His Girl Friday

"Dylan!" the boy yelled as he watched the girl he loved climb into a taxi and drive away. He was left stranded on the side of the road. The boy, too old to be a child, yet too young to be an adult, crumpled to his knees. He thought back to what had brought him here.

***

"Dylan? Dylan Opporto? Is that you?" a sixteen year old version of the boy asked, gawking at a red haired girl, with nice curves, and a gentle smile. She had light freckles sprayed across her face and nicely toned muscles from playing lacrosse for four years.

"William? William Beckett? Oh my god! I haven't seen you in so long!" the girl exclaimed, rushing to give her old childhood friend a hug. William and Dylan had grown up together until Dylan's parents had uprooted the Opporto family and moved them across the country when the two of them were eight.

"I can't believe it's really you!" William exclaimed, staring into her deep chocolate brown eyes.

"I know! It's been forever!" Dylan gushed. She stared back into Will's eyes, wondering how she had ever survived without her only true best friend in the entire world.

Joe Sigman, another boy their age, walked up to the two friends in the now crowded hallway of their high school. He, too, had been friends with Dylan when they had been young, however, once Dylan moved, Joe and William became rivals. Joe had always been more of a sports type, whereas William preferred music. He began playing guitar at nine and singing at ten. William preferred singing to guitar, however, and had recently started a band with a few of his friends, with him as the singer.

"Dylan Opporto?" Joe's voice full of skepticism. "Is that you?" he asked.

She nodded before a look of realization swept over her features. "Joe? Oh my god!" she exclaimed. She had never thought of Joe as someone who could be good-looking, but after so long without seeing him, she was awe-struck. Dylan instantly liked this boy.

"We should totally catch up, sometime!" Joseph decided. He, too, believed Dylan was pretty. He knew he wanted to be with her. It was only a matter of catching her. Joe walked to his first hour class and left Will and Dylan standing in the once again empty hallway alone.

"What's your first class?" William asked her. Dylan pulled her schedule out of her backpack and handed it to Will. He quickly surveyed her schedule, identifying classes that they had together. "We have four classes together," he smiled.

She grinned back at him, happy to know there would be a familiar face in over half of her classes. The two walked together to their first hour. William offered to carry Dylan's books, and Dylan happily obliged.

*

William's thoughts flashed forward to a month later.

*

"Oh my god, Will! You will never believed what just happened to me!" Dylan whisper-yelled, throwing her stuff down as she sat in the seat next to William.

"What?" William asked nervously. He was afraid he knew what she had to say.

"Joe just asked me out!" she exclaimed, a wide grin spreading across her features. William sighed. He had overheard Joe talking to his friends the day before, and knew of his plans. What he was more scared of was that Dylan might say yes.

"What did you say?" his voice barely audible even to himself.

"Well, I said yes of course. I mean, he's cute, funny, smart, popular, he plays sports. He's basically all my parents want for me and more. I couldn't say no," Dylan said, as though it were obvious.

William merely nodded. Dylan didn't know that William liked her. That he had had a crush on her since the very first day she arrived. Dylan was perfect and William was just William. A girl like her could never fall like a guy like him.

*

The flashbacks were coming on quicker now. He remembered conversations more clearly, almost as if he were back in the moment.

*

"What is wrong with you, William?! Ever since I started dating Joe you've been so insane!" Dylan screamed at him. She looked like a wreck. The girl had mascara under her eyes, her usually gorgeous red hair was a mess, and her eyes were puffy from crying.

"Gee, Dylan, let me think! You're so fucking oblivious! You think everything is so fucking perfect all the time! If you're happy, we all are! You think I'm your best friend! You lead me on day in and day out like nobody's business! You never pay attention to anyone around you but Joe! You don't pay attention to anyone! Ever!" William screamed.

"What are you saying, Will? You've just been a jackass to me since Joe and I started going out! I thought you'd be happy for me!" Dylan spat. Her voice cracked in places as her voice raised louder.

"It's hard being happy for you when I'm falling in love with you, you self-centered bitch!" William yelled. Both of them fell silent, in shock of what he just said.

"Prove it," Dylan commanded. William crossed the small distance between them, taking her face in her hands, and crushing his lips to her's.

~

William pulled his lips from Dylan's and plopped down on the bed next to her. Sweat matted his hair to his forehead as he listened to Dylan's heavy breathing. After two months, their secret meetings were still going strong. The two of them met every day but Fridays, when she was always Joe's. Oftentimes, however, William's and Dylan's plans were canceled because of some outside force, and yet Dylan always had time for Joe.

It shouldn't be so surprising considering they were dating. Dylan's parents couldn't know about William because they certainly wouldn't approve of a boy in a band.

"Do you want to stay with me tonight?" William asked Dylan on that particular Thursday night.

"Sure," Dylan complied. She wrapped her arms around William's bare chest, feeling his muscles underneath her arms. She hugged him close and breathed in the scent of Dial soap and shampoo.

William breathed in the scent of her citrus scented shampoo. He was always fond of that smell and it always brought a smile to his face. He wrapped his arms around her frame and hugged her close. William and Dylan soon drifted off to sleep.

~

William was hastily pulling on his clothes and headed towards the window. He buttoned his pants and dove out the window, shirt in hand, just in time for the door to open and Joe's voice to waft inside.

"Hey, babe. I missed you at my game today," Joe told Dylan, dissapointment filling his tone.

"I missed you, too, but I had to study," she sighed.

"You always have to study! I feel like I don't know you, Dylan!" he screamed at her.

"Maybe you don't! Maybe I don't even know myself! I thought that maybe I was starting to love you, but I guess I was fucking wrong!" she screamed. William heard the awful sound of skin hitting skin.

Dylan's eyes widened as she felt the sting from Joe's slap. Her hand instictively went up to her face. Joe's eyes widened as he realized what he had just done. "Oh my god, Dyl. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I got mad and… oh god. I-I'm so, so sorry," Joe said, true apology coloring his tone.

Dylan felt a tear roll down her cheek as she continued to stare at her boyfriend. She closed the distance between them and hugged him tight, shaking her head. She couldn't believe she was forgiving him for such an unforgiveable act. Her eyes closed as she realized that she truly loved Joe. Dylan felt awful about going behind his back with William for a full two years.

The next day, she drove to William's house to say goodbye. Dylan knew she was leaving this town, and for good. She knocked on his door and waited anxiously for him to appear.

"Dylan?" William asked as he opened the door and looked at her face.

"Yeah, Will. I'm leaving," she told him.

"Wait, leaving?" William asked, simply befuddled.

"Yes. Joe and I are going to Massachussetts. He has family there, and I need to get out of this town," Dylan explained.

"What are you saying, Dylan?" William asked, his voice full of pain.

"I'm saying that this is the end. It's over. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep enjoying this stupid sin. I may have bit my lip and gone along with it, but I can't anymore," she told him. She would never let him see it, but she truly loved him, and breaking up this secret relationship was killing her.

She quickly ran down the driveway to the taxi waiting for her. Dylan hopped in, and William cried after her. The girl he loved was really gone. And she was chasing the boy he hated.

***

The boy stands from his crumpled position on the ground and walks like a sloth to his front door. As he stands in the doorway, he stares back at the street.

"I love you, Dylan," he whispers as he turns back and walks into his home.

Come on a Monday, come on a Tuesday,
They'll never know. Pop off a cork for Wednesday.
Stay with me Thursday.
But you'll always be his girl.
His girl Friday.