The bell rang, but I didn’t notice, as I sat staring at the scribble-filled paper on my desk. English had gone ridiculously slowly today, and before I knew it, I was doodling on the blank piece of paper I was supposed to be writing my notes on.

I’ve doodled before. Hell, who hasn’t ever? But shit, this doodles… they weren’t normal. Especially not if you were a guy. It wasn’t normal, because the once-blank page was now filled with Matt’s name. In my writing.

“Ha—”

Before the familiar voice even registered in my head, I had stuffed the piece of paper into my jeans pocket, and fumbled with my bag, sweeping everything I had on my table into my bag.

I finally looked up, to find Rylie smiling at me.

“Rylie. Yeah, what’s up?”

Her smile dimmed, and she stared at me hard. “Let’s go to your house.” Her tone held no room for questions, and in the back of my mind I raised a brow at her invitation to my house.

But all the same, I followed her and we were at my truck before Matt had caught up with us. Rylie grinned at him, but I could only stare at a point past his shoulder.

“Hey, guys. Where’re you going?”

I knew Matt was looking at me, but I let Rylie answer. “To his house. We have a… uh… project… of sorts.” The last part was mumbled and I couldn’t blame her; that was lame.

Matt raised a brow, looking to me for confirmation. I shrugged. “Yeah, our moms are having something on this weekend, and they need our help.”

Rylie nodded frantically, moving to get into my truck through the passenger side, before Matt could ask any more questions.

I was about to get in as well, but Matt’s hand on my arm stopped me. I broke up the fight between two parts of myself, one wanting to run from Matt, and the other wanting to pull him into my arms, because no. No, I did not want to hug my male best friend for no apparent reason.

Fuck. I pretended to bend and pick something up, so Matt would let go of me.

“Hav, is something wrong?” His voice was muffled from above me.

I took a breath, and released it in a silent sigh as I stood up.

“What do you mean?”

“You keep avoiding me, man. And you won’t look me in the eye. Is it because of Autumn? Cause I swear, I don’t mean anything by anything. If you like her, I like her too, yeah?”

My gaze followed the hand he brought up to run through his hair. I resisted the urge to do the same thing.

I shook my head, forcing a smirk. “I sure hope you don’t mean that.”

Matt looked at me in startled confusion for a second, and I figured now was probably not the time to be cracking jokes. Not when my best friend was feeling unsure of himself.

When comprehension dawned, he furrowed his brows, but I could tell he was trying not to grin. “Haven…”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.”

I got behind the wheel. Just as I was about to shift into gear and drive off, Matt’s hand landed on my window frame.

“Hey guys, uh… do you need some help with your project?” He shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “Mel and I are still fighting, and I just… uh…”

Rylie and I could probably guess what he wanted to say was ‘I just needed some company’. I glanced at Rylie out of the corner of my eye, and I could see her contemplating whether she wanted to do whatever she wanted to do or give her friend support. She was always the loyal friend.

Matt came in through the passenger side, so that Rylie was sitting between the two of us. I thanked whoever I should have been thanking that there was Rylie.

---

Matt immediately plopped down onto the living room couch, and I smacked his head as I walked past. “I thought you wanted to help.”

He smirked and continued watching his tv.

“It’s cool. Come on, Hav, let’s go to your room.”

I stared at Rylie’s back as she ascended the stairs and disappeared round the corner. I glanced back at Matt and suddenly my mind flashed back to Christmas night, when I started feeling… what the shit was I feeling, anyway?

Dread filled me as I thought about what Rylie could want to talk about – of course she was going to talk to me, right? Why go through all this trouble to lie to Matt?

Before I knew it, my legs were maneuvering me towards my bedroom.

Rylie was sitting on my bed, facing my desk. I moved to sit in my desk chair.

Rylie was also a very straightforward person.

“You’ve got a thing for Matt., haven’t you?”

The television was playing a song that was blasting through my television stereo. I struggled to decide if I should admit it, deny it, or tell her the truth. I opted for the truth.

“I don’t know, Rye.” Sighing, I pressed the bridge of my nose. “What makes you think I do?”

A little rustling let me know Rylie had lain down. “I don’t know… you’re suddenly distant, you tense when Matt so much as calls your name. And I think I saw a flash of disappointment when he refused to kiss you on Christmas.”

I snapped my gaze to her, where she was now propped up on her elbows. “Shit. Was it obvious?”

She shrugged. I groaned, throwing my head back.

I could feel Rylie move up and towards me. She gathered my head into her arms and squeezed. “Hav, it’s… I would like to say it’s nothing, but I know how hard it must be for you.”

I put my arms around Rylie’s waist, thankful for the support I desperately needed right now.

“But I love you! And I always will.”

I snorted, pulling back and smirking. “Like that helps.”

She knew I was teasing, so she grinned and pushed my head. “Thanks a lot.”

The redhead – a different red from Matt, because Matt’s hair was maroon – tip-toed to the door and peered out.

She looked back at me and smiled.

“Come on, let’s go do this ‘project’.”

I honestly didn’t know what she meant by that, but what the heck. She walked out the door and I followed.

Just before we touched the steps, she turned to me and slung an arm around me, she having to tip-toe to do so, and said, “Talk to me whenever.”

And she was barreling down the stairs yelling at Matt to make something to eat for her (in my house).