Friendzoned (15 page)

When he got a break and looked again, Keeley let her right hand come out, touching Becky's leg, near the knee. She wasn't looking, so it probably had been meant for Kyle, who was actually closer to her.

"Showtime, Kyle."

That was all she needed to say, it seemed like to Becky. The guy played his role really well, touching her gently, but in ways that would look far more intimate than they really were, since he kept pulling away just as Mitch turned to look at them. True, Keeley got a lot of that attention, but Kyle kept drawing him back in. Cory, for his part, didn't turn around again at all. She was probably being mean to him, she realized, if he actually liked her, like everyone had said. Including him.

After all, how would she have felt if Mitch had been the one sitting there and say, Darla, or Eve was all over him? Jealous came to mind, but it was a lot worse, since this was all fake. It meant that the guy was being hit with it all by accident. An innocent bystander to the whole thing. Mitch still didn't seem more than a bit upset either. He wasn't paying that much attention to her. He probably just couldn't, not with Keeley sitting right there, distracting him.

For a moment, just a bare hint of time, she felt mad about it all. Not at Keeley, or even Mitch, though he was clearly not treating her seriously enough and never had. No... At
herself
. She was letting him do this to her. It wasn't right, but it also wasn't his fault, was it? She should have started the whole thing by marching up and asking him out, three years before. If he said no, then she'd already be free of him. Instead she kept drawing it out, even while everyone around her told her that it was kind of dumb of her. Oh, they were nicer than that about it, but it was the truth.

That anger let her slip her hand into Kyle's after a bit. Not because she wanted to show Mitch, just because she
wanted
to. Then she nestled into him a bit. Okay, that was overdone, considering it was their first date, but he didn't pull back or anything, putting his rather nice arm around her shoulders instead.

It helped her to feel a bit calmer at least.

The game was boring, but their team won, and the girls on the floor all cheered wildly, actually using pompoms. They were in the school colors and made little sounds when they jumped and kicked. Quince had done really well, and Gary had managed to make a lot of baskets too. In the fourth quarter they didn't score much at all, those two actually being removed from the game for some reason. That was probably so the other team wouldn't go home and slit their wrists. After all, they weren't just being beaten, it was bad enough that some of them looked close to tears. It was against Wilson High too, their rivals, which meant that it had to hurt a lot more than if it had been some other school doing it to them.

Kyle kept being attentive, and a little bit more daring as they were leaving, his hand actually lingering on her behind, not a full on groping, just like he'd missed her hip a little, but she didn't think it was on accident. That was mainly because, when she turned into him a bit, he whispered to her.

"Mitch is right behind us. Try not to jump." Then his hand slid down, slowly and with clear intent, giving her just enough of a squeeze that she felt the blood running to her head. Then he let go, looking into the glass windows, seeing the reflections there. "
And
he's gone. What's next?"

Becky held his hand. Not the one he'd grabbed her with, but the one that went around her shoulder. It was a bit unbalanced, but they managed all right.

"King's Burgers. It's not that nice, but the food is cheap and actually pretty good."

Kyle nodded.

"And where the team will be. Right. I remember. You were managing to distract me pretty well there. I blame it all on you being so unfairly cute. I normally remember the plans, I swear." The smile he gave her was charming again, his blue eyes sparkling as he looked into hers.

The trip didn't take long, and Kyle was just attentive, but not overly friendly in the car. It was nice to have a breather, since, Becky had to admit, she was getting a little turned on by what he was doing.
More
than a bit. Enough that, given everything, she felt a bit panicked. Keeley had worked far too hard for her to change the plan now, hadn't she? Even Zack and Kyle had.

It was hard though, keeping her mind on her real goal. Especially since she was sort of starting to get what everyone else had meant. Mitch... He was nice and she
did
love him, but how much of him being that great had to do with how she felt, rather than what he actually was? They didn't have that much in common really. He liked D&D, and sci-fi show marathons. She was more interested in romances, and books. He was going to be an engineer, and she was going to be an actress, or at least a drama teacher.

It didn't make a lot of sense, when she really thought about it. If only her heart would pay attention to that idea too. It would make things a whole lot simpler.

Keeley had decided that they needed more props for King's, and actually had decorations in the back of her little car, ready to go. Balloons in the shape of shining red hearts, and more flowers. It was, as she pointed out again,
way
over done for a real date.

"Mitch is a boy though, so we can't afford to be too subtle, or he might miss the real point. You and Kyle should turn up the heat a bit. Nothing too friendly, since we don't want to get kicked out. Kyle, can you make it look like you're doing something naughty under the table, without letting the workers here see?"

"Um... not really. The angles are wrong. Here though..." What he did involved trading places with her, so that his body would block most of what was done, Zack was on the outside of the table as well, and when the team got there, clearly car pooling, Mitch and Cory walked in with them.

That part was thanks to Gary, she knew. He'd been including the boys for the entire season and no one had even questioned it at all. They probably thought that he was trying to get one of them into bed himself.
Which
one, Becky didn't know. It was an interesting enough idea, made more so by what Kyle was doing with her leg, about then.

She had to think through it all to understand what was really happening. He was, using very short strokes, petting the top of her leg with his hand, and stopping whenever anyone looked too hard. From the position of the rest of the place, which only had the sports team in it, the move looked like he was...

Using his hand to get her off, right there in public. It was a bit too much, she decided, and was going to pull his hand away rather firmly, when Mitch scowled at her and got up, leaving. That meant Cory had to chase after him, since he always rode with him.

