Falling for my Best Friend

Normalcy in Chaos

Kilian

Now, I'm here, with my alarm blaring and all of these thoughts swirling around in my head. Wren's going to pick me up today so I have a little extra time. I snooze my alarm and instantly fall back asleep, only to be rudely jolted awake by an elbow to my side.

"Girly friend is out front," Nolan grumbled.

"Tell her to come in, will you? I just need a few minutes to clean myself up."

"I don't want to entertain your broad!" he screws up his face like being nice to Wren would be the worst thing ever.

I slam my fist into the wall and yell, "She's not just some broad!"

Clearly Nolan is going to be no help since he just rolled his eyes and left the room again. I grab my phone and send a text to Wren that says I'll just be a few minutes.

I don't know why I still haven't learned the lesson that snoozing my alarm is not a good idea. I force myself to my feet and drag them to the bathroom, I feel like a straight-up zombie before I splash water on my face.

I look rough, but that doesn't mean I can't do a little to help that so I brush my teeth and run some pomade through my hair. After shuffling back to my room and throwing on some clothes, I look in the mirror. At least I look a little more human so I headed out the door to meet Wren.

Wren

Kilian looks like hell when he comes outside; there are dark circles under his eyes and he looks pale. He smiles a little before he rounds the car and gets in reminding me that there is a super handsome guy hiding underneath his exhaustion.

"Did you get any sleep?" I ask because it seems innocent enough to start.

"Maybe three hours, I was so turned up last night, my heart was hammering in my chest, and I just couldn't calm down. I felt I could hear it beating in my ears," he explains.

"Kil, it's not your fault that your brother acts the way he does," I assure him, "No one judges you for his behavior."

"I wanted to wring his neck, he passed out on the couch with a bottle of cheap malt liquor and all I kept thinking about was how I could get the jump on him," he answered, getting angry again, "I calmed down after we chatted last night and was going to try to be chill today but then he called you a broad!"

I shake my head but I'm not surprised, Nolan has made zero effort to ever even be friendly with me. One night isn't going to change that.

"There's only one cure for this!" I say with a smile as I pop in our favorite mixed CD and Bang Out of Order starts to blare from my speakers.

Bang Out of Order is my favorite band of all time and the obsession is something Kilian and I share. We have different favorites for different reasons but pretty much everything they release hits the mark. The music is rock and upbeat but handles a lot of intense and serious issues. When I feel like just another invisible teen in the crowd the lyrics in their music make me feel seen.

I roll the windows down and hit the gas. Before we know it, we are both scream-singing at the top of our lungs and my hair is blowing wildly around the car. I let out a whoop and cheer as Kilian throws his arm out the window. A few songs later, we're at school in the parking lot and we can't stop laughing. My hair looks like it's been through a category-five hurricane, but Kilian is finally smiling and that's worth it.

"Hey, you know, we have to do one of our goals tonight, it's a home game," I say, trying to bring us back to earth.

"Can't stay out too late, I have to build a gazebo tomorrow," he jokes.

"We'll only stay until half-time and then we can go to Boomers with the gang and have some fried cheese," I suggest.

I already know I won with that statement because Kil can't say no to that.

"Cheese! Why did you pull the cheese card? Alright! We'll go, you know I can't say no to cheese," he says, pretending to be annoyed.

"First, let's get coffee!" I plead as we start walking toward the school's courtyard.

I feel lucky that our school even has a coffee cart, not every high school has espresso shots on demand. I casually bump Kilian with my shoulder and he bumps me back. It feels like we are going to be okay after all.

When we get to the coffee cart, I pull out my hairbrush and try to sort myself out. Just then, Declan saunters over and fist-bumps Kilian while he shoots me a sweet smile. I just love Declan so much, I love all my friends for different reasons, but Dec is the sweetest and we think the most alike. He has a childlike quality about him that makes him so endearing.

"Kil, what happened to you bro, you look like hell?" Declan asks.

"Let's wait until Gael gets here, I'm pretty sure this is a story he only wants to tell once," I cast a glance at Kil and he nods in agreement, "Plus, he's getting a little color back in his cheeks," I smile and gently pinch Kilian's face, teasing him.

I did it without even thinking but now that my fingers are on his skin he's blushing and I want the ground to swallow me up.

"So, what's the story?" Gael's loud, boisterous voice booms out from behind me as he puts his arm around my shoulders.

Gael's entrance is a welcome interruption for me, not only because I'm glad to see him. There is no way that this awkwardness between Kil and I will stick around now that he's here. Gael is the life of the party and always makes sure that everyone is happy.

Kilian regretfully recounts last night's events. The guys aren't surprised; we've all known that Nolan is heading down a bad path for a while. Kilian doesn't leave out any detail, even down to the fact that my mom's mashed potatoes were perfect. He doesn't know that they were really my mashed potatoes, and that makes me blush.

I have such a crush on him. Ugh, it's not all that surprising to me but I feel like it'd be an earth-shattering revelation to everyone I know. Then I remember the way Kil held my hand at the dinner table last night, not in a friendly way but in a more intimate way, and my belly feels all floaty.

This is the exact thing I was hoping to avoid. I lean into Gael's arm a little more, trying to shift my focus, but all I can see are Kilian's steely gray eyes peeking out at me through the dark hair that's fallen over his forehead.

"So, now tomorrow I have to spend the day with him all day but at least we'll be at Wren's and we get to build something, I guess it could have ended worse," Kilian finishes.

"Well, sorry that happened," Declan sympathizes.

"No one ever texts us when exciting things go down," Gael remarks before he says, "You should have left him to rot," with a cocky grin.

This conversation is getting old and all I can smell is the coffee beans roasting a few feet away. I'm sure Kilian doesn't want to dwell on Nolan all day either.

"That's enough of this, our boy here needs caffeine, let's get going," I say as I push and pull them all toward the coffee line. "We're going to the game tonight, you should come too," I continue, looking at both Gael and Declan expectantly.

"Don't make her pull the cheese card!" Kilian chimes in.

"Will there be cheese?" Declan asks excitedly.

"Yes, but only after halftime," I warn. "Come to my house after school, Kil has to get his bike anyway and then we can all go together," I say without leaving room for argument.

"Yes, mother," Gael says playfully, rolling his eyes.

We get our coffee and start heading to homeroom. The day went by like any other day with nothing really remarkable to say about it. All the teachers seem to give up on Fridays; they know all we care about is getting to the pep rally at the end of the day anyway.

At cookie break, someone had balloons delivered with a Homecoming date proposal to one of the cheerleaders. I don't really understand why these things have become such a big deal. If I had it my way, I'd be going to homecoming with my three amigos on my arm. It's really just for fun anyway, right?