Pretend (12 page)

             
"Hey," a voice called from behind me.

As I turned around, that all too familiar feeling in my stomach returned. I felt my cheeks warm up as his eyes met mine.

             
"Hey," I replied, quietly.

             
"We need to talk," he said.

             
"I know but not here Aiden, we-"

             
"Why are you two always whispering and walking so slow, come here April, we need to talk," Crystal said as she grabbed my arm and dragged me in the opposite direction.

             
I looked back at Aiden and sighed before turning around to face Crystal.

             
"Where are you taking me?" I asked as I struggled to keep up with her pace.

             
"I am going to help you. You need to get over Kyle-"

I quickly tried to interrupt her.

             
"I am-"

             
"Properly," she said before I got the chance to finish my sentence.

             
"So I have the perfect solution," she said as a huge grin filled her face.

             
"What?" I said
feeling rather confused.

             
"Right there," she replied, pointing ahead of her.

             
As my eyes focused on where she was pointing, I raised one eyebrow and turned to face her again.

             
"How is Jake going to help me get over Kyle?" I asked in a frustrated tone. I tried to keep my voice down as I was aware that Aiden was in ear shot of the entire conversation. I didn't want to jump to conclusions but I was pretty sure that he was purposely listening.

             
"Ok, look again. Have you seen Jake lately, he is freaking hot!" She replied.

             
"Well then why don't
you
date him?" I answered, feeling more frustrated.

             
"Seriously?
He's my brother's friend, that would just be wrong," she said with a look of disgust on her face.

             
Why
hadn't I thought of that before?

             
Aiden was Crystal's brother. H
e was my best friend's brother. I can't be thinking about him or even thinking about
thinking about him.

             
What's wrong with me?

             
"Yeah," I finally mumbled.

             
"Good, now stay here," she said before running off in Jake's direction.

             
"No, Crystal!" I shouted after her. It was pointless, o
nce she had a plan in her mind
there was no stopping her. I slumped down on
to
the grass, feeling sorry for myself.

             
Why was my life so complicated?

             
As I looked up at the sky, I began to relax and enjoy the warmth of the sun on my body.
I suddenly felt a shadow block the sun that was previously blanketing my skin.

             
"Hey, Crystal said that
you wanted to talk to me.”

             
"I never said that, I'm sorry she's just trying to do some stupid match making game," I said, feeling slightly embarrassed after the words left my mouth.

             
"Sounds fun," he said as he laughed and then sat down next to me on the grass.

             
"Nice day, isn't it?" He said.

             
"It's beautiful," I replied.

             
"It's not the only thing," he said as he smiled at me.

             
"Thanks," I said as I allowed a smile to spread across my lips.

             
After ten minutes of talking about the park, the weather and Crystal, Jake and I were in a full blown conversation. He was actually really easy to get along with and when I glanced down at my phone, I realised that we had already been speaking for forty minutes.

             
"Ok, I know you said that you want to be friends but if I don't at least ask you to come out with me, I think
that Crystal may just
kill us both," he said as we both watched her, Jess and Erica staring at us.

             
We both burst out laughing.

             
"Yeah, you're probably right," I replied after a few seconds.

             
"Look, I'm
not
really looking for anything right now," I said as his smile faded into a look of disappointment.

             
"But," I continu
ed, "
i
t
wouldn't hurt to have an extra friend right now," I said as I threw him a smile.

             
His face lit up immediately.

             
"Why don't you just hang out with me some day? As friends of course," he said as he let out a quiet laugh.

             
"Yeah, ok, why not.”

             
"Really?"
He asked in a confused and happy tone.

             
"Yeah," I replied as a giggle escaped my mouth.

             
"How about
Tuesday?"
He asked.

             
"Yeah, Tuesday is great," I replied.

             
"Great, I'll text you tomorrow and we can figure out what to do, ok?"

