Tell Me What Your Best Friend Knows

I slipped my cropped denim jacket on over my 'I love the Queen' t-shirt before going over to my dresser to get my jewellery on. I pushed my dream-catcher earrings in my ears before unhooking my cassette necklace from my stand, I fiddled with the catch until I was able to open it and put it on. Finally I slipped my chained, black cuff bracelet onto my wrist and gave it a little shake. I had to admit, I looked good. I quickly fixed my hair, using a little hairspray to keep it in place. I swiped some lip gloss across my lips and I was good to go. I grabbed my bag from my bed and skipped downstairs. My mom was in the kitchen with Tom, she was still cooing over the baby news. I guess it's a good thing she was able to get herself dressed in all the excitement. Tom wasn't much for dressing up so he put on a nice t-shirt and a pair of comfy jeans.

“Hey, lookin good sweetie!” my mom said excitedly as I walked into the kitchen.
“Why thank you, you don't scrub up too bad either.” I said, grinning. I was a little bit excited for today. I love a party of any kind, hell I’d probably be excited if we were going to be celebrating a kids birthday today.
“What time is Tyler coming over?” she asked, I looked at the clock. 5:24
“Any time now, I told him to get here for five thirty so he could meet Tom” Tom looked up from the paper he was reading and grinned at me. “You're gonna be nice to him aren't you? He's really nervous about meeting you.” I glared at him.
“Of course I’m going to be nice!” he said, pretending to sound insulted again. “As if I’d be anything other then nice.” Just as he finished talking the door bell rang. I shot up and ran into the hall. I looked through the peep hole to see Tyler looking very nervous. I pulled the door open, he looked a little relieved that I was the one to open it.
“Hey” he bit his lip.
“Hi, come in.” I said, standing back to let him in. when he stood in front of me in the hall I chuckled. He was really tense. “Don't be nervous.” I stood on my tip toes and kissed his cheek. “It's going to be fine.”
“You look really good.” he said, looking me up and down. I blushed and slid my fingers inbetween his.
“Thank you. So do you.” He did look nice, wearing a pair of dark jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt. It looked like he even brushed his hair too. “come on, we should get this over with.” We walked into the kitchen, as we did my mom smiled like she always did and Tom looked up. His face was dead straight. My stomach tightened. I had no idea how he was going to react, he'd never met any of my boyfriends before. It was silent. Shit I was supposed to introduce everyone.
“Um, Tyler this is my brother Tom, Tom this is Tyler... My boyfriend.” I said quickly. I could see my mom smirking out of the corner of my eye. Tyler stuck his hand out at Tom.
“It's nice to finally meet you, Tom.” Tyler said, his voice was a little shaky. He was being so formal. Tom grabbed Tyler's hand and gave it a good shake.
“You too man, I’ve heard a lot of good things.” Tom let go of his hand and smiled. I let out a tiny sigh of relief. They started chatting and I helped my mom get everything ready. I helped her pack the presents, the food we were taking with and the alcohol into the trunk of Tyler's car as he was taking us over there. Once everything was ready it was time to go, we piled into Tyler's car, I sat in the front with my mom and Tom in the back. I had to give directions to Zack's place cause Tyler had never been there before.
“Turn here, then it's the one on the corner” You could tell which one it was because there were balloons and decorations all out the front of the house. We all got out, and Tom helped Mom get everything out. Tyler and I walked up to the house to find Mark, Zack's dad greeting people at the door.
“Hey kids, glad you could make it. Zack's gone to pick his mom up, but the others are out back.” he told us.
“Okay, my mom and brother are here too, they're bringing stuff up from the car.” I explained as I walked down the hall. We got out back and there were a lot people here already. I could see Rian, Alex and Jack all sitting on plastic chairs next to the barbecue already waiting for food. I pulled Tyler along with me as I skipped over to them.
“Hey guys!” I greeted them as I grabbed two more chairs for us to sit on.
“Hey, lookin' good!” Jack said
“Thanks, you guys are smokin' tonight. Where's Kara?” I asked Rian.
“SHIT! I forgot to pick her up. Here, hold this.” he stood up and handed me his beer. We all laughed as he hopped over the garden fence, into his own garden.
“Good job I’m here, huh. Kara is gonna be so pissed at him.” I laughed. Ten minutes later and Rian came back, with a pissed looking Kara.
“Hey Kara! Nice of you to make it.” Alex joked. She glared at him, making him shut up right away. I stopped myself from laughing.
“You look really pretty Kar” I complimented her, she did look really nice in the dress she was wearing. She smiled at me.
“Thank you, so do you girly!”
“Thank you, thank you” We all hung out, just chatting as we waited for Zack to get back and for the party to really start. Mark came into the garden and told us all to pile into the house cause they would be here at any moment. We all got in and hid behind various things. Everyone was shushed as we heard Zack pull up on the front. We could hear his mom's surprise at the balloons and decorations.
“What's all this” she asked.
“We wanted to celebrate a little, you know? Not a lot of people could make it though.” Zack replied. His mom seemed to buy it. They walked in the front door and into the living room and we all jumped up and shouted 'SURPRISE'. She was genuinely shocked to see us all squashed into her living room. Everyone laughed at her reaction. We all got to go outside again. The barbecue was started up, and drinks were passed around. The garden was filled with music and laughter.

Our little group was really the only group of teenagers here, the others were either friends of Zack's parents, or their kids, so we all stayed at the top of the garden out of the way. We occasionally grabbed a few beers away from the adults. Every body was kind of tipsy, but not drunk. We didn't want to make it noticeable. Tyler had gone to find the bathroom when Zack stood up and pulled me with him.
“Hey where are we going?” I asked as I stumbled along behind him. I was apparently a little more drunk then I thought. If Zack didn't have hold of me I probably wouldn’t have been standing.
“Just come with me” he said as he lead me past the side of the house and out to the front. Nobody was out here, they were all enjoying party out back. Zack we stopped just by the front door and Zack positioned me in front of him.
“What are you doing silly.” I giggled.
“I have to tell you something, and I want you to listen very carefully okay?” he said, looking me right in the eyes. I nodded. “I like you Aimee...”
“I like you too, I thought we already established this... we're friends right? You're my Zack?” I slurred a little, unsure as to what he was really getting at.
“no, I mean... I like you... you know..” he got a little closer to me.
“yes, and I like you.” I swayed a little. “Zack you're so silly sometimes I swear.” I giggled and put my hand on his chest. It helped me balance myself slightly. He placed his hand over mine. He got in little closer, I was able to feel his breath on my face now. He didn’t normally get this close. “what are you doing?” I whispered.
“I’m going to show you what I mean” he whispered before his soft lips slowly pressed against mine. Suddenly it all made sense, Zack LIKED me. Oh my god he likes me. He was kissing me. Shit, he's kissing me. Why wasn't I stopping him? Why was I kissing back? I had no idea what my feelings for Zack were, but I knew it was more then friends because now my hands were laced in his hair and his hand were resting on my hips. The kiss only broke because Zack was being pulled back by something. I tried to compose myself but I fell to the floor. I looked up to see Tyler was holding the back of Zack's shirt.
“WHAT THE FUCK MAN?” he screamed. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?”
“Chill out bro, let the fuck go!” Zack said, trying to get free.
“CHILL OUT?” he said, pushing Zack away. He almost tripped over me, but I was able to move my legs in time. “I JUST CAUGHT YOU MAKING OUT WITH MY FUCKING GIRLFRIEND.” he was being really noisy. I managed to pull myself up, brushing the dirt of my butt.
“Tyler, just stop shouting. Please.” I pleaded. He looked at me, there was pure anger in his eyes.
“Shut the fuck up Aimee, you're just as bad as he is! You're a slut.” he sneered at me. Zack motioned to move forward, but I put my arm out to stop him.
“Who the fuck do you think you are Tyler? You can't talk to me like that... also, you can't fucking call me a slut when we broke up cause I wouldn’t fucking sleep with you. I can't be a slut and not put out.”
“You probably wouldn't put out for me cause you were fucking this asshole.” he pointed at Zack. Before I could respond, Zack flew at him, punching him right in the face. I screamed. I wasn't expecting it. Zack knocked Tyler down to the floor and started punching him. I had no idea what to do. I didn't know why there wasn't somebody here to help. Shit. I stumbled around to the garden.
“SOMEBODY HELP.” I said before running back to the fight. Once we got there, Tyler had managed to flip Zack over and was punching him in the face. Zack's face was bloody and beaten. Oh god this is all my fault. I stood with my hand over my mouth as Alex, Rian, Jack and Tom pulled Tyler off of Zack. I flew to Zack's side. His face was covered in blood. I could hear Tyler struggling behind me. I turned to face him.
