Never Just Friends - Chapter #3 - Free To Read

By lunchtime, I felt like I had been through an emotional rollercoaster, and I was more than ready to see Emily and Elordi. They were waiting under the big oak tree near the soccer field, where we’d always hung out in middle school. Some things, at least, hadn’t changed.

“There she is!” Emily called out, waving like I’d been missing for weeks instead of a couple of hours.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow, being with them made everything feel less... weird. “Hey, guys.”

“So,” Elordi said, sitting up from where he’d been sprawled out on the grass. “How’s your first day of high school treating you? Surviving the madness?”

“I survived,” I said, collapsing next to him. “Barely.”

Emily giggled, biting into her sandwich. “It gets better, I promise. First days are always the worst.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, pulling my lunch from my bag. “But guess who I ran into?”

Elordi groaned, rolling his eyes. “Let me guess. Ciara?”

“Bingo.”

“And she was her usual delightful self, I assume?” Elordi smirked.

I snorted. “Oh, you know. Sweet as ever.”

“Don’t let her get to you,” Emily chimed in, wiping mustard from her chin. “She’s just jealous.”

“Jealous? Of what?”

Emily looked at me like I’d just asked the dumbest question ever. “Of everything! You’ve got the brains, the looks, and Finn....”

I laughed so hard I nearly choked on my sandwich. “Are you insane? Finn is just a friend of my brother. I’m invisible to him.”

Emily's eyes widened, a smirk creeping across her face. “My, my, you really like him, don’t you?”

I froze, the laughter dying in my throat. My mind raced, searching for a snappy comeback, but nothing came. Why did it have to be my brother’s best friend?