My Brother's Best Friend

10-James

James' POV

For the rest of school, all I thought about was the date, tonight. I got more and more nervous by the second, but I really wasn’t quite sure why.
One reason was, I had been on other dates in the past…why should I be anymore nervous than when I was, before? Another reason was, I wasn’t even excited for the date. Mitch had still been able to get me to do this, even if I didn’t want to…
The day crept by, freakishly slowly, and as each minute passed, I grew more and more upset with my best friend, for setting up the date in the first place.
Several times in-between classes, Ally would pass me, and I would just watch her. I figured many people just might think of me as a creeper…but when it came to Ally, it was like nothing else even mattered. Finally, after what seemed like days, rather than hours, the dismissal bell rang, and everyone around me began to leave.
Mitch was the only other one that didn’t leave when everyone else did. “James…you look horrible,” he said to me when we finally did stand up. “And I feel horrible,” I replied, sighing. “Maybe I should just forget about tonight.”
Mitch shot me a disapproving look. “C’mon, man…that’s not fair.” I shrugged it off as we left the classroom, and headed toward our lockers. I knew that no matter how I tried, I was stuck with going on that date, tonight.
My eyes caught a certain girl as we stopped at our lockers. “Hey man…what is your sister doing tonight?” His face turned to see Ally, and he let out a little groan. “I don’t care…why?”
I just shrugged, and pretended not to look over at her again, but did, secretly. She was talking to her best friends, not seeming to acknowledge me. I wished I felt as good as she felt…Maybe I would if I wasn’t going on that date tonight…
I grabbed all of my books and placed them into my backpack without saying another word. I followed Mitch as he led the way out of the school, and straight to the parking lot. I heard a voice behind me shout, “Mitch! Wait!”
Both Mitch and I turned to see who had been shouting his name, and I lost my breath when I saw who it was—Ally.
“Mitch,” she said again, jogging up. She looked right at me for a split second, and then she looked back at her brother. “I need a ride home, please.” Mitch groaned with annoyance, and quickly replied, “Why aren’t you going back with Jenna and Emily?”
I almost shouted at him for talking to Ally that way. I mean, who did that? “Jenna needs to set up for the party tonight…and I need to go back home to pack,” she quickly but very quietly replied.
Mitch rolled his eyes. “Well, James and I need to get ready for our dates.” This time, I couldn’t keep quiet, but made sure I wasn’t being too obvious, standing up for her. “Oh, come on, Mitch. She lives at your house; too…it’s not like taking her home would be going out of your way.”
Ally switched her attention back to me, and I looked back at her. She had a genuinely thankful look on her face. If I hadn’t been able to think right, I would have thought that that look was almost…loving. It was funny how easy it was to fool yourself.
Mitch sighed deeply, as if taking her with us was a huge hardship for him. “Fine…get in.” Ally seemed to ignore the rudeness, and smiled widely at me as soon as he looked away. And I felt perfectly fine smiling back at her.
We all piled into Mitch’s car, and we were on our way in seconds. I chuckled to myself and said aloud, “Gee, Mitch, good thing we live right beside each other, and not far apart…or taking me home would really be going out of your way.”
Mitch smiled a little. “No, man, you’re my best friend. I don’t mind taking you.” I couldn’t help but notice the sudden expression-change on Ally’s face. She looked absolutely shocked. “I’m your freaking sister!” she exclaimed. “And it is so hard to take me home?”
Mitch didn’t even answer her; he just ignored her and concentrated on the road. I sighed and smiled kindly at Ally through the mirror. I didn’t care if she didn’t see me smile at her or not…I just really liked her.
When we finally arrived at our houses, no one hesitated before jumping out of the car. Ally shot a quick “thank you” at Mitch, and immediately ran into the house right after. Mitch and I looked at each other once we were out of the car.
“OK…we shall be dining out fancily, tonight,” Mitch told me, suddenly. “So dress well. Tuxes are the ideal clothing. Oh, and no worries, I have the money covered.”
Silently, I thought, Well I’m glad that he’s paying for this…I didn’t even want to come in the first place. I nodded, showing him that I understood the plan.
As I turned to leave, he quickly said, “Wait—James?” I turned around to see what he wanted, this time. He smiled. “Thanks for doing this for me. Seriously. You’re a great friend.”
I couldn’t help but smile. This had been one of the first times I had heard Mitch say “thank you” all day, and actually had meant it. “No problem, buddy.” I turned around, still smiling, and headed into my house.