Listen To Your Heart

The next day, I got a text from AJ telling me the time and place in which I was going to meet her for lunch. She didn’t ask, just told. I texted back, telling her I’d be there. I then got to thinking how I was going to set her and Pat up again. I was playing around with my phone, twirling it in my hands, when the idea hit me. I immediately texted Pat, asking him to lunch, and giving him the same time and place AJ gave me. I knew the place, and I knew that it was small, so they’d have to see each other. They’d both be looking for me, but end up finding each other. It’ll be perfect. He responded, accepting my invitation. I smiled and tossed my phone aside and continued watching the Lifetime movie that was on TV. I watched TV until it was the time for Pat and AJ’s lunch date and my phone started ringing violently, both Pat and AJ calling and texting me. I decided it best not to answer, so I turned off my phone. I shut of the TV, bored with the mindless shows. I sat up straight on the couch and looked around, realizing I had nothing to do. After staring at the clock for 10 minutes, I decided to go to the guy’s apartment and see if anyone was there. I was knocking on their door a few minutes later, and it was answered, of course, by John.
“Oh, hey Jamie. What’s up?” He asked.
“Nothing. I’m just lonely and bored over at the apartment by myself. Mary’s working and I may have sneakily set Pat and AJ up on a blind date, so I’m all alone.”
“Blind date?” He asked.
“Yeah. They both thought they were meeting me for lunch. But guess what? I’m not there.” I smiled.
“And then they’ll see each other and eat together since they were both already there.” He nodded understandingly.
“That’s the plan. So what are you up to?” I asked.
“Nothing. Want to be bored together?” He asked, moving aside to let me in.
“Sure. But you better be entertaining.” I tell him. I move to the couch and sit, bringing my knees to my chest after kicking off my shoes.
“So,” John starts, sitting on the couch next to me. “I noticed the tour starts in New York. That’s pretty close to Massachusetts. Are you going to try to visit your parents?” He asked.
“Yes actually. I’m flying down a day or two early and staying with them, and then I’m taking the train to New York.” I told him.
“That’s cool. Say hello to Snickers for me.” He smiled. I laughed, remembering how in love John was with my dog and how he didn’t want to leave him.
“Will do.” I smiled.
“So, do you want to watch a movie or play video games or something?” He asked.
“Got any racing games?” I ask.
“Yeah. I think we have Mario Kart.” He said, getting up and going to the stack of video games.
“Oh! That’s my favorite!” I smiled, sitting up straight and getting excited. He laughed and got the game, putting it into the TV and handed me a controller, sitting down next to me with his own. We began the game and were evenly skilled, passing each other constantly. He was a little bit in front of me when the finish line came into view, so I took the obvious course of action and knocked John’s controller out of this hands.
“Hey!” He yelled and reached for his controller on the ground but it was too late: I was already crossing the finish line. I jumped up from the couch and proceeded in a victory dance.
“Ha Ha! I won!” I laughed at him.
“Cause you cheated!” He accused.
“Did not! We did not go over any rules, therefore I couldn’t have broken any.” I smiled.
“You know, conniving and sneaky are not attractive qualities.” He smirked.
“Oh, I definitely disagree.” I smiled, plopping down on the couch again. “Rematch?” I ask.
“You’re on.” He smiled, grabbing his controller. We playd for a long time, goofing around and trying to sabotage each other. In the end, there was no clear winner, so we called it a tie.
“Are you hungry?” He asked me after we turned the game off.
“Yeah, I am.” I nodded.
“I can make us mac-and-cheese.” He suggested.
“My favorite!” I smiled.
“Yeah, I remember.” He smiled, getting up and moving to the kitchen. I got up and sat on one of the stools in front of the counter that separated the kitchen and living room. I watched him as he rummaged around the kitchen, grabbing everything he needed and began to boil the water. My mind was running as I watched him. I thought about how much fun I had had with him that day, just fooling around. And I thought about how sweet it was that he offered to make me food without even thinking about it. And I thought about what a good guy he was and how he could make me smile without even trying. And I could feel myself falling for him, but I knew that I couldn’t. I knew that if we kept hanging out like this, I would break and fall back into his arms. I had wanted to be able to be friends with him, but I now realized that wasn’t possible. I couldn’t see him anymore. I suddenly stood up, causing him to turn around and look at me.
“I… I have to go.” I told him, hurrying over to the couch and slipping my shoes back on.
“Oh, okay.” He said, coming into the living room. “Is everything alright?”
“Uh, yeah.” I said flustered, hurrying around him to the door.
“Did I do someth-” He started to ask, but was cut off when I shut the door behind me. I hurried back to my place and stormed in and began pacing around my living room. I was confused and angry and my heart hurt like a bitch. I leaned against the wall, my back sliding down it until I hit the floor.
“You can’t do this Jamie. You can’t let him in. You’ve worked to hard to just give it all up now. Be strong.” I said out loud to myself, trying to fight the urge to go back over to his apartment and throw myself into his arms. I leaned my head back against the wall and sighed. I sat there for a while, calming myself down. When I was finally okay, I got up and went into my room. I decided that I would completely avoid John. And when tour came around, I’d only see him for business reasons. We couldn’t be friends, at least not now. I still wasn’t over him, and being around him just made it worse. I needed to heal before even thinking about being friends. I laid down on my bed and cuddled up in the sheets. I was emotionally exhausted, which made me sleepy. I closed my eyes and let my thoughts lull me to sleep.
I woke up later that night from a knock at the front door. I lazily got out of bed and went to the door and opened it. I was tackled by the person standing in front of me before I could register who it was.
“You’re such a jerk for doing that but thank you so much because it totally worked.” The figure said and I recognized the voice as Pat’s.
“Obviously it worked! It was my plan after all.” I smiled. He laughed.
“You’re seriously the best, best friend ever.” He smiled, letting me go from his tight embrace.
“I know!” I smiled. “So what happened?”
“Well, once we realized that you had tricked both of us, we decided to just have lunch together. And lunch turned into us talking for like three hours. Then we went and got ice cream. Then we walked around for a little while until she had to get home. But I made sure I got her number this time. And we have a date for tomorrow night.” He finished, grinning ear to ear.
“Aww, I’m so happy for you!” I smiled.
“Thanks!” He smiled. “Have you heard from her? Did she say anything about me?” He asked.
“Um, I don’t know. Let me check my phone.” I said, getting up and going to the counter and grabbed my phone. I had two messages. I opened them and saw one was from John asking if I was okay. I ignored that one and went to the message from AJ. She yelled at me for tricking her but thanked me because she had a really good time with Pat. I smiled, causing Pat to jump up.
“Did she text you?” He asked.
“Why are you so antsy? You need to calm down before you scare her away. And yes, she did. She said she had a really good time with you.” I told him. He grinned and tried to contain his excitement. I laughed.
“Awww, you’re so adorable when you’re in love.” I teased.
“Oh shut it.” He blushed, sitting back down on the couch. I smiled and went over and sat down too.
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop teasing you lover boy. Want to watch some TV?” I asked.
“Sure.” He nodded. I turned on the TV and flipped the channels until we found something we agreed on.
“How was your day, by the way?” He asked as we settled in. I paused for a moment before answering.
“Uneventful.” I said, deciding not to damper his good mood.