My Best Friend
Ring. Ring. Ring. The phone shrilled as it woke Jason from his restless night. He’d stayed up trying to find it within himself the courage to call Lizzie.

“Jay! Are you going to get that?!” Rachel yelled from the next room. No response…

“Fine, I’ll get it.” Murmured Rebecca. As Rebecca grabbed the outrageously noisy phone; Rachel, her twin, poured ice cold water on their sleeping brother.

“Ugh! Why can’t yall let me sleep? I’m dog tired; been up all night—“Jason’s russet cheeks got hot as the blush set in.

“Been up all night?! Doing what?” Rachel screamed at the now embarrassed Jason.

“Nothing…I—had a test to study for.” Jason stammered.

“I peeked in and saw you drooling over Lizzie’s picture last night. So don’t give me no crap about you studying far a test.”Rachel admitted.

“Uh-huh. Sure…well wait till dad hears about this.”Rebecca threatened as she waltzed in carrying the phone.

“Who is it?” Jason wondered aloud.

“Take a guess…” Rebecca told him playfully.
Rachel joined in at that moment, and they both exclaimed jokingly.

“It’s your ‘girlfriend’.” Rebecca handed Jason the land line.

“Lizzie ‘snot my girlfriend you dweebs. Now get outta my room!” Jason loved hes sisters, but sometimes they went overboard with the jokes about how he’s in love with his best friend since third grade.

“Lizzie?” Jason now wondered if the twins were playing some sick joke and it was really the lunch lady from school. Jason had been a little behind on paying his bill.

“Hey Jason. Rachel and Rebecca giving you a hard time again?” Lizzie chuckled as she recalled why they’d be giving him a hard time.

“Yeah. And hey, it’s not funny Liz.”

“I know and I’m sorry, Jay. I just called to see what you’d been up to last night.” Jason wondered why she’s want to know and why, suddenly she sounded nervous.

“I stayed here. Watched some TV and…well never mind. What did you do?”

“I was also at home. I worked on some of my overdue assignments…and wait! You were at home last night?!?!”

“Yes. I was at home; dying of boredom… Why? You sound upset.” Jason said; confused.

“I am upset Jason. I can’t believe you’d lie to me. I guess our friendship means nothing to you anymore…” Lizzie said trying to hide the sadness in her voice.

“What are you talking about, Lizzie? I would never lie to you about anything…and for the record—our friendship means the world to me! I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Jason was still confused as to why his best friend was upset with him.

“I believe you Jay. But that doesn’t explain why, when I called yesterday to see if you had any plans, your sister informed me that you were going out with Sara from Algebra class.”

“Wait, what? No, I didn’t go out. To tell you the truth; I didn’t even know there was a Sara in our Algebra class.” Jason was furious with his sisters.

“Oh. Wow, really? You know, I don’t think there is…” Lizzie was now embarrassed as she reminded herself of this knowledge.

“Which one of the dweebs told you about my so called plans last night? I’m going to kill my sisters.” Jason jokingly added.

“I can’t be sure Jay. They sound too much alike. It doesn’t matter anyways. What are you doing today?” Lizzie offered.

“Nothing, I guess. Unless you want to hang out?” Jason quickly got over the nerves and took a chance.

“Sure. What time can I come over? Is now okay? My mom is hounding me about homework…” Lizzie confessed to her friend.

“Yeah. Now is great. Give me about five minutes though; your phone call woke me. Oh, and Elizabeth?”

“Yes Jason?”

“You might want to bring the work with you, just in case. I have to catch up on some Algebra and I was hoping my best friend could help me with it.” Jason loved to joke with Lizzie about their friendship.

