Friend Zoned {3}
I entered school the next morning and went to the senior hallway. I wanted to find Gideon and ask him to hang out at my house after tonight’s game.
I froze as I entered the senior hallway and spotted him. I had to resist the urge to face-palm myself.
He was standing and happily talking to Jude. I had completely forgotten that Jude had invited Gideon to a party tonight.
Pouting, I made my way over to Gideon. He glanced at me and smiled, slinging an arm around my shoulders.
“Excited for tonight?” he asked.
“If excited translates to wanting to throw up and get earplugs for when Coach screams at me for not being good enough, then yes, I’m ecstatic.”
Gideon chuckled. “You’ll be fine, Greyson. I promise.” But then his eyes widened a little. “Oh yea!”
He turned to Jude. “Hey Jude, is it okay if Greyson comes tonight?” he asked.
“I thought his name was Benji,” Jude said, glancing at me.
“It is. I call him Greyson though. But I asked him yesterday if you had invited him and he said no. I know you said you invited the whole team though,” Gideon said, frowning.
“Sorry about that. I must have forgotten about you, Benji. Sure, he can come tonight,” Jude said with a shrug.
“Thanks Jude,” Gideon said gratefully, pulling his arm away from my shoulders.
“Anything for you, Gideon,” Jude said, smiling at him, his eyes shining with attraction.
“Gideon! Come here!” We glanced over to see someone on the other side of the hallway gesturing at Gideon.
“I’ll be right back you guys. Wait right here!” Gideon said before jogging over to the person.
“Uh…thanks for inviting me, Jude,” I said, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen between us.
“I didn’t forget to invite you. I just didn’t want to,” he said flatly. “I can’t believe you’re actually getting put in the game tonight. You suck at soccer.”
“Thanks for your vote of confidence you spoiled bitch,” I grumbled.
Jude smirked. “You’re just jealous that Gideon likes me. Newsflash for you Benji: He’s never going to like you. So just get over it and quit trying. You’re pathetic.”
I clenched my fists tightly. I knew that Jude wasn’t a good person, and I knew that he talked bad about me behind my back. But I had figured he would put up a kind façade to my face since I was Gideon’s best friend.
Jude noticed my fist, and his smirk grew wider. “Aw, did I offend you? Did you think I was going to pretend to be nice to you? Maybe for Gideon’s sake I will. But know right now that I don’t like you. I find you completely pathetic.” He looked over and noticed Gideon walking back to us. “But break a leg tonight Benji. Literally.” He pat my shoulder.
“What’s going on?” Gideon asked as he reached us, glancing at Jude’s hand on my shoulder.
“I was just congratulating Benji on playing in the game tonight. Nate told me he did a pretty impressive job at practice yesterday,” Jude lied easily.
“Oh, yea, that. He did amazing!” Gideon said.
The bell exploded and I resisted the urge to drag Gideon away from the evil boy in front of us. Jude was watching me his usual smug eyes.
“Well, I’m going to head to class. You can sit with me at lunch today if you want, Gideon,” Jude said.
“Thanks Jude, but not today,” Gideon said with a sigh. “I’m going to sit with Greyson and Sonnet today. But I’ll see you at the party!”
“I’ll be at the game, too. You know I wouldn’t miss one of your games,” Jude said.
Gideon blushed a little. “A-Awesome Jude. I’ll see you there.”
“Bye Gideon. Bye Benji,” Jude said, smirking as he turned and walked away from us.
“God, he’s so perfect,” Gideon said with a dreamy sigh.
“Yea. He’s friendly and kind,” I grunted.
What did Gideon see in Jude? The guy was attractive as hell and rich, sure, but Gideon wasn’t shallow like that. Did he really think that Jude was a good person? That he was nice?
“Where’s Sonnet?” Gideon asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Oops. I forgot to look for her this morning,” I said with a frown. I shrugged it off. “Ah well. We’ll find her eventually.”
“Actually, she’ll find you.”
Sonnet stepped up next to me and whacked me upside the head. “Way to ditch me this morning you jerk.”
“I didn’t! I was busy watching the guy I like fall in love with an asshole!” I whined.
“You like someone, Greyson?” Gideon asked in shock.
I stared at him for a second before slowly pulling a notebook out of my backpack. I then began to repeatedly hit myself in the face with it.