             
"Yeah, it sounds like a plan," I answered as I threw my head back and allowed the sun to shine on my face. I loved feeling the heat on my skin, it was amazing.

             
"Hey guys, we're all heading to Jess' house, you coming?" Crystal shouted from across the park.

Ja
ke raised his thumb in the air
to signal that he was in and then turned to face me.

             
"You
coming?"
He asked.

             
"No, I think I'll give it a miss,
I’ve
got some stuff to sort out at home," I replied.

             
"Ok," he said before standing up and offering me his hand.

             
"Thanks," I said as I allowed him to pull me to my feet.

We walked over to where everyone else was now stood. They were all chatting about who was going where and which cars they
could all squash into. The only quiet one was Aiden. He didn't look at me at all, in fact he looked annoyed.

             
"Hey," I said.

             
"So
,
you guys coming?" Crystal asked in an excited tone.

             
"No, I think I'm going to give it a miss, I'm just really tired but you guys carry on," I replied.

             
"Oh come on, it'll be fun," she said, giving me her 'you better come' look.

             
"Hey stop
pressuring the girl. If she doesn't want to come then she doesn
't have to," Anthony defended me.

             
I smiled at him
as a way of saying thank you.

             
"Oh shut up," Crystal said, throwing Anthony her death glare.

             
"Ok,
so Aiden and April aren't coming
, so how many cars do we have left?" She asked as everyone continued
to try and
talk over each other.

             
Aiden walked up to me, looking anything but enthusiastic.

             
"Ready?" He asked as he walked past me
,
towards where his car was parked.

             
"Yeah," I replied knowing that he d
idn't really care about my answer
anyway.

             
“I’ll call you,” Jake said as he smiled at me. I smiled back but quickly stopped as I saw Aiden almost scowl at me.

             
“Ok,” I replied.

             
"Bye
guys," I shouted as I ran
off
to catch up with Aiden.

             
"Bye," they all said in unison before continuing to talk about their plans.

             
"Hey, wait up," I said as Aiden walked faster in front of me.

             
"Hey, what's up?" I asked once I had finally caught up with him
.

             
"Nothing," he replied, bluntly.

             
"Ok.”

             
I continued to walk the rest of the journey to his car in sil
ence as he made it his mission
to always stay a few steps ahead of me.

             
When we finally reached the car he unlocked the door, got inside and slammed it behind him. I knew that it wasn't a good idea to try and talk now, so I got in gently, put my belt on and stared out of the window.

             
Now that I was away from the others and had time to think, I realised that the events of today had my mind all over the place. I
opened my mouth to speak to Aiden but the words just refused to come out.

             
What was I suppose to say?

             
I nearly kissed my best friend's brother, that wasn't right on any level. What's worse is that I didn't just nearly do it but I actually wanted to do it. I wanted to kiss him more than I have ever wanted to kiss anyone before.

             
Why did it feel so right when I knew how wrong it wou
ld be?
Surely it was selfish of me to even be thinking like this.

             
What would Crystal say if she ever found out?

             
Wasn't it how she felt that really mattered, her feelings should come before mine because tha
t's what a true best friend does, isn’t it?
It's exactly what a best friend does, so why is Aiden the only thing on my brain right now?

             
"What's the deal with you and Jake?" Aiden asked, interrupting my thoughts.

             
"There is no
deal
," I replied in a frustrated tone.

             
"Sure didn't look that way to me," he spat back as he continued to look at the road ahead.

             
"What is this?" I asked.

             
"What is what?" He replied, looking rather confused.

             
"I mean
this isn't what you really want to talk about, is it? You know that there is nothing between me and Jake, that's just Cry
stal trying to play match maker
so drop the attitude it doesn't suit you," I
spat
back at him.

             
Suddenly he started laughing which shocked me.

             
"Why are you laughing?" I asked in a complete state of confusion.

             
"I like it when you get angry, it's cute," he said as a smile spread across his lips.

             
I couldn't help but smile.