A Proscriptive Relationship

:A Proscriptive Relationship: 55

“Willis and I broke up.”

My eyes bulged and I nearly choked on the spoonful of chicken noodle soup I was about to swallow. It scalded my mouth and I quickly swallowed, my eyes tearing up. “What?” I finally choked out.

Casey sat across from me, looking abnormally calm after the sentence she had just uttered. She half-smiled at me. “He kind of got angry with me after I ditched him at the fair the other night…”

I looked at her in horror. “What? But you didn’t ditch. You were kidnapped!”

“I couldn’t exactly tell him that, could I?” Casey responded, smiling wryly.

Immediately I felt guilty. Casey couldn’t tell anyone about the gang, so she couldn’t explain the truth to Willis. “Oh, Casey. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Casey cut me off, shaking her head. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is,” I muttered glumly. “You and Willis were together for so long…”

Casey shrugged. “Maybe too long. For the last few weeks it felt like we were more like friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. Willis thought so too, so I guess this is for the good.”

“I’m sorry, Case,” I apologized again, frowning at her. Even if she seemed okay on the outside, I knew Casey better than that. “You’ll find someone new…”

Casey rolled her eyes. “Sure, but not for a few months. I’d like to stay single for awhile.”

“Being single is fun,” I told her energetically. “You get to fuss over cute guys without feeling guilty!”

Casey smirked. “Yeah, well now I can’t do that with my best friend, can I?”

I blinked at her in surprise. “Huh?”

“You didn’t reply to any of my texts last night, and you’re in a frighteningly good mood. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened after Lance and I left the other night.”

My cheeks blazed. “N-nothing happened!”

“You can’t lie to me, Holly,” Casey responded with a cheeky grin.

Now that’s something I haven’t heard before, I thought sarcastically. A smile spread across my lips. “You can’t tell anyone, Casey.”

Casey held up her hands. “Holly, I never tell secrets.”

Which was completely true. I gestured for her to come closer, and she leaned over the table, bringing her head as close to mine as possible. Closing the space between us, I brought my head to her ear and uttered two simple words. “We’re together.”

Casey let out an excited squeal, pulling away from me, her eyes as wide as saucers. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Oh my god! That’s awesome!” she gushed. “I knew it was going to happen! I told you!”

I laughed at her excitement. “You did.”

“It’s about time,” a voice commented from above me.

Casey’s eyes snapped to Lance, who was standing above me, frowning. I rolled my eyes at him.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Casey told Lance, giving him a serious look. “This is really important.”

Lance held up his hands. “I’m not going to tell a soul. But Casey, Willis just told me that you guys broke up.”