"I can't come out tonight, Jess," I said after a cough. The beads of sweat racing down my forehead, along with a fake raspy voice, made a rather convincing fever. Nervously, I stood at the opposite side of the door frame as she bought into my lies.

She placed a hand on my forehead. "You do feel warm," she said. "Let me come in. I'll take care of you."

"No," I shouted out, maybe just a little bit too quickly.

She looked at me, startled at my reaction.

"I'm sorry, Jess. It's just that…I don't want you to get sick too. I'm just going to stay home with my parents all day. I'll probably be sleeping most of the time, anyways," I lied. This was killing me.

"Are you ok, Miranda? I mean, besides the fever," she asked.

"What are you talking about? What kind of question is that?" My voice rose a little in panic. Was she on to me?

"It's just that I haven't spoken to you in a while and it's almost as if you're avoiding me," Jessica said. Her eyes became glossy and red. I wanted to tell her not to cry. I don't know why I didn't.

"Why would I be avoiding you?"

"I don't know. You just seemed so distant the other night and…" she faltered as the tears fell down.

"And what?" I asked.

"Well, I came over to see you yesterday and I saw Lizzie walking out of your backyard. What was that all about?"

"That? That was nothing. She's my best friend. She probably just came to pick up something she left there. I don't know." I couldn't look her in the eyes. I refused to.

"Miranda, if there's something going on…"

"There's nothing going on," I quickly interrupted her.

She closed her eyes and started again. "If there's something going on you need to tell me, ok? I've never felt this strongly about anyone before and with the way you've been acting lately, it's…it's like your hearts not in it. And if it's not, you need to say something because it's not fair. It's not fair to let me fall for you so hard if you won't ever feel the same."

Just great. By trying to make things better, I arguably made them worse. I didn't want to see her cry anymore. At least there was some comfort in knowing that, after tonight, things would go back to normal.

"Believe me, Jess, you have no idea how much I want you. I'd kiss you if I weren't contagious right now."

She began to smile through her tears.

"Why don't you call up Gordo or something? See what he's up to. I'll probably be fine by tomorrow and when I am, prepare to have your arteries clogged and you ass kicked at bowling 'cause I'm taking you out." I playfully shoved her.

She shoved back, giggling. "Alright," she said.

It was nice to be back on the somewhat right track. I just had to get through the night.

--------

Later that night, I showed up at The Digital Bean. I made sure to be a few minutes late. Something had to make me feel as if I still had some control. I didn't bother to dress nicely, either. My hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. I wore a plain white t-shirt and faded blue jeans I hadn't worn since the sixth grade.

Lizzie sat on her stool looking rather uncomfortable. I couldn't blame her, looking at her outfit. She came over-dressed in a black mini skirt and tank top. I rolled my eyes. We'd been there a million times in just normal clothes, laughing at stupid stuff for hours. God, how things have changed.

She smiled when she saw me. "Miranda, over here," Lizzie said, patting the stool next to her.

I sat down. "Hey," I said tensely. This was just too weird.

"I thought you weren't going to come for a moment." She breathed a sight of relief before resting a hand on mine. "I'm glad you came, Miranda. This…this means a lot to me."

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to block out the sight of Lizzie's loving gaze. Suddenly, in the back of my mind, I saw her. Those two stunning green eyes looking at me as if I were the only other person in the world. Just for a moment, I could imagine that Jessica was the one sitting with me. Touching my hand…

"Miranda? Miranda?" Lizzie was snapping her fingers in front of my face and I came back to the real word. I had to deal with reality again. "What's going on in there?"

"Nothing," I told her. As if she was ever going to know. Lizzie nodded and I could tell she knew that I was holding out on her, but it didn't bother me.

The night went on for what seemed like hours. My watched proved that it had only been 45 minutes and I groaned at the thought of this lasting any longer. I tried to pass the time by stuffing my face with cheese fries and burgers, but after my second order, I couldn't stand to look at food again.

"So…" Lizzie made another sad attempt at starting a conversation.

I didn't say anything. When will she learn to just stop it? We clearly had nothing to talk about.

"Well, Miranda, I was going to save this for the end of the night, but I think this is as good a time as any to give you this." She reached into her purse and pulled out a small black velvet box.

I opened it to find a gold bracelet with my initials engraved on it.

"It took me a few thousand allowances, but it was worth it," Lizzie said a bit nervously. "Do you like it?"

"It's nice," I said uncaringly.

"Here, let me put it on you," she said with a smile. She obviously didn't catch on to my indifference.

As she put the bracelet on my wrist, I heard a familiar voice.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Miranda."

I turned my head around to see Jessica and Gordo standing right there. I yanked my arm away from Lizzie, but it was too late. The damage was done.

"Jessica, wait," I yelled as she headed for the door. I grabbed her arm, but she pushed me back.

"Don't," she ordered me. "Just don't!"