Friend Zone

by Camilla Isley

  “Oh, shut up.” Alice shoved her away playfully.

  “At least you’re going somewhere, and weddings are fun,” Haley protested. “I’m just going to be confined at home for a week.”

  “Trust me,” Madison exhaled. “If you’d met even half my family, a week in your house would look like paradise.”

  “You could always meet cute wedding guests,” Alice offered.

  “I don’t know.” Madison frowned. “All Vicky’s friends are lawyers.”

  “What’s wrong with lawyers?” Haley asked.

  “Seriously?” Madison said, incredulous.

  “I mean,” Haley continued, “aren’t you supposed to become one as well?”

  A shadow crossed Madison’s face. “We’ll see.” She sighed. “I’d better go or I’ll be late. See you guys.”

  They did a three-way hug, and then Madison left.

  “Are you leaving today as well?” Haley asked, once Madison was gone.

  “No, Peter is picking me up tomorrow,” Alice replied. “You?”

  Haley checked her watch. “I have an Uber booked in half an hour. I’d better go finish packing!”

  A short while later, Haley called out again to announce she was leaving. Alice hugged her friend goodbye, walked her to the door, and turned around to an empty apartment. She wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging herself. It felt weird to be here alone. Should she call Peter and ask him to spend the night? It would make sense as they had to leave for the airport early the next morning. As sensible as it was, the idea did not appeal to Alice. She’d rather be alone.

  You’d rather be with Jack, a treacherous voice echoed in her head.

  “No, I wouldn’t,” Alice said aloud.

  Liar.

  Alice sank on the couch. Okay, she was lying. The thought of being away from Jack for a week was depressing. Even if they didn’t spend as much time together as they’d used to. She still saw him in class every day, and most weekends at games. Even at Christmas, seeing him in small, annoying doses had been better than not seeing him at all.

  Alice threw a pillow across the living room and let out a frustrated scream. “Why can’t I just forget him?” she asked the ceiling.

  No reply came.

  ***

  After an uneventful trip, Alice and Peter landed at Miami Airport mid-morning and took a cab to Peter’s house. His parents owned a condo apartment in South Beach, and they’d agreed to let him use it during spring break. Alice couldn’t have afforded to pay for a hotel on top of the flight, not after Christmas’s detour to Hawaii.

  Peter’s house was a glassy, two-story apartment. Wall-wide windows and white, minimalist furniture were the main theme. They stopped there only long enough to drop their luggage and change for the beach, and then they were off. When they reached the sandy shore, Peter rented two lounge chairs from a booth and collapsed on his as soon as it was delivered. He was asleep in a matter of minutes.

  Alice coated herself in sunscreen and tried to relax by reading a book. Too soon, her skin heated up. The wind wasn’t cool enough to counter the smothering midday heat. Half-bored by the book and definitely too hot, Alice decided to take a walk along the beach to distract herself. She dipped her toes in the ocean, then returned to the loungers and picked her book back up. When she got bored again, it was back to the water. She repeated this cycle several times, and Peter slept through all of it.

  By the time he finally stirred, Alice was itching to make plans for all the things they should go see and the nice restaurants they could visit. It was her first visit to Florida, and Alice couldn’t wait to explore a new city and, possibly, the Everglades and Key West. She’d also heard the Cuban food was great here. Maybe Peter knew a good place to have an authentic taste. He said he didn’t.

  “Do you think we can drive to Key West?” Alice asked next.

  Peter groaned. “Yo, it’s a four-hour drive.”

  “So?” Alice stiffened on her chair. “We have a week.”

  “There’s not that much to see, plus I’d like to relax. Spend the week with my friends here in Miami. It’s really not worth it to waste a day to drive down there.”

  Alice bit her lower lip in frustration, trying to suppress the angry retort that wanted so badly to come out. She really wanted to see the Keys, but this was Peter’s vacation too. If he wanted to stay in Miami…

  “How about the Everglades? I’ve always wanted to ride one of those crazy boats with the giant fan in the back.” They look so exciting in the movies.

