It was such a sweet silence. No parents screaming, little sisters whining, or stupid dogs barking. I was finally free; we were finally free. Andie and I got the apartment we’d been dreaming of since we were ten. It was far enough away from home that no one would randomly drop by, but close enough to satisfy our parents. We were starting our first year of community college in the fall and we were on our own. We were adults.

“Isn’t this amazing?” I shouted to my best friend. She was in the bedroom, unpacking the rest of her clothes. We were only able to afford a one-bedroom but I didn’t care at all. Who wouldn’t want to share a room with that girl? She was drop dead gorgeous, and I’d been in love with her since the moment I laid eyes on her. Okay, so maybe when I was five I didn’t know what love was, but still. I did love her, with all of my being, and that was all that mattered to me.

“Living at home wasn’t that bad,” she answered. I stood in the doorway, watching her. The shirt she was wearing was short enough to show some of her back. Just seeing the muscles in her back pulse slightly with each of her movements was enough to make me want to push her onto the bed and make love to her. It wouldn’t be sex. It would be love. Did I mention we shared a bed too? Yes, there really was a heaven, and I was in it.

“Maybe for you it wasn’t. You’re an only child. You didn’t have an annoying sister always trying to tag along.”

“Oh come on, Ellie’s great,” Andie said, turning around and flashing me her beautiful smile. Even her teeth were perfect. And those lips... “Hello? You there Eli?”

“Yeah, whatever,” I said, snapping out of it. As much as I loved fantasizing about Andie, I knew it would never happen. We just weren’t like that. We were best friends, not lovers, though I’d always wished we were both. A knock on the door sent me into a bad mood. “Well speak of the devil,” I snapped, rolling my eyes.

“Geez E, you invited her to see the place, so you only have yourself to blame.” Instead of arguing with her—because I knew she’d win; she always did—I shuffled out to the door and pulled it open.

“Come on in Elizabeth,” I said unenthusiastically. I knew she hated it when I used her full first name. Only our parents were allowed to call her that, apparently. She narrowed her eyes at me as Andie walked into the room, looking happy to see her. That brought my mood down even more. Andie always had a soft spot for Ellie. She said it was a girl thing. What was I thinking, inviting my sister to come over on our first day of freedom? They would probably start the whole girl thing like they always did, leaving me completely clueless and in the dark about whatever they talked about.

“Nice to see you too,” Ellie said sarcastically, wrinkling her nose at me. “Hey Alexandra.” She pushed past me to hug my best friend. I hated that she used Andie’s full name. It was another girl thing, they said.

“I’m so glad you’re here El. Come see the bedroom!” Andie squealed. Her long blonde hair swished behind her as she ran ahead of my sister, dragging her in by her hand. I followed, simply because I didn’t want to be left out.

“You’re sharing a bed?” Ellie asked incredulously, placing a hand on her hip as she looked around.

“Well, yeah. I need a big bed to sleep in because I take up too much space. And the room is way too small to put two beds in here. Besides, Eli’s my best friend. I know he won’t try anything sneaky. And he knows I’d kill him if he did,” Andie explained.

“Oh please. We both know Elijah’s too much of a prude to try anything anyway,” Ellie answered. Andie nodded and they both giggled. I hated it when they did that; when they made fun of me like I wasn’t there.

“Don’t be so sensitive,” Andie said, lightly shoving me. “You know we’re only joking.” She did that thing I couldn’t resist then; where she tilted her head sideways and looked up at me through her eyelashes, shooting me the biggest grin she could muster. I shoved her back, and she knew I wasn’t mad anymore. “Okay,” she said, turning to Ellie once again. “We really need new sheets for the bed. Want to help me pick some out?”

“Sure, that sounds like fun,” Ellie answered.

“I want to go too,” I said, realizing I sounded like a little kid, but I didn’t care. I was not letting them go shopping alone; if I did, I’d never see my best friend again. They always stayed out for hours and hours, and if I couldn’t be alone with Andie, then I might as well hang out with my sister too; because I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit at home by myself all night. Especially not on our first night.

“Okay, fine. But you get no say in what we pick,” Ellie told me. “Your taste is about as good as a monkey’s.” She really thought she was funny. I pretended I didn’t see Andie hide a smile. “I can’t go like this though,” she said, motioning towards her sweatpants and one of my old t-shirts.

“You can wear something of mine. I have to change anyway; this shirt is way too short for the mall.” Andie turned to me and gave me the look. “You, out. We need to get ready.” She pointed towards the door.

“Fine,” I grumbled. They closed the door behind me and I dragged my feet over to the futon in the living room, plopping down on top of it. And there was another thing to add to the list of activities that I was excluded from. Not that I wanted to see my sister change her clothes; I just wouldn’t mind being in there with Andie. Besides, I liked her short shirt. Now what would I have to look at when I walked behind the two of them at the mall?

About halfway through our little excursion, I started to wonder why I went with them in the first place. Yes, my one goal in life was to make Andie fall madly in love with me, but I should have known that would never happen if Ellie was there. I was angry that they ignored me most of the time, only talking to me to ask my opinion on where we should go to lunch. This left me very cranky, and caused me to start blurting out things just to annoy them.

“Oooh look at these,” Ellie said, pointing out some pink satin sheets with a pink and black reversible comforter to go along with them.

“I don’t think so,” I butt in before Andie could even say anything.

“I love them!” she squealed. “This is why I asked you to come. You know exactly what I like.”

“I know what you like too,” I told her, interrupting once again. “But there is no way I’m sleeping on those. Only a freaking faggot would!”