“Stop that!” Sonnet snatched the notebook out of my hands. She turned to Gideon and rolled her eyes. “Inside joke. Don’t ask about it.”
“So Greyson…doesn’t like anyone?” he asked, looking confused.
“If Benji liked someone, he would tell you,” she said, grabbing our hands and dragging us to first period to end this very awkward conversation.
When it was time for lunch, we all sat together at our usual table. I saw Gideon shoot a longing look at Jude’s table, but he made no move to over there. Instead, he turned to me with a smile.
“Well? Are you ready for the game?” he asked.
“Yea, sure,” I said. “As long as I don’t screw up.”
“Aw, you were awesome at practice yesterday Greyson! You’ll be fine tonight. I believe in you!” he said.
“Benji, Benji, he’s our man, if he can’t do it, Gideon probably can!” Sonnet cheered.
“I hate you,” I groaned, punching her in the arm.
Sonnet smirked and ruffled my hair. “I love you too Benji!”
I ran my hands through my hair, fixing it. “So Gideon, what time does this party of Jude’s start?” I asked.
“Right after that game. I’ll drive both of us there,” he said.
“Wait, what? Jude is having a party?” Sonnet asked, her eyes snapping to my face, confusion in them. “And you’re going?”
“The whole soccer team was invited,” Gideon explained.
I smacked my Arnold Palmer so that it fell over and spilled on the table. “Oh damn. What a shame. Gideon, can you go get paper towels please?” I asked.
“Yea, sure!” Gideon jumped up and hurried to go grab paper towels.
I turned to Sonnet and told her everything that had happened with Jude today. When I was done talking, Sonnet sighed.
“Benji, this isn’t a good situation. Jude is going to try something at this party. I just know it,” Sonnet said, shooting a glare at the table he was sitting at.
“I’m going to go,” I said. “I’ll keep an eye on Gideon there. In case Jude tries to get him drunk and sleep with him or something.”
“If you drink anything at all, text me. I’ll be your DD,” she said.
“Wow, you’re being nice,” I said in surprise.
“Nah, I’d just hate to see you and Gideon crash poor Betty,” she said with a shrug.
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, yea, I’ll call you if we drink. But I doubt I’ll have more than one or two drinks. I kind of have to be sober in order to keep an eye on Gideon.”
We shut up about it as Gideon returned. We wiped the Arnold Palmer off of the table and went to class as the bell rang.
***
“Benji, you’re up,” Coach said.
I stared at him and nodded, slowly getting off the bench. I went over to the sidelines, waiting to be substituted in.
“Leave Nate on the field! Call off Landon!” Coach said.
I wet my dry lips. I had been in and out of the game today, playing my heart out. I was doing alright, but the other team was just physically bigger than me and able to push me around fairly easily.
The ref blew his whistle and I called Landon off, jogging on the field and taking his spot. Nate shot me a glare.
“Don’t fuck this up Benji. There’s only two minutes left in the game and if they score, we’re going to tie and go into overtime,” he said.
I glanced over at the stands were people were cheering as they watched. I immediately spotted Jude, sitting with a few of his friends. His eyes were trained on Gideon.
I turned my attention back to the game as one of their biggest players came charging up my side of the field. I mentally groaned and prepared to have every bone in my body broken as I contained him, forcing him to dribble out of range of a good shot.
I ran at him, trying to shoulder him off of the ball. He snickered and thrust his elbow into my gut. I let out a choked gasp, but forced myself to keep pushing against him.
“Come on Greyson!”
Gideon’s encouraging voice reached my ears, and I braced myself, stomping down on the guy’s foot and ramming against him. Satisfaction fluttered through me as he stumbled and fell over.
I took the ball and moved to pass it up Gideon. I felt the kid slamming into my back, and tripped over the ball, face planting painfully and moaning on the ground.
I rolled over and propped up on my elbows, watching miserably as Nate took the ball away from the kid and kicked it up the field. I forced myself to stand back up, staring down at the grass stains on my jersey, hands, and knees.
The ref blew the whistle a minute later, signaling the end of the game. I sulked off of the field after slapping everyone a high five and mumbling good game. I hurried into the locker room, showered quick, and pulled on fresh clothes. I wanted to get out of there before anyone said something to me.