  Peter shaded his eyes with one hand to look at her. “A hovercraft?”

  “Yeah, that’s it. Can we go on one?”

  “Sure.” He tilted his head back toward the sun, eyes closed. “A friend of mine has one he uses to fish. We can get a ride with him.”

  At least Peter had finally agreed to do something fun.

  “You want to take a walk down Ocean Drive with me?” she asked.

  “Babe, relax.” He threw her a reproachful, one-eyed stare. “Can’t you just enjoy the sun? I’m chilling here.”

  Alice fought hard to keep her temper in check. “Is ‘chilling’ all you plan to do while we’re here?”

  “Don’t worry babe, I have it all planned out. We’re having a party at the house tonight.”

  “A party?”

  Shouldn’t he at least have asked her if she wanted to have a party on their first night in Miami? Alice was anticipating a quiet, romantic dinner, not a house party.

  “Yeah, I’ve invited a few friends over,” Peter said casually.

  “Should we buy something? The house is a bit understocked.”

  “Nah, there’s a liquor store a block from the house.”

  “What about food?”

  “They have Doritos and stuff at the store.”

  This didn’t sound like the kind of party Alice would enjoy. She had a sinking feeling this trip would not end well, possibly even worse than Hawaii. “I’m going for a walk,” she snapped. “See you back at the house.”

  She stood up from the lounging chair to go have a look around Ocean Drive by herself. Dread filled her as she thought about the party they were supposed to host in a few hours.

  ***

  At three in the morning, Alice had had enough. What were supposed to be a “few” friends had turned out to be half of Miami. The worse half. Peter’s friends were either too drunk to talk, or too obnoxious if they could still manage to string two words together. She felt like a fish out of water. There wasn’t a single person in the house she wanted to meet or try to chat up. Her head was throbbing, thanks to the loud music drilling a steady boom-boom-boom in her brain. She’d even considered calling the cops on her boyfriend just so she could finally go to bed. Enough was enough.

  Alice walked toward Peter and poked him in the shoulder. “I’m going to bed,” she said.

  “Oh, baby. Already?” He slurred his words. “But the fun is just starting.”

  “I’ve had enough fun for tonight,” Alice hissed, sure that Peter would miss the sarcasm in her voice.

  “All right.” Peter ruffled her hair, and it took all her self-control not to swat his hand away. “Go to the upstairs bedroom, the guys know it’s off-limits.”

  The fact that the downstairs bedrooms were clearly not off-limits made Alice’s stomach heave.

  “Good night,” she said, her tone glacial.

  Peter grabbed her by the waist. “Night,” he said, then tried to kiss her on the lips. As he drew closer, a whiff of his breath—a disgusting mix of beer and cheap vodka—smacked Alice. Repulsed, she turned her face and Peter’s lips landed on her left cheek.

  Alice wiggled away and almost ran across the room and up the stairs to the safety of the upper floor. She changed into her PJs and locked herself in the master bedroom. She didn’t care that Peter might not be able to come in later in the night. There was no chance in hell she would sleep with him tonight—literally or othe
rwise. She hoped this horrific first day had been a one-off and that Peter would get all this frat-boy partying out of his system for good. Because if this was how he planned to spend the whole week, Alice could see herself renting a car and driving to the Keys alone.

  Twenty-seven

  Jack

  Jack walked out of the arrival gate of Indianapolis airport, searching the crowd with his eyes. He spotted Felicity at once; she was holding an iPad with “Mr. Sullivan” handwritten on the screen. He looked at her with fondness. His ex-girlfriend and oldest friend wasn’t classically beautiful—short, with squashed features, and a little on the chubby side—but her impeccable grooming and bubbly personality made her attractive. Jack was home because he hadn’t seen his parents at Christmas. As for Felicity, Jack suspected she’d come home to spend spring break with him.

