I giggled. “Oh, I didn’t know that new friends had to get approval from you.”
“Eli, of course they need my approval. I’m your best friend: the original.”
“You’re right, what am I thinking?” I asked dramatically.
Ricky nodded before sighing. “Kailey will be happy about you too. She’s wanted you to be friends with Javier for a while now.”
His demeanor changed when he brought up his girlfriend. They still hadn't worked things out and I still had no clue why. In the time we spent together, he never shared what went down between him and his girlfriend. I didn't want to press him on it, but since he brought Kailey up, I figured that I might as well ask.
"About Kailey…" I spoke cautiously. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
Ricky’s shoulder slumped. "It was nothing, really."
"If you tell me then we can figure out how to fix it. I’m sure it's a really simple problem with a simple solution.”
Ricky’s hesitation to tell me made me worried. How bad was this fight? Was their relationship unfixable? No, because if that were the case then they would be broken up and not on a break. So then why was he reluctant to tell me what happened?
He made a 'tsk' noise with his mouth before sighing. "She thinks that I avoid confrontation too often. She basically called me a coward.”
"You had a fight over you avoiding confrontation?" I asked, baffled. "That’s stupid.”
“She thinks it's a problem, that it does more harm than good even though I’m only trying to keep the peace.”
“Oh.” He was looking at me as if I was supposed to know what he meant, but I was lost. “Was it over something specific?"
"Yeah, you."
Now I wasn't only shocked, but I was also confused. "What’s any of this got to do with me?"
Ricky's leg bounced nervously on the ground as he chewed on his fingernail. He was deep in thought, probably trying to figure out how to tell me.
"I've been your best friend since before it started.” He took a step closer to me with a sad, gentle smile. "And when it started, I ignored it because I didn't want to push you away. Plus, I figured it wasn't that bad and that you'd get through it."
"Get through what?"
His lips parted but no words came out, clearly walking on eggshells around me. "I think you know what I’m talking about, Eli."
I had sort of an idea, but I didn’t want to say it.
Ricky continued, "But instead of it getting better with time, it’s gotten worse. Just like before I didn't want to push you away, so I left it alone. I've been leaving it alone since, but I’m realizingthat Kailey’s right. I'd be a terrible friend to let it keep going on like this just because I’m too scared of how you’ll react."
"What's this have to do with you and Kailey?" I asked bluntly. This conversation was supposed to be about their relationship problems, not me.
"She's been telling me to say something to you about it for a while, but I haven't." He was still careful and hesitant with his words. “She would have done it herself, but I’m your best friend. She thought you would respond better if it came from me."
I didn't have anything to say so we sat in silence. Ricky let me process his words while he himself figured out what to say next. I could feel his gaze on me, but I was staring at the floor. It was taking everything in me not to run away from this conversation.
"I'm here for you Eli, we all are. I…I can talk to my parents and—"
I noticed that I had been fidgeting with my fingers and that was how I knew I needed this conversation to be over. Ricky stopped when he saw me shaking my head. "Okay, it doesn't have to be my parents. Maybe Bella's mom, or if you didn't want parents involved at all I'm willing to do whatever necessary to help."
"I really don’t think that’s necessary," I mumbled shakily.
Ricky’s lips pressed into a thin line. "You know just as much as I do that is not true."
"Everyone likes to make a big deal out of nothing and it's fucking annoying," I groaned. When I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, I began to pull it out as I spoke. “My siblings like to make it seem like it's an issue because they like to get under my skin, so if they’re the reason you think I have a problem then you should know that all they do is lie.”
“The twins have their own issues, but that's beside the point.”
