Brandon

"Well, that was a bit awkward," I say as I grab my best friend's hand. It feels small and delicate in mine. Jennie is glaring at me; it feels as if she has daggers coming out of her eyes. I'm wondering if she is considering throwing the contents of her bottled beer at me. I'm ready to duck in any case. I never promised her anything. We're casual, you know that kind of hook-up when you want it casual. She knows the score. She also knows that Lizzie is my best friend. So, like it or not, I'm taking Lizzie home. And, after the most embarrassing moment for my bestie, I think I ought to take her home pretty damn soon.

"You guys leaving already? The party is only just starting." I nod and reply to Denver.

"Yeah, you know. We've got class tomorrow and to be honest, I've not finished my history assignment." I pull Lizzie closer to me. She is blushing. Why is she blushing? She's been doing this a lot lately. I'm wondering if it's a girl thing at her age. I don't have any sisters; otherwise, I'd ask them. I can't exactly chat to Lilly and Tammy about it, they'd just laugh.

"You sure you want to take me home? Only I can call dad, you know." Lizzie is so adorable; her eyes are large, and I love the way they shine when she looks at me. I'm so happy that we met when we were five. The little girl who took me under her wing when we moved from Ireland has always stood by me. It's not fair to let her down now, especially after the moment with Dexter. I'm glad she didn't outright ask him to the prom. Could you imagine? I shudder at the thought of it.

"I'm sure. Come on, let's get out of here. It's a shit party anyway. Not my thing. I'd rather sink a few beers at mine. My folks don't mind so long as I'm sensible." I suppose after the time Lizzie had to bring me back when I'd clearly had too much to drink, they decided that it would be better to allow me the odd drink here and there. It is a better option than me slinking off somewhere to get plastered.

"To be honest," I say as I place my hand on the small of her back and push her in front of me to get out of here, "I didn't really fancy hanging with Jennie tonight. I'm whacked out after practice. Coach really drilled me tonight for turning up late." We're finally outside where it looks like half the kids are. There seem to be more out here than in the house, probably because they're all smoking weed.

"Poor baby," Lizzie says sarcastically. "The price you have to be bestie to be a big shot. You want to play with the Aztecs, you're going to have to give a lot up." She's right. I have already given up a huge amount.

Many of Denver and my guy friends who don't play a sport are out most nights getting drunk, partying hard and rolling into school looking like shit. We have fun but not to that extent. We still have to get our grades or we can't get into the colleges we want to and playing for the Aztecs here in Cali is a big thing for me.

I press the fob to my truck, the mechanism clunks on it, and I open the door for Lizzie. "I feel like we ought to sanitize it first." She says her voice haughty. I laugh.

"Are you kidding me?" I say and wait for her to step up and in. Only she doesn't.

"No. I'm for real. I'm not sitting where Jennie's had her butt. Didn't you see how damn short that skirt was?" She pulls a face. Okay, I see her point. Good job, I've got sanitizer in my car, not that I'm a freak or anything, but ever since the whole Covid thing, I've always been cautious. It still exists, and nobody wants to get it, do they? Least of all me.

"Hold on." I reach inside behind the passenger seat and feel around until I locate my bottle of sanitizer. I squirt some on the seat and find a rag I had on the floor in the back. A clean rag. I wipe the seat down and discard the rag on the drive. Someone will clean up, I'm not taking it back in my truck. Lizzie thanks me and hops in.

"Better, your lady?" I tease her. She smiles and nods.

"Much better, thanks, Brandon." I go round to the other side and hop in. "You wanna drive?" I ask her. Lizzie passed her test a few months ago but doesn't drive much.

"Nah. I'm going to close my eyes whilst you drive. I'm shattered." I look at the clock on the dash; it's still only ten o'clock, but it's been a long day with class and practice. In hindsight, I wish that Lizzie and I had stayed at hers, finished my assignment, then chilled out afterwards. We're always best when we're only with each other.

Don't get me wrong, I like my friends Denver and Tobias, Lilly and Tammy. We've all been hanging for years, but it's not the same as just being alone with my bestie, Lizzie. We're so close, and I wonder..... I stop myself from wondering because it's wrong. She is my best friend.

"Listen, thanks for saving me back there. You know with the whole Dexter thing. God. How embarrassing. I wanted the ground to suck me up. I felt like such a jerk." She says, her head resting back on the seat. I take in her slender neck, her beautiful eyes and watch her lips moving as she talks. Stop it, man. Just stop it. That's your best friend.

"No problem. That's what I'm here for. To stop you making a huge idiot out of yourself." I laugh.

"Hey, you prick." She smacks me on my right arm. I turn on the ignition and put the car into reverse. Thankfully nobody has parked behind my pick up. I'm guessing they'd probably reckon I'd just back straight into them. They'd be right.

"By the way. You fancy going away this weekend, you know, hiking to your favorite place in Oregon? I can use the jet. I've already cleared it with my old man."

"For real?" She sounds excited; it makes me smile. It makes me want to pull over and hug her to me and kiss her cute damn full lips.

"Absolutely. We could fly tomorrow after classes are over, eat on board, stay at your dad's lodge, then go hiking on Saturday. Or we can leave early on Saturday around seven a.m. Whatever you think is best." For my best friend, I'd literally do anything.

"Wow." She exhales. "I've not been to Oregon for ages. I'd love it. Let's do it." Lizzie claps her hands. It fills my heart knowing I can please her. "Oh, my God. Do you remember when we hiked when we were fifteen and we heard that huge noise in the forest?" She starts laughing. "And you thought it was a bear and I almost pissed my pants." I nod. How could I forget? Even I was terrified.

Our parents were back at Lizzie's dad's lodge, and we'd been allowed to go out on a hike on our own. Honestly, I could have sworn there was a bear out there. My heart had been racing, and Lizzie was so frightened that I didn't have a clue how I'd save her if there was one. We ran like the wind to get back to the lodge; she was crying and screaming there was a bear coming to get us.

"It was so funny, you looked petrified." Lizzie is saying, between laughs and snorts like a pig. It's so cute when she does that.

"Was not. I would have saved you." I say not taking my eyes off the road since it is now dark.

"Was so. And yeah, how? You didn't have a shotgun or anything."

"Trust me, Lizzie. I would have saved you. There's no way I'd let anything hurt you." She stops laughing and looks at me. I look at her, and my heart flips. Okay, what the fuck is going on?