  Felicity insisted on denying it, but Jack was sure she still loved him. No matter that their relationship had ended more than three years ago. Her feelings for him had always been fiercer and, apparently, longer lived.

  She saw him and her entire face brightened. Jack’s heart sank a little. Every time he saw her, he couldn’t help remembering the day he’d broken her heart. The way she’d cried and screamed how much she hated him. The way his chest had exploded with guilt at causing her so much pain. And the solitude that had followed that summer after he’d lost his best friend.

  “Jack!” Felicity waved a hand above her head and ran toward him.

  She barreled into him and he scooped her up in his arms, lifting her feet off the ground.

  “It’s so good to see you,” she said.

  “You too, Felix.” Jack ruffled her blonde hair fondly.

  “I can’t believe you’re here. It’s been forever!”

  “When did you land?” Jack asked.

  “Early this morning. I caught a late flight last night.”

  Felicity was studying at Berkley. After their breakup senior year, before they’d somehow patched their relationship, Felix had gone to school as far away from Jack as she could.

  “But I still look fresher than you,” Felix added, eyeing him sideways as they walked toward her car. “What’s up with you, Sullivan?”

  Jack grimaced. What was up with him was that Ice had decided to spend spring break in Miami with Peter. But Jack wasn’t comfortable discussing his feelings for another woman with Felicity. Especially not in person when he could witness all the tiny giveaways of her discomfort in the creases on her face.

  Jack shrugged. “Nothing. I’m just tired.”

  Felicity didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t press him. They reached her car and spent the rest of the journey in silence, with Felicity driving and Jack staring out the window. She dropped him at his parents’ house, and they agreed to meet up later for a beer.

  ***

  Jack was in his parents’ garden in front of the rock fire pit. The sun had set a while ago and Jack had lit the gas fire to keep warm. He was staring at the flames, sipping beer from the bottle, when Felicity walked out from the house and sat on the chair next to him.

  “You’re worrying your mother, you know,” she said by way of greeting.

  “My mom?” Jack raised his brows, still looking at the fire. “Why?”

  Felicity wrapped herself in one of the outside blankets and dragged her chair closer to the fire. “Maybe because you’re sitting outside when it’s fifty degrees?”

  “I have the fire to keep warm.”

  “Or maybe it’s that you’re drinking beer alone, looking sadder than when your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles went missing.”

  Despite his bad mood, Jack’s lips twitched. Losing his favorite action figures had been the biggest tragedy of his childhood. He turned to face Felix. “I’m not alone. You’re here.”

  “Open this.” She handed him a beer bottle. “Your dad said you kidnapped the bottle opener.”

  Jack took the bottle, cracked the cap open, and gave it back.

  Felicity took a sip and sighed. “Is this brooding still about that girl at Harvard?”

  No point in lying. Jack turned toward the fire again and nodded.

  Felicity scoffed. “Have you talked to her?”

  Jack shook his head.

  “Jack Sullivan, look at me.”

  He did.

  “Tell her how you feel.”

  “What’s the point? Ice has a boyfriend.”

  “That’s because she doesn’t have all the information.”

  “You haven’t seen them together.” A flash of Alice and Peter making out on the bed in Hawaii appeared in his mind’s eye. “She’s in love with Peter.”

  “Or maybe,” Felicity said in her I’m-spelling-it-out-for-you voice, “she’s in love with you and is using this Peter guy as a distraction because she thinks she can’t have you.”

  Jack glared at his friend. “You don’t even know her.”

  “Believe me.” Felicity turned red. “It’s very difficult to get over you.”

  Guilt gnawed at Jack again. It was clear Felicity was projecting herself onto Alice. But Ice wasn’t Felicity, and she wasn’t in love with him. “Listen, Felix. She’s been with Peter for months. They’re in Miami now on a romantic getaway. Trust me, she’s not in love with me.”

  “How do you know? Have you ever asked her?”

  “Ice wouldn’t be dating Peter if she loved me.”

