Breaking the Friendzone

Original Edition - Chapter 2: Familiar Eyes

"So, I was thinking," Rachel begins and immediately stops the sentence.

Her stare lands somewhere over my shoulder and her smile dips. I wait a few more seconds for her to finish her thought, but she doesn't.

"You were thinking..."

She looks back to me and clears her throat, setting her drink down on the bar.  "Um, no.  Wondering..."

"Wondering...what?" I giggle. "Jesus, are you drunk already?"

"When was the last time you talked to Luke?"

The smile leaves my face. Where the hell did that come from? That's the last person I want to discuss tonight. My best friend stares me down, and I know this is a conversation to get over with so we can enjoy our night.

"I uh, don't know. Eight, nine years ago maybe? It was when his mom left. So that would make it seven years. It was right before my mom's accident." When she doesn't respond in any sort of way, I feel like I need to specify a story she already knows. We had a special group of friends and it all ended that day. "Rach, you know this. He didn't exactly talk to me the last time I saw him. Remember? My mom brought me here to visit them to see how they were doing with his mom fleeing, and he wouldn't even look at me. I hadn't seen him in three years at that point, even though we texted almost every day, and he slammed a door in my face and told me to fuck off."

"Oh."

What the hell is up with her? She went from being bubbly to damn near cryptic and shut off. She knew damn well when the last time I spoke to him was, because I haven't been back here since. I don't want to spend my evening talking about Lucas Drake. That friendship ended seven years ago. He's not here this summer anyways. Dad was more than thrilled to announce that as a way to get me to tag along.

"I only ask because Justin is here." She takes another drawn-out sip from her straw, nearly finishing the drink.

I shrug. When we were younger, Rachel, Justin, Luke and I were inseparable. I wouldn't mind seeing Justin. He was always nice to me. The two of us just weren't as close as I was with Luke.

"Okay, that's fine."

"...and he seems to be with Luke."

Not fine.

My head whips around to the view behind me. My breath hitches in my throat at the sight of a blond, muscular man wearing a backwards baseball cap. He's leaning up against the bar with Justin. Luke is no longer the dorky looking boy I remember who would hang out with me on the beach or play PlayStation with me on rainy days. He's all grown up. And as soon as I think that, the pain of him slamming a door in my face takes back over. The breath I'm holding forms a knot in my throat. He told me to fuck off, my supposed best friend. I watch as two girls beside them begin giggling and touching their upper arms, disgusted that I once thought the world of him—just for him to end our friendship the way he did.

"So is he one of the many you slept with?" I turn back around.

Rachel laughs. "Gross. And no. It's Luke. However, he is very well loved by the ladies around here. Him and Justin both."

I can't help but notice the tone change with the name Justin—an unpleasant one. That is a subject I will be asking her about later, when she is more drunk and willing to overshare. Something definitely happened between those two.