“Who could that be, I wonder?”
“Just come on over Lizzie!” Jason laughed.
“Okay. I’ll be there in ten.” Lizzie exclaimed joyously.
“See you soon!” Jason announced. He put the phone on the receiver as he made his way to the kitchen. Jason was so preoccupied with ‘studying for the test’ last night that he hadn’t had the chance to eat dinner. Jason started frying eggs and was close to finished when a sudden rap on the door startled him.
“It’s unlocked!” Jason called from the hallway. He met Lizzie at the corner.
“Hey Jason, nice P.J.’s …” Lizzie glanced at Jason to find him bare-chested and still in his boxers.
“Oh, shoot. Hold on, I’ll be right back. Can you check the eggs for me while I grab a shirt?” Jason started running to his room and heard the twins giggle as he passed them. Meanwhile, Lizzie rounded the corner and inhaled the deliciousness of eggs and bacon on the stove.
She was turning the stove off and placing the food on a plate when Jason sneaked up behind her.

“This looks really good, bet it tasted even better!” Lizzie had just remembered that because of her rush to get away from her ranting mother, she hadn’t been able to eat breakfast.

“Do you want some? Honestly, I don’t think I can eat all this by myself.” Jason offered half to Lizzie and she gratefully accepted the plate he sat in front of her.

“Wow! This is GREAT, Jay! I haven’t had a meal this good in a long time.” Lizzie was astonished by her friend’s cooking skills.

“Your welcome. So, did you bring your assignments?”

“Yes…I bought our work.”

“Our work?” Jason asked.

“Yes, our work. If I’m going to help you with Algebra, you have to help me with my English paper….Please?”

“Oh, okay. I’ll help you. First, we need to finish breakfast.”

“We, Jason? You’ve already devoured your half of the food.” Lizzie laughed and then sighed as she realized the long day stretched before her would not be spent alone.

“Yeah, your right. So, hurry up. We’ve got at least two hours of work ahead of us.”

“Okay. Well, this was really good but I’m going to leave the rest for your dad. He can eat it when he gets back from the lake.”

“Alright Lizzie, let’s get to work.” Jason commanded. They went to the living room and sat on the shabby love seat. Once Jason’s Algebra homework was finished he helped Lizzie with her English paper on how Romeo and Juliet’s relationship resemble modern day relationships.

“Are you hungry Liz?”

“Yeah.” Lizzie packed her things.

“You want to go out? You’re probably sick of this place, I mean, you’re here every day.”

“I actually love it here! But, yeah I guess I do need to stretch my legs for a while. What time is it?” Lizzie asked Jason as he headed to get his shoes.

“It’s two twenty. Wow! I guess you don’t notice the time passing when you’re having fun.”

“That was fun. I have to go home after lunch though.” Jason was saddened by this news.

“Okay. So, I guess we should take your truck. I can walk home so you won’t be late.”

“No, we can walk. Mom won’t care, just as long as I get those English assignments done.”

“‘Kay. Where do you want to go?”

“Doesn’t matter to me. You pick…” Jason and Lizzie decided to grab a burger at a local fast food restraint. After lunch they walked back to Jason’s house.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Liz.”

“Yes you will, at the normal spot.” Jason kissed her forehead and waved her goodbye. He slept peacefully that night; all due to the carefree day spent with Lizzie.
The next day was Sunday, so Jason’s dad would be at the lake again while the twins took their weekly trip to the mall. Around four that afternoon he was headed to meet Lizzie.

“Hey Liz! How’s it going?” Jason said as he walked up to the bench.

“Hey Jason! I’m hanging in there. How about you?”

“That’s good. I’m okay…” Jason looked shyly away; trying to hide the blush in his russet-colored cheeks. He felt uneasy as he realized that today was the day he’d tell Elizabeth Mason his true feelings about her.

“Are you okay Jay? You seem kind of nervous.” Lizzie tried to get his attention as she stood and wandered to his side.

“Who? Me? Nervous? Why would I be nervous?” He stuttered, trying to cover the shaky tone of his voice.

“Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?” Lizzie suddenly felt uneasy as she experienced some kind of feeling close to stage fright.

“Yeah, actually there is something I want to tell you.” Jason smiled, took Lizzie’s hand, and started their afternoon stroll along the lake.

“Elizabeth….”

“Yeah, Jason?”

“I need to tell you this and I hope we can continue to be friends. See, the thing is---“

“I love you, Jason!” Lizzie’s voice became unstable as the uncontrollable torrent of words rushed out.