Envious by Katie Keller-Nieman Page A

normal.
    “Can I come in?” he asked.
    I sighed deeply as I stepped out of his way. He walked in, holding my books under his arm. I had left so quickly that I had forgotten they were even in his room. He was wearing the same clothes from last night. They were wrinkled, but I couldn’t help but notice that he still looked good. Although, his eyes were bloodshot and tired looking.
    “How’s your head,” I asked as he cautiously sat on my floor. I joined him.
    “Pounding. Listen, Sandra, I don’t want to sound weird, okay? But I have to ask you. Did anything…happen between us last night?”
    “What? No.”
    “I-I could swear we kissed.” He looked distressed and the crack of his voice proved it.
    I tried to look shocked. “What? That’s crazy,” I said, acting amused. “We never kissed.”
    I could tell before I finished that he didn’t believe me. He looked at me as though I had just proved that he was right. He could see right through my masquerade. He knew, and I had made things worse.
    “We did?” he asked.
    “No, no, not at all. Not even close.” I begged him to believe me, but it was hopeless.
    “How could we have kissed?” He clenched his jaw as he stared imploringly at me. “How?”
    I took offense to his severe expression and lack of faith in me. “Well, technically, you kissed me . I didn’t do anything wrong,” I snapped. Then I looked away, ashamed that I had tossed all of the blame on his shoulders.
    “Aurora’s coming back tomorrow,” Eric stated. “I’ll have to tell her then.”
    I nearly jumped out of my skin. “What?! You’re going to tell her?! Why would you do that?! You can’t!”
    “I have to.”
    “No, no, you’ll ruin everything, your relationship, my friendship with her. It will all be over, and no one will be happy.”
    “I doubt Aurora would blame you for kissing me. Wait, that came out wrong. I doubt Aurora would be mad at you for something that I did to you. I kissed you.”
    “But I shouldn’t have let you,” I answered as I cast down my eyes. “That’s what she’ll think. Listen, just hear me out. You were drunk, you didn’t know what you were doing. So, technically, you didn’t do anything wrong. Right? So why bother her over something so pointless? Why break her heart for no reason? What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Right now, the truth will. She’s going through a rough time and she needs you and me. If you tell her, she’ll feel more alone than ever, and who knows what could happen to her. She can’t take all this hurt. Her uncle died .” My heart tightened at the thought of Mr. Bacster. I continued through the burn of tears that threatened my eyes. “She needs time to heal and people to help her with that. Don’t tell her. Don’t ruin her life, or rather what’s left of it,” I added dramatically.
    He stared at me, an expression of deep sorrow and remorse taking over his face and posture. He thought that telling her would be the right thing to do, but he couldn’t ignore what I had said. He knew that I was right. Keeping the kiss secret was the best thing to do. Eric swallowed hard and closed his eyes solemnly as he nodded his head.
     
    Aurora returned on Sunday evening. She hauled her bag up the stairs alone. I didn’t see Eric with her as she came down the hall. Why wasn’t he with her? He couldn’t have told her, could he? He wouldn’t. No.
    Aurora waved at me. “Sandy, hi!” She seemed to be herself, for the most part. She was smiling almost as sincerely as usual. That was a good sign. I was still mad at her for not telling me about Mr. Bacster, and I had a feeling that I would never get over it. Why should I? She claimed to be my friend, my best friend.
    As I watched her unpack, I realized how hard it was to hate her when I felt so guilty. “How is your aunt?”
    “Um, she’s doing better. Sandy? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about…everything…and stuff.” Her voice cracked, and at one point I feared she