“You wouldn’t think any of this if he was a girl.”
“But he’s not. And that’s the problem. Why don’t you two just go out already?”
This was what it always came down to. The perception that there was no way Levi and I could be legitimately best friends and only friends. Nobody ever got that.
Mostly because those people never had a best friend of the opposite sex.
Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say that none of those people had Levi as a best friend.
“If you’ve had such a problem with it, why are you only saying something now?”
He groaned. “Because I figured that the closer you and I got, the less I’d have to deal with him?”
“Deal with him?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Levi’s voice say, “I’m so sorry.” I had forgotten that he and Carrie were there. In fact, a whole crowd had started gathering around the door.
Carrie was hunched over in a clear attempt to disappear. “I should go,” she said quietly.
“I’ll drive you home.” Ian walked into the group of observers with Carrie following behind him.
I heard some clapping. “Dudes,” Keith called out, emerging from the crowd. “I know I can always count on you two for entertainment. If only I had some popcorn! That was insane.”
“Really, Keith?” I asked.
Something in my voice stopped him. “Oh, man, I’m sorry, Macallan.”
I stood there waiting for him to make a sarcastic follow-up comment. But he had a look of actual sympathy on his face. Which made me feel even worse. If Keith felt bad for you, you knew your life must be pathetic.
“Let’s get out of here.” I grabbed Levi by the arm and led us out of the house.
“Um, our ride left,” Levi said with quiet resignation.
“We’ll figure something out.” I opened the door and started walking. “I think fresh air might do us some good.”
Levi stayed uncharacteristically silent for several minutes. I left him alone with his thoughts, as I had a ton of mine to sort out. Mostly, what had just happened? Maybe I was missing some signals. I racked my brain for signs that Ian had been unhappy. He’d made lots of jabs at how much time I spent with Levi and usually pretended to gag whenever I would talk about him. But he was a guy. I’d thought he was teasing me.
Regardless of what I’d done, it didn’t give him any excuse to flirt the second my back was turned. But what made me the most upset was that it had been Levi’s girlfriend. I would’ve thought Ian would’ve wanted Levi to have a girlfriend.
“Is any of this making sense to you?” I asked Levi.
He shook his head and kept walking. This was bad.
We found ourselves walking to the same place. We didn’t discuss where we were going, we just led each other to Riverside Park. We silently walked over to the swing set and sat down. Me in the middle swing with Levi seated to my left. This was how we always sat when we’d go to the park after school in seventh grade.
I started rocking my swing back and forth.
“So I’ve been thinking,” Levi announced, remaining motionless on his swing. “I think you’re right. We shouldn’t go on any more double dates.”
I looked over and saw a slight smile on his face. “Are you making a joke?”
“Well, it’s either that or come to face the fact that I’ve been cheated on twice.”
“She didn’t technically cheat.”
He clicked his tongue. “Yeah, only because you stopped it.”
“We don’t know what was going to happen.” I didn’t believe the words as they came out of my mouth. I tried to lighten the mood. “I guess I really need to stop going to parties where your girlfriends are. And where there are doors.”
“Tell me about it.”
He got up and went behind to push me. I closed my eyes and let the swing take me higher and higher.
We stayed like that for nearly an hour. I glanced down at my watch. “We either have to start walking home or call one of our parents.”
We decided it was best to call Levi’s mom for the ride. Dad and Uncle Adam were very protective of me, so I didn’t think they would take it lightly that I’d been essentially abandoned at a party. Although I was with Levi, which would’ve made them feel a little bit better. They both really liked Ian, so I knew they’d be disappointed to hear it was over.
Over. It was so strange to think about it.
Levi and I sat on the curb while we waited for his mom.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Not really.” He wrapped his arms around his legs. “I don’t know, I’m wondering if there’s something wrong with me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” I assured him.
“But why do girls keep cheating on me?”
“You’ve had one girl cheat on you and one girl make a poor decision.”
He sighed. “Maybe I’m a bad kisser.”
“I’m sure it’s not that.”
“How would you know?” He got me there. “Let’s think about it. My first girlfriend here was away from me for ten days and started sucking face with some other guy the second she was alone with him. Tonight my girlfriend was away from me for like two seconds and she was going to make out with another guy. It clearly has to be me.”
“You’re being silly.”
“I don’t think I am.” Then Levi was the opposite of quiet. He spent the next five minutes going on and on about how it must be that he was a horrible kisser and that he would never have a girlfriend because he’s lousy. How he was never going to date another girl because he couldn’t trust them. How pathetic he must be that EVERY girl jumped at the chance to be with someone the second his back was turned.
It was getting extremely annoying.
Levi was usually pretty laid back about things, so I wasn’t used to his being so hard on himself over a girl. And being so overdramatic.
I kept trying to tell him it wasn’t about him. It was about how Emily liked to flirt and wasn’t really “girlfriend material” because she preferred to date and play the field. And who knew about Carrie? She was young. She’d made a mistake.
But that wasn’t enough. I was getting so frustrated with Levi. Part of me wanted to smack him, but I knew that wouldn’t shut him up.
“Nope, that’s it. I’m a horrible kisser. And it’s going to spread around school and then no girl will ever give me a chance.”
“For the love, Levi!” I shouted at him.
And before I really knew what I was doing, I grabbed his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss. He was tense, probably from shock, for the first couple seconds. Then his arms were around me and he eased into it.
I pulled away and Levi struggled for breath. “Wh-wh-what …” he stammered.
“You’re fine. You are not a bad kisser. It has been verified. Moving on.”
His eyes were wide, his mouth speechless.
I loved that he was so flustered.
We saw his mom’s car approaching. I stood up and he remained on the curb. I reached out my hand to help him up. It took him a second to process it. He got up on his feet, still completely stunned.
“So that’s one thing I have over your friends in California and your bros here,” I said to him.
He returned a blank stare.
I laughed and hit him on the shoulder. “I don’t think any of them would’ve had the nerve to prove to you that you’re not a bad kisser. You’re welcome, by the way.”
He stayed mostly silent for the ride to my house.
I laughed silently to myself in the backseat.
All it really takes to fluster a guy is a simple kiss.
Yeah.