I said it way too loud. Ellie and Andie both turned away from me and acted like I wasn't there. That wasn't a first for the day. It just made me even more mad at both of them. Then I realized why they were ignoring me further. There were two guys only a few feet from us with their arms around each other, trying to pick out sheets just like we were. And they’d heard.

“Elijah!” Andie yelled. She rarely used my full name, and when she did, I knew I was in trouble. But this time, I just stared back at her, acting like I didn't do anything wrong. She was getting madder by the second, and I just stood there, staring her down. Who was she to get mad at something I said, when she was the one who ignored me all day in the first place? I didn't care at all if Ellie was mad, but I cared if Andie was. Pissing her off would not help me get her to fall in love with me. She pulled the sheet set off the shelf and threw it into the shopping cart, pushing it away from me.

“I’m really sorry,” Ellie said to the guys, who were still staring.

“He just can’t come to terms with the fact that he’s gay,” Andie said with a straight face, as if it were actually true. I could see Ellie smirking next to her and I wanted to smack her. The guys nodded and finally turned away, back to what they were doing. Andie stormed off and Ellie followed, leaving me behind to think about what just happened.

“How could you tell them I’m gay? You know that's not true!” I yelled as we walked into the apartment an hour and a half later. It was the first thing I'd said since ‘the incident.’

“How could you be such an insensitive asshole?” Andie shouted right back.

“I didn’t know they were standing right there! Obviously, if I knew they would hear me, I wouldn’t have said it that loud!”

“Or maybe you couldn’t have said it at all! You know I hate that word Elijah. And who the hell cares what color sheets you sleep on? Well, it really won’t matter to you now, because you’re sleeping out here tonight!” And with that, she carried her bags into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

“You really suck sometimes, you know that?” Ellie said to me, sitting down on the futon.

“Shut up Ellie. This is none of your business.” None of it would have happened if it wasn't for her. I guess it was my fault, really. If I hadn't invited Ellie to see the apartment, she wouldn't have been invited to help pick out sheets. And Andie wouldn't be locked into our bedroom.

“Fine, I’ll just call Mom to pick me up now,” Ellie said, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket.

“No, don’t!” I said, grabbing the phone from her. “You’re the only one who can get her out of there.”

“And why do you deserve my help?” she asked me. “If you just thought before you spoke, you wouldn’t be sleeping on the futon in the first place.”

“I don’t deserve it,” I admitted. I handed back her phone, defeated. “But Andie doesn’t deserve to be angry and have a bad time on her first night in our new place.” She sighed and I knew I'd convinced her to help.

“Okay,” she agreed. “I’m doing this for her, not you.” She got up and knocked lightly on the bedroom door. “It’s me,” she said through the thick wood. “Can I come in?” Andie opened it just enough to confirm that Ellie was really standing there, then let her into the room, waiting until she was far enough in to close the door again, shutting me out. I ran up to the door and pressed the side of my head against it. Their voices sounded muffled but I was able to make out most of the conversation.

“He didn’t really mean to be a pain in the ass,” Ellie said softly. I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was afraid Andie would get mad at her for defending me.

“I know,” Andie said, surprising me. “He just needs to be taught a lesson.” Score one for me! At least she understood that I didn't blurt it out on purpose. Of course, I hated the way Ellie put it, but she was trying to help.

“Want me to help you put these on the bed?” Ellie asked. Or maybe she wasn't trying to help. I should have never sent her in there because she was just getting more bonding time with Andie and I was stuck eavesdropping on a non-existent conversation by then.

“Sure, thanks,” Andie replied. I sighed and flopped onto the futon, accepting the fact that Andie wouldn't be falling in love with me anytime soon. I turned the TV on and tried to find something to watch. An hour later, Ellie finally came out of the room, but Andie locked it behind her once again. Ellie shrugged before making her way out the door. I narrowed my eyes at her and didn't say a word. She'd barely tried to help me and all I got was a shrug? How cheap was that?

"You'll have to get her out yourself," she said. I hated the way she said it, with her bitchy little tone. She sounded like she was five years old and it pissed me off. I didn't even say goodbye to her.

Once she was finally gone, I tried to make Andie and me dinner, to make up for me being an ass. That ended up both good and bad. It was bad because I burned the chicken, but good because Andie came rushing out of the bedroom to make sure the apartment wasn’t on fire.

“I’m sorry,” I said, sighing.

“About earlier today, or about the chicken?”

“Both. But more about at the store. I didn’t mean to make you so upset, and I was really embarrassed that those guys heard me.”

“Ellie and I were embarrassed to be seen with you,” she said. My cheeks started to turn red. She was making me feel like a horrible person.

“I can’t say anything else but sorry. I really do feel terrible about it.”

“Well, I guess I have to forgive you…or find a new roommate,” she said, grinning. I shoved her lightly before hugging her, knowing that she was joking and we were going to be okay. “But, even though you’re forgiven, that doesn’t mean I’m going to force down the pile of crap that you call dinner.”

“Pizza?” I asked, grabbing the phone off the wall.

“Sounds great. You know how I like it. I’ll be in our room.”

As I watched her walk away, I knew that life was going to be so much better now that it was just the two of us.

A/N: I've edited this chapter after taking a suggestion my friend offered. She told me it would be better with just one point of view, not jumping back and forth between Elijah's and Ellie's. So the story is just Elijah now. Please review! Leave me anything good or bad as long as it's constructive criticism. Please let me know if there's something I could do to make it better, and if you don't like it, give me a real reason why. And don't steal my story or my characters or I'll hunt you down because I own all of it!!