That got Kyle to make a face and sigh, which let his hand actually fall into her lap, if only a little. He pulled it away then, smiling, as if he didn't get what had just happened.

"Too much? It looks like we lost him."

The girl across from him shook her head.

"I doubt it. The real trick now will be seeing if he calls up to question you on it Becky. If he does, then you'll need to handle it right. We can talk about it later. For now, the food is coming." It was too, and it all seemed good, except that she didn't do more than pick at it. That was just so that no one would think she was hungry, even as she sat there starving. All for Mitch, so that he'd like her.

It was so stupid that she ate half the burger, out of spite. Then she stopped herself, since, really, losing weight and keeping it off
might
help with her career. It might not too, but if she didn't try and put the work in, then she'd never know, would she?

On the way back home, Kyle held her hand, but on the seat, which gave the whole thing a cute and almost shy air to it. The act was over however, and she nearly said so. Really, it was
nice
. Here he was, actually being with her, not staring at their driver or suggesting that, as a seventh level mage, she might want to diversify into a ranged weapon using class for the next campaign. It was almost like the boy was attracted to her or something.

Zack sat up suddenly, in the front seat, and started talking his voice a bit annoyed sounding. With
her
, if she had the right idea.

"You know Becky... If that Mitch guy can't see how wonderful you are, maybe you should move on? Half those guys were checking
you
out in there,
while
they were sitting next to
Cheerleaders
, so I don't think it would be that hard for you to find someone." There was a click of teeth, as if he was biting off whatever it was that he wanted to say next. It was like he was actually struggling not to keep talking, making little gasping sounds that seemed frustrated. Highly so.

Since he'd openly suggested a three-way with Hally and Keeley earlier, she didn't think that she really wanted to know what he had to say about the rest of the night, did she? It would probably involve lube of some kind.

Still, he had a point.

"I know. You're
right
, but I just wish... I'm stuck, I guess. When we first met I was a bit heavier, and I kind of thought no one would want me, so I tried to be his friend, figuring that if I was near him long enough, I could get love to grow. Then Keeley comes along this year, and she went from hot nerd to even hotter trendy girl, still with straight A's... and I can't compete, can I? I
should
just look someplace else, but he's all I think about." Almost all. There was definitely a bit of thought moving towards the boy next to her, if she were going to be fair about it.

Zack made a sound that was almost sad.

"I bet Kyle could get you to forget him if you want. Or heck, you
could
just go and offer to blow the guy. If he isn't a player or anything like that, I bet that would make him like you a lot more. It would
me
, and I'm betting that I'm not that different from most men on that score."

It wasn't said in a way that seemed like he was suggesting anything really happen between them, but Becky felt like trying to jump out the side door to get away. It could work, if Keeley would just slow down a bit at a light. So far she'd been hitting them all perfectly.

The man, it seems, wasn't finished, but his tone did change a bit at least, which was a relief.

"Not that you really
should
do that. But there are ways to get his attention. You aren't a guy after all, and this friend zone stuff only holds as long as the girl isn't willing to take it to the next level. I say you use what you all did here tonight, and give him one more chance. Ask him out and flat out tell him he's getting lucky at the end. If he says no, then you have your answer. It will mean that you need to move on, even if it sucks. Of course, if he says
yes
, you have to do it... So, it depends on how ready you are. If you don't want to have sex with him, then it probably isn't love, right?"

There was a grunt after a bit from the front seat, on the driver's side. It didn't sound completely comfortable with the direction that the conversation was taking. It wasn't that Keeley was a prude, Becky knew that for a fact, so it was probably her own jealousy, since even to her it sounded a bit like Zack was interested in doing something more than chatting with Becky at the moment.

Maybe she was wrong on that? Becky wasn't going to claim to be an expert on the idea after all. Who knew what men thought about?

Keeley spoke, her words a bit subdued, like she was thinking about something.

"True enough. Think on that, but let's finish my plan first. Kyle, you can switch schools and come to Raintree for a half year, right?"

"If I can commute from home." The boy looked over at her and leaned in a bit, whispering. "But if I
do
, you at least have to consider dating me on the side. It's only fair."

She surprised herself a little, by nodding. It really was a huge thing to do, trading schools like that, just to help someone. She didn't mean it as more than that, but the guy grinned.

Keeley sighed, her voice coming out sounding almost like it had all gone as she'd planned. If so though, what was her idea to begin with?

"There we go. That should ramp up the desirability factor a good bit if nothing else. Too bad he had to leave early like that. It cut my evening in half." She said it just as she turned into the driveway of the nice single level ranch style house. It was all so clean and nice, but the blue flower van from earlier was gone.

"Well, it looks like we have the place all to ourselves. My mother said she won't be back until after midnight. Why don't you two take the living room and see if Kyle can make you do some of that forgetting? Zack and I have some things to take care of in my bedroom." From the sound of things, that was going to be more than holding hands and humming love songs.

It made her want to blush, since it was so...

Adult.

Not that making out at a friend's house was how real grownups spent their Valentine's days, was it? In that way it was about at the right level for her really. It was clear that Kyle wanted to do a little more than just hold hands too.

Becky nearly hesitated. After all, she wasn't really ready to go all the way, and wouldn't be doing that on the sofa of Keeley's mom's house, even if she was.

Still, she
was
ready to do a bit more than kiss, wasn't she? She was a bit miffed at Mitch for ignoring her, and didn't want to waste her entire life, waiting for him to catch a clue. After the others left the room, holding hands, she made up her mind.