started but was interrupted.

"There you two are," John said interrupting his brother. "Lacey and I were trying to keep an eye out for you guys but you snuck past us. Having fun?"

"Yeah, I guess," I replied. The dance was boring and I was regretting coming.

"Let's go dance," Stephen said and dragged me onto the dance floor.

He and I spent the rest of the evening on the dance floor. When his mom dropped me off at my house, he followed me to the door.

"Umm, thanks for a nice time," I told him. "You really didn't have to take me."

He smiled. "Nonsense, it was fun." Then he kissed me, just a quick peck on the lips. "Bye." He ran back to his car and got inside.

In the moment he kissed me, I started to feel something for my best friend's older brother.

~*~

Once John and I hit high school, we tried to date but the feelings just weren't there; we were more like brother and sister than boyfriend and girlfriend. I still felt something for Stephen but I wasn't planning on acting on it. He was two years older and had better offers. John figured out that I had feelings for his brother. Once he got over the initial shock, he tried numerous times to get me to ask his brother out but I never did.

Fast-forward to mine and John's junior year. It was spring break and some of Stephen's friends were having a party. John and I were invited and when we got there, people were just starting to break the booze out.

"John, I don't know any of these people," I told him quietly.

"Look, I'll introduce you to them. They're all pretty cool. And look, there's Jess and Brian. You know them," he told me.

"I know them but I'm not friends with them. Look, maybe I should go home," I told him. "You know that I'm not really into partying anyway."

"Okay well stay for a little while anyway. If you're not having fun after an hour I'll take you home," he said. He quickly scanned the room and frowned. "I don't see Sarah. She said she'd meet me here."

Sarah was John's flavor of the week. I couldn't stand her but I was polite to her because John liked her. Something about her didn't set right with me. "I haven't seen her yet but if she's not here then she will be."

John and I found Sarah a few minutes later, trying to climb into Stephen's lap. John's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. When Sarah saw him she stopped and took a drink of her beer.

"Sarah, what the fuck are you doing?" John demanded.

"John, she's halfway drunk, I'm not sure that-" I stopped talking when John glared at me.

"Stay out of it Mel," he said then refocused on Sarah again. "Again, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Like it really matters," she said drinking more beer. "I only dated you for the same reason that your so-called 'best friend' hangs out with you. I just wanted to fuck your brother." She stopped talking and looked at me. "Oh yeah, you didn't think I knew? Well it's easy enough to see that you want Stephen too."

I stood there, my mouth wide open but no words came out. Everything felt completely surreal, like it wasn't even happening. I watched Sarah yelling but I wasn't even focusing on what she was saying. I was watching Stephen and his face. All I could see was shock. I did what I knew how to do best; I ran.

I left the apartment and started walking until I came to my old elementary school. I climbed onto the play structure and sat down, trying to take deep breaths to calm myself down. I had been sitting there for about ten minutes when I heard someone. I looked and saw Stephen standing there, just looking at me.

"Mel-" he started.

"Look Stephen, I don't want things to be weird between us okay," I told him turning away from him. "Just go back and be with your friends." I stopped talking then looked back at him again. "What the fuck are you doing here anyway? How did you know I'd be here?"

"John," he replied.

"Of course," I mumbled. John would have wanted Stephen to come talk to me.

"Mel, I know that Sarah's drunk and she didn't mean any of the stuff that she said," he said. "And I hope that you don't kill John for telling me this but he said that you like me. How come you never told me?"

"I'm your little brother's best friend. I'm shy. I don't really like to party. Should I go on," I said, more than asked the last sentence. "Look, it's just a crush. I'll get over it; it's no big deal."

"What if I don't want you to get over it?" he asked me, sitting down next to me.

I looked at him. "Come again?" He repeated the question and I had no reply.

"Melanie, do you remember when you were in seventh grade and I took you to that dance and I kissed you when I dropped you off?" he asked grabbing my hand.

"How could I forget," I mumbled. "You were the first boy that kissed me."

"I've always felt something for you off and on since then. I didn't act on it because I was two years older and I thought that you thought of me as John's older brother," he said. "I'm going to kiss you now."

He stopped talking and pressed his lips to mine. They tasted like beer and chapstick, which wasn't the most appetizing flavor. Aside from the flavor, the kiss was perfect. We kissed for a couple more minutes before I finally pulled back and wrinkled my nose.

"What?" he asked looking nervous. "You didn't like it."

I laughed and shook my head. "You taste like beer and chapstick. I hate the flavor of beer." I kissed his lips quickly then kept talking. "The kiss was nice though."

"Only nice?" he asked.

"No. It was perfect," I replied leaning into him.