I slammed my locker, jarring my mirror that was hanging on the locker?s door. I was mad. No, more than mad, I was pissed. Utterly and completely pissed.
?What?s wrong Tawney?? my best friend of six years asked me, coming up to my locker and leaning against the locker next to mine.
?Jackson broke up with me last night. Over. The. Phone.? I was trying to keep from screaming.
?What? What happened?? Matthew looked alarmed. ?I thought you two were like, gonna get married or something.?
?Yeah, well, I found out he was cheating on me so I called him and he told me it was over for good.? I wasn?t in the mood for this game. I didn?t want Matthew to know how badly I probably screwed up. It was probably all my fault that I was now single. Single. I hated that word.
?It?s not your fault honey,? Matthew said soothingly. ?He?s a jerk anyways.?
I sighed and chewed on my last fingernail. I had chewed off all the others the night before.
Matthew smacked my hand away, and gave me the ?look.?
?Don?t blame yourself, and don?t chew off your fingers! You know what you need??
?A nice long nap in a cave far, far away?? I grumbled. Actually that didn?t sound half bad.
?Noooo, you need a vacation. You can come over, we?ll order pizza, and I?ll even let you pick what kinda music we can listen to.? Matthew and I had been best friends forever. He knew how to cheer me up, and I loved him as a friend. He knew I was a sucker for a giant slice of greasy pepperoni pizza from Pizza Market, and I knew that he would do anything to get the next game system thingy whenever it came out on the public market.
?Sure, I?ll come over?.? I mumbled dejectedly.
?Good, let?s go!? At that very moment, the bell that let us all out of school rang, and Matt and I hustled out of the building to his old beat up Chevy parked in the school?s parking lot.
We didn?t say a word as we drove out of the lot. Matt seemed to be grappling with a conflict, and I was still brooding over my screwed up love life.
Matt was the first to break the silence. ?I?m having a problem with a girl at school. I really like her, but I don?t know how to get her to like me back as a boyfriend.?
I was shocked. Matt? A girlfriend? He had never ever even mentioned that he liked girls. I hadn?t thought he was gay, but I didn?t think he had his eyes on a girl. I was a little weensy bit (ok, a whole lot) jealous. My day could not get any worse.
We pulled up in his drive way. I was pondering on how I could answer his question.
?I don?t know what I could do,? Matthew hinted, jolting me back to answering his question.
?Does she know you exist?? I responded.
?Yeah, I hang out with her sometimes. Should I just kiss her??
Matt went around the front of his car to open my door. Jackson never opened the door for me! I thought to myself.
?What did you say?? I replied, leaning down in my seat to grab my phone, which had just decided to throw itself off my lap.
?Should I just kiss her?? he murmured.
I swung my legs around the seat to get out of the car, and realized that Matt hadn?t moved yet. He was still holding the door, blocking me in. I shimmied out of the car, and become conscious of just how close we were now.
Everything fell into place.
?Yes,? I whispered. ?I think you should just kiss her.?
He leaned down and softly touched his lips to mine. I leaned in, and he wrapped his arms around me, and deepened the kiss. I guess I responded instinctively, because he chuckled and pulled me closer.
?I think we should be more than just friends,? he whispered gruffly.
?I agree,? I breathed.
?But,? he said quickly, ?if it doesn?t work out, I want to still be friends.?
?Ok,? I dreamily answered, wrapping my arms around his neck.
Matthew smiled. ?Let?s go inside and order that pizza.?
He kissed me again, and led me inside his house. I had been here a zillion times, but everything felt different. Everything felt right. Everything was better than that pepperoni pizza.
?I love you, Tawney,? Matthew proclaimed.
?I love you, too Matt,? I smiled.
Make that extra pepperoni.