  “Again, she doesn’t have all the info.”

  “What difference would it make?”

  “Jack, can’t you see?” Felix sounded exasperated. “She tried to kiss you, and you said you wanted to be her friend. She has no idea how you feel.”

  “But why date Peter?”

  “To make you jealous?”

  “Even if she did at the beginning, now they’ve been together too long.”

  “Okay, maybe Alice likes this Peter dude, but do you know for sure if she’s in love with him?”

  “No.”

  “So stop being such a crybaby and talk to her. What are you waiting for?”

  “Peter graduates in a few months.”

  “So your plan is to wait for him to be out of the picture?”

  Jack shrugged. “Maybe.” Actually, that was exactly his plan. Peter would get a contract with some big team and move away from Boston. And, yes, Jack imagined himself as the shoulder for Alice to cry on.

  “That’s a losing strategy.”

  “Why?”

  “If you want the girl, go get her. Don’t wait for her to fall into your lap. Fight.”

  “And what if I lose?”

  “You wouldn’t be worse off than now. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain from talking to her.”

  Jack’s eyes reflected the fire’s dancing flames. Could Felicity be right? Had he wasted all these months brooding instead of fighting for what he wanted? He had to at least try. Jack pursed his lips in a determined pout. Peter had had it easy so far, but that was about to change.

  Twenty-eight

  Alice

  Alice didn’t drive alone to the Keys. She should have, but instead, she endured a full week of Peter’s crazy partying, his sleeping in late, and his constant “chilling.” She saw what she could of Miami in the mornings when Peter was so wasted he wouldn’t even get out of bed to go to the beach. He had made her hate Miami and everyone from Florida. And the worst part was that he hadn’t even noticed something was terribly wrong. By the time they returned to Boston and parted ways, Alice was amazed that she’d managed to keep her cool the entire trip.

  Back at her apartment, she finally let out all her frustration as she and her roommates discussed their respective trips from hell whilst doing their nails in the living room.

  “You guys,” Alice said, scowling at Madison and Haley, “I’m telling you, he was too wasted to help me clean up.”

  “So you had to clean his parents’ place by yourself?” Haley demanded incredulously. She paused in a
pplying her black polish to stare up at Alice, her brush hanging in mid-air. “Why? I mean, what do you care if he left the place trashed?”

  “I was a guest in his parents’ house, too.” Alice winced at the memory of the dirty apartment after a week of non-stop partying. “I couldn’t leave their house trashed.”

  “You should’ve let him handle it,” Haley insisted.

  “I agree,” Madison said.

  “Believe me, girls,” Alice insisted, “if you’d seen the place, you would’ve been just as compelled to clean it up.” She lifted her shoulders in a gesture of impotence.

  “So you were in Florida for a week and all you did was babysit a drunk Peter?” Haley asked.

  Alice nodded in misery. “That’s depressingly accurate. It’s like he had to make up for the entire basketball season and compress five months of lost parties into a single week.”

  “No romantic drive to the Keys?” Madison asked.

  “Nope.”

  “But you did do something romantic in Miami?” Madison insisted.

  “No, not even one dinner.” Alice wished she didn’t sound so bitter. “I survived on Doritos and hot dogs for a week.”

  “No Everglades?” Haley offered.

  “Too ‘touristy’ according to Peter, but I managed to have him arrange a ride on a hovercraft.”

  “That sounds exciting,” Haley said. “See, you and Peter did something fun.”

  “Oh, yeah. His friend drove me around the swamp while Peter drank beer with some other friends back at this guy’s fishing shack. Great fun.”

  “At least your tan looks awesome,” Madison said. “Better than family duty for a week.”

  “Yeah,” Haley agreed. “You had the best spring break among the three of us, by far, so please stop complaining about partying too much.”

  “I would’ve rather spent the week being cuddled by my mom,” Alice said. “I swear.”

  Haley glowered at her, so Alice turned to Madison, changing the subject. “How was the wedding?”