“Way to go Benji,” Nate said with a smirk as he shoved me against the lockers. He snickered and continued on his way to leave.
I pushed off of the lockers and dropped my head in shame as the guys laughed at me. I went over to my locker and yanked it open, gathering my stuff.
A hand dropped on my shoulder and I slowly turned to face Gideon. He smiled, completely surprising me.
“That was amazing Greyson! Well, besides the face plant. That looked painful. But you played so well! Those guys were double your size and you fended them off really well,” he said, his voice honest.
“Th-Thanks,” I stuttered. Had I…Had I impressed Gideon?
“That was really impressive,” he said, as if reading my mind. “We should work out together sometime, if you want. If you put a little muscle on you, you could easily knock those guys off the ball. You’re so good at soccer when you try!”
“Thanks Gideon,” I said, completely amazed.
“Now come on; let’s go to Jude’s party!” He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the locker room.
We got in Gideon’s car and he drove us down to Jude’s large house. There was music blasting out, and already plenty of kids streaming into the house.
“He must have left as soon as the game ended,” Gideon said as we got out of the car.
He led me into the house, which was already overwhelmed with the smell of smoke and alcohol. My body seemed to pulse with the music, and I found myself stepping closer to Gideon at the sight of all the people crowded in here.
Gideon placed his hand on the small of my back and led me through the crowd and into the kitchen. There were less people in the kitchen.
“Wait right here, Greyson. I’m going to go find Jude,” Gideon said and disappeared into the living room.
I leaned against the kitchen table, watching kids at the counter mix drinks. I recognized a few of the kids, but none of them bothered a glance at me.
“Benji.”
I spun around, facing Jude. He smirked at me, a beer in his hands. He pushed his dark hair out of his eyes, making sure that I was able to see the full smug look in them.
“Nice face plant at the end there. I was almost embarrassed for you,” he said.
“Gideon’s looking for you,” I grumbled.
“I figured he would be. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had just ditched you here after that embarrassing display on the soccer field,” Jude said and laughed.
“It’s good that you find yourself funny, because no one else does,” I said in annoyance.
Jude smirked at me. “Well, I’m off to go find my future boyfriend. Enjoy the party, Benji.” He winked at me before turning and heading into the living room in search of Gideon.
I clenched my fists tightly, but didn’t follow him. Gideon had said he would be right back, and I believed him. He would never bring me to a party and then just ditch me.
Just like I figured, Gideon appeared about two minutes later. Jude was holding his hand and following him. My heart sank a little at the sight of their clasped hands.
“Hey Greyson! I found Jude. Listen, we’re going to head down to the basement and play beer pong for a little. I’ll come and find you in the living room when we’re done. Go have fun, Greyson,” Gideon said, offering me a smile.
“Uh…Yea. Fun,” I mumbled.
Jude tugged on Gideon’s hand and the two disappeared out of the kitchen and down to the basement. I gulped and stood up, heading into the living room.
Kids Of 88 blasted out of the speakers, and kids danced together. Drinks were in most peoples’ hands.
I migrated to the corner of the living room and tried to blend in with Jude’s wallpaper. I hated parties. I had only come because Gideon was going to be here.
I was tempted to go to the basement to keep an eye on him, but knew that wouldn’t work. Gideon wanted me upstairs mingling and having fun. He honestly thought that I’d have more fun up here dancing with kids than downstairs watching him play beer pong with Jude and whoever else.
So I stood and listened to the music, trying not to think too hard about what Jude and Gideon were doing in the basement right now. Instead, I just watched kids dance and grind together, getting drunker and drunker as the night progressed.
After who knew how long, someone tapped on my shoulder. I jumped and spun to face whoever it was.
“Jude,” I said in surprise, my voice barely audible over the music.
Jude grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the living room and into the hallway, where it was much quieter. Nate and a few other people were in the hallway, sitting and drinking.
“Look, I was talking to Gideon and…” He sighed. “I’m really sorry I was such an asshole to you, Benji. You mean a lot to Gideon. I know I was a dick to you, but I’d rather apologize now and just get along with you for Gideon’s sake.”
“Really?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. Was he just messing around.
“Yea, really,” he said, giving me a weak grin and shrugging. “I want to date Gideon. I don’t want his best friend to hate me.”
“Uh…Well, alright then,” I said.
