Certain Romance

I was sitting down by the poolside. It was a Friday night, and this town was pretty much known to have parties every week. As I tilted the red plastic cup filled with soda to my mouth, I watched him drink and slur his speech. I watched him get close to girls that he had never even encountered before until tonight. I watched him flirt and give playful smiles. I watched him make a fool out of himself.

“Earth to Mia!” exclaimed Macy, my best friend (other than John, of course). She was waving her hands in front of me hysterically like a madman. I laughed at her, and she just looked at me as if I were the one acting like a crazy person.

“I had to get your attention somehow!” She defends herself, as she pulled me back inside the house to watch the boys play beer pong. I just gave her a small nod, and we headed back to the living room. It wasn’t like I haven’t been to any of these parties before, but I still felt that my skirt was too short so I ended up tugging it down a little bit. I heard Macy snicker.

“What?” I asked her, as I put down the red plastic cup on the table.

“You look fine. We all know that you’re a prude, no one’s going to rape you or anything,” she says in reply as she plopped down on the couch.

“Unless I’m out of John’s sight.” I say defensively.

John was the only guy who could hit on me without me feeling offended or humiliated. He was also the only one who is very very protective of me. There was a time that I visited ASU, and some student whistled when I passed by and he ended up having a broken nose. It was sweet having a best friend like that, but still, it made all the boys run away from me. It wasn’t like I was complaining or anything since I like to count myself as asexual (more like in denial), but I still couldn’t help but to think about other things. What if someone did like me? What if he was just afraid to admit his feelings because of the possibility of going home with a broken rib or nose or wrist or leg, for that matter?

“You’re spacing out again,” I heard someone say beside me.

Just as expected, John sat down on my right. Making me in the middle of Macy and John. I gave John a hug as he hugged back, and ruffled my blonde hair. I stuck my tongue out at him and tried to reach for his head, but he was bigger than me so I failed.

I heard Macy snort, and I laughed at her. She and John had this complicated relationship. For one minute, they’d be laughing and making googly eyes at each other, then for another minute, they’d be arguing about the dumbest things on this planet.

“Hey Mia, check out your boy,” she points at Kennedy who was wearing a simple white v-neck, skinny jeans and Vans. His arm was wrapped around the waist of this young drunken brunette, while her hands were around his neck. They were tied in a kiss. I felt my stomach turn just by seeing them. I’ve seen him make out with hundreds of girls, and I still haven’t gotten used to the sight yet.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” I complained, as I looked away and fiddled with my phone instead.

John wrapped his arm around me, and gave me an apologetic smile.

“It’ll be okay. We all know that he still has a broken heart, he just needs someone to mend it for him,” he says quietly.

“What are you trying to say, John?” I squinted my eyes and pretended like I didn’t get what he was talking about. He was about to open his mouth to say something but Macy slapped his arm, the one around my shoulder and he closed his mouth again.

“Don’t give her ideas, John Cornelius.” Macy glared at him, and his eyes widened.

“Okay! I’ll shut up. I’ll go get a drink, do guys want anything?” he asks as he stood from the brown couch.

“No thanks,” I say. Macy didn’t answer as usual. She was such a bitch when John was around, but I found them cute together.

“Suit yourself.” John said as he turned around and walked to the kitchen.

“Don’t listen to him, Mia. I don’t want you to get hurt. I already know that you have feelings for him,” Macy says quietly. I wanted to follow her, but I couldn’t. I still wanted to be close to Kennedy, even if it meant that we couldn’t be more than friends. I’m probably just being a dumb hopeless romantic right now, but I’ll learn how to move on.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Macy whistled. Damn it. The pros and cons of having a best friend that knew almost every thing about you, from your facial expressions and to your speech.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. It was the second time that I played dumb tonight. It seemed easy, but I wasn’t sure if I knew how to act it right.

“Quit playing dumb, Mia.” She rolled her eyes and scoffed. I said so. She knew what I was thinking about ninety percent of the time.

“I’m sorry,” I finally admitted in defeat.

Yes. I was in denial and it was all because of Kennedy Brock. I liked him, I knew it, but I never wanted to accept the truth. I’ve never even told anyone that I might have had feelings for him. I guess I wasn’t really good in hiding my emotions at all. Every time Kennedy would look at me or ask me something, butterflies would fill my stomach and I would start to stutter. In my defense, I would always exclaim that Pat makes me stutter just like how he makes Garrett stutter. The guys probably knew everything about it, except for Kennedy, I hoped.

There was even a time that Kennedy asked me if I wanted some AriZona tea since he was going to the grocery. I nodded and as soon as he left, John and Macy kept on teasing me and it was one of the first times that I actually saw both of them get along.

“He’s off-limits. I would tell you to not fall for his charm, but I guess I’m too late for that. You’re going to end up hurt and shattered, Mia. It’s okay to have a little crush, but just stop before you get too attached to him,” Macy warned me with her big brown eyes.

“Okay,” I simply answered.