~Andrea~ 

A current isn’t always strong enough to pull a person under.  Most times, it’s just strong and discreet enough to pull you further and further away before you really notice.  Then you look up and you’re too far gone.  So far that you have to work twice as hard to make your way back. 

Floating away with the current is so much easier than fighting it.  So, as predictable as it is, I let myself slip away from the friendship I had developed with Micky.  I know he tried to make things less awkward when I was with him and Carina, but I bowed out.

I’m actually making it sound so much more dramatic than it was at the time.  We just distanced ourselves and went on with our own lives.  We talked when we got the chance, but didn’t exactly seek each other out anymore. 

I didn’t have time to notice I was drifting away from him.  I had a full course load, a part-time job…and…he was happy.  I just figured, good things don’t last long.

************************************************************************

~Micky~

I was really caught up in my new girlfriend. 

But it didn’t last long.

Looking back, our relationship was kind of lacking compared with what I had gotten used to.  Lately, I’m thinking that the problem was that Carina wasn’t Andrea. 

So I spent about a month with Carina.  Following her around, holding her hand.  Walk her to her class, her locker.  Kiss hello.  Kiss goodbye.  Make out in some corner somewhere…just kidding.  We actually didn’t make out…often. 

I knew Andrea didn’t want to get in the way.  She kind of disappeared for a while.  I knew she was there, but all my attention was focused on Carina.  I loved her.  At least, that’s what I felt like at the time.   

Andrea and Carina didn’t ask me to choose between them.  Not really.  But every time I walked away from Andrea, holding Carina’s hand…it was like I was making my choice. The comfort of friendship with Andrea disappeared. 

I felt like I needed to be careful around her.

I’m a flirt.  I’ll admit it.  But if I’m in a relationship, I’m all in.  Even if I didn’t consider my banter with Andrea flirting, I held back. 

We pulled away from each other. 

“Long time, no see.”  I said once, leaning against the lockers and grinning at her.  She smiled slightly.  It was shielded, like she had to be careful.  She didn’t say anything.  “How are you?”  She pulled a book from her locker.

“Good.  You?”

She wasn’t cold exactly.  When she said “you” it really meant “are you having fun with Carina, you love-sick cutie?”  Okay.  Maybe not quite.  But you get the idea.  She was teasing me.

“Fine, fine.”  I uncrossed my arms.  “I should find you someone.  Maybe a bookworm, you’d have so much in common.”  She shook her head.  “Come on.  I’ll check the library, science club, and honor roll.”  She rolled her eyes.  A gesture that said, “shut up, Micky.  You’re acting like a moron.” 

She hated to talk, so she made up for it with gestures. 

“Aw, Andrea.”  I wheedled.  “We could double date...”  She sighed and was about to answer when Carina grabbed my hand and jumped up to kiss me.  Andrea smiled. 

“See you later.”  She said.

Gone.

I started seeing less and less of her.   I’d check to make sure she was okay while Carina was gossiping. Andrea was never dependent on me.  She’d rather be with books than people, but she had people who talked to her in the halls and classes. 

So I didn’t feel incredibly guilty. 
 

Sometimes I would be eating lunch with my girlfriend and her group of friends but was really watching Andrea.  It’s a habit I couldn’t break.  In the back of my mind, me having someone beside me and her being alone again nagged me.  There were times when I tried to think of people I could set her up with, as a friend or a boyfriend.  But I didn’t think anyone was good enough for her.  She was so innocent.  So skittish sometimes.  I didn’t want her to get hurt.

So I thought it was better when I noticed that one girl started taking interest in Andrea.  They would be talking at lunch or in the hallways on the way to their classes.  I thought it was a good thing.  Friends are a good thing to have.  So I pushed Andrea to the back of my mind again.  Carina was my focus.

So I was crushed when she broke up with me via text message a few weeks later. 

Something like, “i still luv my ex-boyfriend.  sorry.”  She should have just told the truth.  It wouldn’t have hurt so much when I saw her kissing her new boyfriend a week later.  It’s embarrassing.  Selfish probably.  But guess who the first person I looked for was.

*********************************************************************

~Andrea~

I’m generally not one to judge people and I’ll like almost everyone.  Every person has some good in them, right? 

So why on earth was I so angry at Carina? 

It was about a half hour before school started when Micky met me at my locker.  He had his hands shoved into her jeans pockets.  I remember glancing up at him, putting away my books and bag in my locker, then turning back to him, ready to be all ears. 

He didn’t quite look at me, as if he was embarrassed. 

“Can we talk?”  He asked.  Those are words to dread, you know.  But I nodded and we made our through the hallways. 

“What’s up?”  I asked after a few minutes of silence.  The halls were occupied by only a few students here and there, and the loudest sound was our sneakers on the floors.  Micky shook his head and handed me his phone, showed me the message Carina had left him.  Then I handed it back, not quite sure what he wanted me to say.  I’m sorry?  Why would she do that?  I didn’t like her anyways, you could do better?  I don’t know.

“That’s pretty low to break up through a text.”  I said softly.  He nodded and smiled sardonically, looking at the message again before shutting his phone and replacing it in his pocket.

I don’t remember what he said.  What I said back to him.  I’m not sure if it even mattered.  Walking with him and not knowing what to say.  The way I felt when he  turned the other way to avoid passing her that morning…  That kind of hurt to see him like that. 

Even worse…I didn’t know what to say when we saw her holding hands with a new boyfriend three days later.  I was upset at what she had done to my best friend but, somehow, I couldn’t really be mad at her.  Was it relief?  I really couldn’t tell you. 

The day after we saw her with the new guy, I stayed after school for a meeting.  Walking home afterwards, I found Micky, leaning against the wall and smoking a cigarette. 

 ***********************************************************************

~Micky~

When I met Andrea, I stopped smoking.  I knew she hated it.  But when I dated Carina I started the habit again.  Maybe it was not having Andrea to be a good influence on me.  Maybe it was the fact that Carina and her friends smoked. 

There was that day Andrea caught me smoking for the first time.  She stopped beside me and I looked at her.  Those eyes…  Jeez.  I can’t believe I still remember the look she gave me. 

“You know,” she said, leaning against the wall.  “Smoking reduces your lifespan, can lead to lung cancer, causes premature aging, and is bad for your vocal chords.”  I laughed.

“That you for that wonderful analysis, Dr. Andrea.”  I took another puff, just to be defiant.  Her eyes kind of narrowed but I kept staring at the distance.  Then, before I could react, she snatched the cigarette from me, shot me a rebellious look and starting raising it to her lips. 

“Hey!”  I grabbed it from her, threw it on the ground, and stepped on it.  “Don’t do that!  Didn’t you just say it causes lung cancer?”  She looked up at me innocently.

“You didn’t seem to care a minute ago.”  I glared at her.  I didn’t want her touching a cigarette. 

 “Yeah, and what will people say if they see you smoking with me?  Hunh?  I’ll get told off for being a bad influence!” 

“Then don’t smoke.”  She said, starting to walk away.  “See you tomorrow!”  She called back.