“Here,” he said, offering the drink in his hand to me. “They said you were just standing in the corner the whole time. Have a drink, loosen up, and have some fun.”
I stared at the drink suspiciously. Jude, noticing the look I was giving the plastic cup, rolled his eyes.
“I didn’t do anything to it.” He took a sip of whatever was in it. “See?” He offered it out to me again.
I sighed and took the drink. “Thanks Jude,” I said and took a small sip. It burned as it made its way down my throat.
“No problem. Hey, you head into the living room. I’m going to go find Gideon and we’ll meet up with you,” he said and left the hallway.
I left the hallway as well, going back into the living room. I took a gulp of the drink and looked down at it curiously. The cup was almost full, and it tasted like Vodka with a hint of something else.
Shrugging it off, I continued to drink it and made my way through the crowd of kids. The music, Ke$ha now, continued to blast.
After a few minutes, I had finished the drink, and left the empty cup up on Jude’s mantle. The world was spinning, and my brain felt fuzzy.
I staggered as I moved into the crowd. A few kids grabbed me and danced around with me. Their movements made my stomach churn, and I just wished that the world would quit spinning.
One girl twirled me around, and I lost my footing a fell, catching peoples’ attention. I moaned a little, resting my hand on my uneasy stomach.
I crawled onto my hands and knees and found myself throwing up on the carpet. Kids squealed and jumped away from me. Some yelled and pointed.
“Benji! Get the hell out of my way! Benji!”
I looked up weakly as Gideon shoved his way through the crowd and dropped next to me. He pulled me to my feet, and I turned away from him as I threw up again.
“Shit,” he hissed and began to pull me through the crowd. “Quit staring at him!” he snapped at the crowd that was watching us.
Gideon pulled my arm across his shoulders and wrapped an arm around my waist, literally dragging me out of the party. I stumbled and fell on Jude’s lawn, my stomach emptying yet again.
The world was still swirling, and I knew I was completely wasted. I couldn’t form a single coherent thought. I was barely aware of Gideon’s voice talking on the phone. It faded in and out, and I caught snippets of whatever he was saying.
“Sonnet…Benji’s sick…don’t know what he drank…come now…”
His voice trailed off and I collapsed on my back, my eyelids drooping shut. I felt a stinging across my cheek and cracked my eyes open, looking up at Gideon’s face. He pulled me into his arms so that I was upright.
“I’m sorry Benji,” he said apologetically. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that he had just slapped me. “I need to know what you had to drink.”
My head dropped against his shoulder and I slurred out something that even I didn’t understand. What had I had to drink? I couldn’t even remember. I didn’t even remembering drinking anything.
“Benji? Benjamin!” My cheek stung as he slapped me again, but I didn’t open my eyes again. It was barely even registering with me that he was calling me Benji instead of Greyson.
“Gideon? What happened?” Now Jude’s voice floated into my ears.
“I don’t know. Jude, did you see Benji with a drink? I’ve seen him drunk before, but I’ve never seen him get so sick,” Gideon said, his voice severely concerned.
“I didn’t see him with a drink. Last time I saw him, he was in the corner of the room by himself, with nothing in his hands. But that was a while ago, when I left beer pong to go to the bathroom. Maybe he had a few drinks since then. I’m sure he’s fine, Gideon. Just too much to drink. Get him home and make sure he stays on his side all night,” Jude said.
“Yea, I called Sonnet to pick us up. Oh-there she is!” Gideon stood up, struggling to pull me with him. “Jude, can you help me get him into the car please?”
Jude pulled my free arm over his shoulders and they dragged me to Sonnet’s car. Gideon got in the backseat, and Jude helped him pull me in next. Gideon said goodbye to Jude, and then I felt the car moving.
After a while- Minutes? Hours? Days?-I was being pulled again. Gideon set me down against something soft.
“I’ll stay up with you all night Ben,” he promised. “I’ll make sure you stay on your side.” He ran his hand through my hair and pulled me into his arms. “I put a bucket next to your bed.”
I realized that I was on my bed. I let my head fall against his shoulder again as I drifted off to sleep. Everything wiped from my mind, including the concern of how embarrassing this would be for me in school tomorrow.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.N.- The picture on the side is from Rainbowash2! Haha, so now what do you guys think of Jude? ;3
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro