One of the Boys

My eyes widened. I turned to Nick.

“What is he doing here?” I asked Nick.

“I don’t know,” Nick said with a shrug. I stayed in my seat. I wasn’t going to let Joe in, not after what he did to me.

“Aren’t you going to let him in?” Nick asked. I shook my head.

“Why should I?” I asked.

“Maybe he’s here to apologize and if he’s not and he tries to hurt you, which I know he won’t, I’ll beat him up,” Nick said. I laughed.

“Fine,” I said as I reluctantly got up. I walked to the door and opened it a crack, enough for me too peek out. I saw Joe standing there with a apologetic look on his face. I opened it a little more. It was silent for a moment.

“Well, what do you want?” I asked rudely, but I didn’t care. After what happened to me, getting stranded, catching a cold, which was all his fault, I shouldn’t have even answered the door.

“I’m sorry for what I did, I shouldn’t have left you stranded at the beach. Who you’re in love with and who you chose to date is your personal choice and none of my business. It’ll never happen again and I hope we can still be friends,” Joe said. I looked at him and saw sincerity in his eyes.

“Ok,” I said with a smile. Joe smiled back. All I needed to forgive someone was an apology from them, a sincere apology. Holding a grudge on them wouldn’t do any good and it wouldn’t change the past.

“Do you wanna come in?” I asked Joe. He nodded. I opened the door wide and stepped back to let Joe in. He walked in and sat down on the couch next to Nick. I closed the front door then walked to the couch and sat down next to Joe.

“So, what are you watching?” Joe asked.

“Star Trek,” Nick and I answered at the same time.

“The movie?” Joe questioned.

“No, the original series that the movie was based on,” I said. “It’s a marathon leading up to the release of the movie.” Suddenly I heard my stomach rumble.

“You hungry?” Joe asked with a laugh.

“Just a little,” I joked.

“I can go to Burger King,” Nick offered.

“Ok, I’ll have a Value meal,” Joe said.

“I’ll have the same,” I said.

“Ok,” Nick got up and walked out the door. As soon as he left there was an awkward silence between me and Joe.

“Alex, can we ever be boyfriend and girlfriend again?” Joe said bluntly.

“No, I can’t date you for two reasons. 1, I’m in love with someone else, and 2, I don’t have feeling for you anymore. I like you as a friend and I care about you, but I don’t like you as anything more than just a friend,” I said. Joe nodded sadly.

“Ok,” he said. “Um, I should get back home.” He got up and walked to the door.

“Joe, I still want to be friends,” I said. Joe turned around and I saw tears in is eyes. I felt horrible, like someone had punched me in the stomach and knocked the air out of me. I had never seen Joe cry and it broke my heart too see him like this and it was all my fault.

Joe didn’t reply, he just left. I ran to the window and watched him pull away and drive off. When he disappeared I sat back down on the couch and tried to watch TV, but I couldn’t concentrate on it. I felt horrible about making Joe cry.

I turned my attention back to the TV. Ten minutes later Nick walked in with three bags of food. He looked around.

“Where is Joe?” he asked as he handed me a bag.

“He left,” I said.

“Great, now what am I going to do with his food?” Nick muttered to himself. He looked at me.

“What’s wrong?” Nick asked as he sat down next to me.

“I really hurt Joe,” I said.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked me.

“He asked me if we could ever be girlfriend/boyfriend again, and I told him I only wanted us to be friends, then I saw tears in his eyes just before he left,” I said. Nick put a comforting arm around me and I felt butterflies in my stomach.

“Don’t worry, Joe will get over it, he bounces back fast. I’ll bet you that in two weeks he’ll have a new girlfriend,” Nick said. I laughed. I hoped Nick was right. I opened my bag and started to eat my food. When I was done I felt tired. I guess that’s why you sleep a lot when you’re sick. I remembered watching the Star Trek themed song play before I slipped into unconsciousness.



I woke up to the sound of explosions. My eyes snapped open. What was happening? I frantically looked around and saw that the noise was coming from the TV. I looked outside and saw that it was pitch black outside. What time was it? I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 12, midnight. My eyes widened. I was asleep for a long time! I suddenly felt an arm around my waist. I looked over to my left and saw Nick sleeping peacefully, his arm wrapped around my waist. I smiled and leaned my head on his shoulder and fell back asleep.



I woke up to the sound of a phone ringing and I had a slight headache. I opened my eyes sleepily and looked around. It wasn’t coming from the TV, which was still on. I tried to get up, but Nick’s arm was around me. I removed his arm from my waist and got up. The sound of the ringing led me to my cell phone in my room. I picked it up.

“Hello?” I answered groggily.

“Hi, Alex. It’s Denise. Do you know where Nick is? I know he went to your house yesterday, but he didn’t come home,” Denise said worriedly.

“Don’t worry, he’s fine. We just fell asleep watching TV, and I didn’t want to wake him up,” I explained.

“Oh, thank goodness he’s fine. I was so worried. Tell him to call me when he wakes up.”

“Ok, I will. Bye.”

“Bye.” I closed my cell phone and slipped it in my pocket. I looked at the clock on the wall. It read 6:30. I walked back into the living room and saw Nick was still asleep on the couch. I walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, like everything was perfect. He had a smile on his face, and he looked relaxed. I wonder what he was dreaming about, if he was dreaming at all. Suddenly Nick’s eyes fluttered open. He sat up quickly.

“What time is it?” He asked anxiously.

“6:30. Your mom called a few minutes ago. She was worried about you, she said she wanted you to call her as soon as you wake up,” I said. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and tossed it to Nick. He dialed his house number.

“Hey, mom. I’m sorry I didn’t come home. I fell asleep at Alex’s house,” he said apologetically. Suddenly he turned a light shade of red.

“No,” he said. “Ok, I’ll be home in a few. Bye.” He closed my phone and handed it back to me.

“What did she say that made you blush?” I asked.

“She asked if ‘anything happened’,” Nick explained, making him blush even more.

“What kind of girl does she think I am?” I asked, a little shocked.

“It’s not you, it’s me. She worries whenever I spend time alone with a girl,” Nick said.

“Don’t you wear a purity ring or something?” I asked. Nick looked at the ring on his finger.

“Yeah, but she still worries, although I don’t know why, I’m not going to break this promise,” Nick said pointing at his ring. “Well, I better get home. Bye.” Nick stood up and walked over to me. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me and I hugged him back. He let go after a minute and walked out to his car. I watched as he got in his car and drove away. I walked back in my room, trying to decide whether I should go to work or not. I wasn’t 100% better yet, but I was feeling a lot better than I was two days ago, should I go to work? I opened my phone and called Margret. She picked up after the 2nd ring.

“Hello?” Answered Margret’s perky voice.

“Hi, it’s Alex. I was wondering if I should come into work or not. I’m not 100% better yet, I have a small headache, but I’m feeling a lot better. Do you need me at work?” I asked.

“We got someone to cover for you, so we don’t need you today and I want you to stay home until you feel all better, so stay home today and take it easy,” Margret said.

“Ok, Thanks. Bye,” I said. I closed my phone and tossed it on my bed. I walked into the bathroom in my room and got in the shower. After I was done I got dresses and let my hair air dry. I walked in the kitchen and took a couple Tylenol pills for my headache and walked back in the living room. I sat down on the couch and continued to watch Star Trek.



I heard someone knock on my door. I got up and opened the door to see Nick standing there. He had a frown on his face and he looked upset.

“What’s wrong, Nick?” I asked.

“I got in a fight with Tina. She somehow found out that I fell asleep here and thinks that something happened between us. She yelled at me for about ten minutes. It wasn’t pretty,” Nick said.

“You know, for two people who supposedly love each other you sure do fight a lot,” I said. Nick nodded in agreement.

“We fight more than we get along, and she’s always the one who starts it. She’s always trying to pick a fight,” Nick said exasperated.

“Well, why don’t you break up with her?” I asked him as if it was obvious. Nick shrugged.

“You should break up with her, she’s not worth your time,” I said.

“Why don’t you just mind your own your business? It’s my life, I’ll do what I want!” Nick yelled. Ok, so maybe I over stepped my boundaries with that last comment, but it was true and he had no right to yell at me.

“Fine! If you want to ruin your life be my guest. Just don’t come running to me when she breaks your heart!” I yelled back. Sometimes friends need to tell their friends what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Nick turned around and walked back to his car. He got in, slammed the car door and sped off. I walked back to the couch and sat down. Great, I’ve lost another friend. I only had Kevin and Frankie left as friends. I turned back to the TV. I picked up the remote and flipped through the channels. I landed on Camp Rock. Wasn’t that the movie the Jonas Brothers were in? I put the remote down and decided to watched it since it just came on.



“I’ve always been the kind of girl that hid my face, so afraid to tell the world what I’ve got to say, but I have this dream bright inside of me,” Mitchie sang.

Suddenly I heard a knock on my door. Who could that be? Joe was upset with me, Nick was mad at me, who else could it be? I opened the door and saw Tina standing there. Wait! Why was Tina here?

“Why are you here?” I asked. I didn’t mean to sound rude, but I was curious. Tina pushed the door open more and I saw Nick standing beside her looking confused. I looked back to Tina and saw that she was glaring at me. She turned to Nick.

“It’s time to pick. Me or her?” Tina asked Nick. Nick looked alarmed.

“That’s why you brought me here?” Nick asked nervously.

“Who’s it gonna be? It’s either me or her,” Tina said firmly. Nick looked at her worried.

“Don’t make me do this, I can’t pick,” Nick said.

“It’s me or her!” Tina yelled. Nick looked at me, then back at Tina. He was silent for a minute, just looking back and forth between us.

“Pick!” Tina yelled.