His Best Friend's Sister

Chapter 18

I braced myself to see Ricky get punched in the face.

Alexander had accosted him in the corridor and Ricky carefully thrusted me aside as if to remove me from the hostility of the interaction.

This seemed to infuriate Alexander even more; the notion that Ricky would be protecting me from him. 

"You're a snake," Alexander growled.

"Alex, it's not like that. I have real feelings for her."

"Shut up!"

Alexander jerked himself forward, but Ricky didn't even flinch.

"What are you going to do, Alex? Punch me? Go ahead, punch me," Ricky raised his arms to the side.

"I should. You deserve it, shitbag."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Ricky challenged. "I'm open."

"Ricky, stop!" I reprimanded, knowing very well what Alexander was capable of. What was scarier was that I knew what Ricky was capable of, too. I wasn't going to stand around and let there be bloodshed by two of the most important guys in my life.

"Alexander, we were scared to tell you because you're so protective of me..." I started to plead.

"Obviously within reason. Look at you – he made you cry! What did you do to her?"

"Nothing!" Ricky objected.

Alexander's face was cold as stone as he said, "Ricky doesn't date girls, he uses them, and he's been using you."

"That's not true," Ricky protested loudly. "I didn't date girls before her. She's different."

"What's so different about Anastasia? The one girl you couldn't have. Was this some revenge against me?"

My heart was beating through my chest. Was that my appeal to him? That I was off-limits?

Ricky answered my heart wrenching doubts. "Have you seriously never noticed? All these damn years."

"You never said anything to me!"

"Because you're too caught up in your own complex of treating her like an actual child, that you never stopped to once look at her and realize that she's grown! That she's a girl who can make her own choices. That she's smart, and kind, and would do anything for the people she loves," Ricky looked at me and sighed, then back to Alexander. "Including you."

"Alexander, we wanted to tell you," I said forlornly. "I care about him, and he cares about me."

Alexander shook his head stubbornly. "I'm not going to sit around and listen to this. Two backstabbers. You deserve each other."

"Excuse me, Morales, er, other Morales, and Heinirch. Get yourselves to class right now, before I get all three of you to detention!" Ms. Milschinsky's voice came from behind us.

With Alexander and Ricky still fuming, and I still in shock, we sauntered out of the corridor.

We set off to each of our classes in three separate directions.

After that day, I stopped returning Ricky's calls.

*

In May, nobody was talking to anybody.

My mom was disheartened at the lack of amiableness between her children. She tried to ask me and Alexander at different times what had happened, but neither I nor him opened up to her.

One Sunday morning, she barged into my room at 9:00 a.m., slamming the door behind her.

"Mom," I groaned. "What are you doing?"