“Just get the fuck out of here Tyler, fucking go.” he shook off the hands that were holding on to his arms and stormed off down the street. Rian and Alex helped Zack up and helped him into the house. Everyone that had followed me round made their way back into the garden, chattering away. I felt someone's arm wrap around my shoulder and pull me in close. I was still sat on the floor.
“You're shaking” Jack's voice told me. He lifted his arm, in it's place a few of seconds later he hoodie was wrapped around me.
“Thanks Jack.” I rested my head on his shoulder. I was suddenly stone cold sober. I didn’t have a giggle in me. He crossed his legs and scooted next to me, putting his arm around me again. He rubbed his hand up and down on my arm, either to soothe me or warm me up.
“So... what happened?” he asked quietly.
“Well, uh Zack pulled me away from you guys and then was going on about how he liked me... I didn't really get it at first but then he uh...” I paused for a second. I turned to face Jack, who waited for me to carry on. “he kissed me.” I bit my bottom lip.
“huh... how bout that.” he said, he didn’t sound too shocked.
“you knew he was going to kiss me didn't you?” I asked.
“no... well.. yes maybe but how did he end up bloody and beaten on the floor?” he asked quickly changing the subject.
“Tyler caught us mid make out.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “how long has he liked me Jack?”
“Honestly? A few years, give or take... he only told us guys last year though. I could tell he liked you all along... didn't you ever have a clue?” I shook my head against his shoulder. “well shit, I thought girls were supposed to be able to sense that stuff?”
“I guess my brain is even more fucked then we already thought.” Jack chuckled lightly. “We better go see how he's holding up.” I stood up and pulled Jack's hoodie closer to me. We walked inside, Zack was in the kitchen with the other guys and my mom. He smiled when he saw me, even though his lip was busted up. My mom was patching him up with the first aid kit that was on the table. Alex and Rian were sitting around the dining table with Zack, watching my mom fix him up.
“Where's Tom?” I asked as I sat down next to Zack.
“He went to find Tyler.” my mom told me, she sounded a little pissed off.
“What? What’d he do that for?” I rested my hand on the table, Zack put his on top of mine.
“Cause the kid was angry, Aimee, I couldn't just let him go off and do something stupid.” okay, she was pissed. And by the sound of things it was at me.
“Like beating Zack up wasn't stupid?” I asked, getting pissed at her.
“Of course it was stupid, but if you two weren't canoodling behind his back then none of this would have happened!” she exclaimed. She finished up with Zack and left us all alone.
“Well, she's right.” Zack said. “It's my fault. I’m sorry.”
“Zack, don't be stupid.” I said. I crossed my arms on the table and rested my head on them. “He's an asshole, I shouldn't have brought him here. I ruined your mom's birthday.”
“Don't worry about it. Look they're all outside having a good time still right?” he said, putting his hand further up my arm. I looked up, and everyone had gone back out side and looked like they were enjoying themselves again. I nodded and put my head back in my arms. It was starting to throb a little now.
“still doesn't change the fact you've been beaten the shit out of and my mom is angry with us.” I sighed.
“She'll cool off.” Alex said “my mom always gets pissed at me for shit like this, give her time too calm down.”
“Yeah, my mom does too” Jack said. “like, dude do you remember that time you and Jessica Thompson we're at my house and you almost fucked her an-” I shut off I didn't want to hear about Alex fucking some girl at Jack's house. Zack was still looking at me.
“I think I need to lay down. So much has happened in the last half hour my brain hurts.” I said quietly. Alex, Rian and Jack were all now laughing at whatever story Jack was telling that they didn't notice us go upstairs. I walked the familiar hallway and pushed Zack's bedroom door open. As usual his room was a mess. There was stuff everywhere. The only place that was clean was the area by his guitar and bass which were next to his bed. I sat on the edge of his bed, and he sat next to me. I rested my head on his shoulder.
“So what happens now?” I asked quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, us... me and you.” I looked up at him. “I’m so confused.”
“It's pretty simple if you think about it.” he smiled “do you want to be my girlfriend or not.”
“Zack, I like you... I really do but don't you think this is kind of sudden?” I paused I didn't want to hurt him or make him think I wasn't interested, cause I was.
“I guess.. but I couldn't see you parade around with that asshole any more Aimee. Do you know how much it's hurt to see you with him?” he looked down. “I had to tell you.”
I could see in his bruised face that he thought I was letting him down easy. I didn’t want that. But did I really want to be with Zack? He was my best friend. Maybe that was a reason to be with him. He knew me better then anyone in the world. Did I love him in that way though? I had to decide before I blew my chance.