Dark Calling by Cheryl McIntyre Page B

I’m the one that needs you.  You are my best friend.  Please , you have to forgive me.”
    Keely blinks.  She wasn’t expecting a passionate hushed speech breathed into her ear .  This i sn’t Bryo n’s style.  She definitely wasn’ t exp ect ing to feel so torn.  She wants so badly to trust him.  Wants more than anything to forgive him and get back to the way it used to be. Now, more than ever, she needs a friend.   She turns around slowly to face him.
    “With everything going on, I needed someone to talk to.  Someone I could trust.  That person should have been you, but it wasn’t.  I just don’t know.”
    Bryon sinks back , his head down.   “You’re killing me, Kiem.  What can I do?  Name it.  I will do anything to make you forgive me.  Do you want me to kiss your feet again?”
    Keely laughs.  “No.”
    “I’m asking too much.  Don’t forgive me.  Don’t forget.  Just give me another chance.  I will prove to you that you can trust me.  I will be the very best friend you have ever had.  Come on, Keely. I’m begging you.”
    Everybody deserves a second chance.  Her mom’s motto.  She misses he r mo m so much.  She misses Bryon .
    “O.k.  A second chance.  But if you lie to me again, I cannot be held responsible for my actions.  I may have to kill you.”
    Bryon beams at her.  “I will load the gun myself.”  
    “You’re lucky I love you so much,” she sighs.
    “True story .  You know I love you too.  Right?”  His expression is suddenly so serious, almost pleading.  Keely’s lips part.  She licks them cautiously.  Her knee bounces as her heel taps the floor.  She is saved from responding as Mr. Giordano begins class.  He in forms them they will be working on a group p roject.  He then, unsurprisingly, assigns K eely, Bryon and Nick as a group and asks to speak to them after class.  
    Mr. Giordano passes out the information they need to begin their projects.  Keely, Bryon and Nick push three desks together and pretend to work.
    “So, do I not have to do homework in this class?” Keely asks.  She can’t help but smile at the idea.
    “I wouldn’t.”  Bryon lifts a shoulder.
    “He’s a real teacher, he taught at our old school, so you might.  This project is bogus though .”
    “That’s be tter than I originally expected, ” Keely says with a grin.  
    “Your juice box is a little fuller today than it was yesterday, Kiem.”  Bryon smiles widely, flashing a mouth full of perfect white teeth.
    “I guess so.  My juice box was pretty much empty yesterday though, so I’ll take whatever I can get.” She rests her chin in her palm.  Blocks ou t the conversation that begins between Nick and Bryon.  Gazes around the room.   D ana waves.  Her eyes move past K eely quickly.  Slowly brush over Nick.  Rest on Bryon.   “Dana’s checking you guys out.  Again.”
    “She has a crush on me,” Bryon says casually. 
    “Me too,” Nick adds.
    “Yeah, I kind of got that.”
    “I don’t date girls like her.”  Nick shrugs and leans back in his seat.   Keely’s eyes narrow.  Rake over Nick’s lazy posture.
    “What do you mean?”
    Nick looks up slowly.  Absorbs Keely’s scowl.  “Who?  Me?”
    “Hmph.  Yeah you.  What do you mean, you don’t date girls like her?  What’s wrong with Dana?”
    “There’s nothing wrong with her.  I’m just not interested in that type of girl.”
    Bryon laughs.  Keely glare s at both of them.  “Meaning?” s he asks, her voice acidic.
    “She’s fake.  She’s immature.”
    “Immature?”
    Nick rubs both hands over his face.  Why does she have to mak e such a big deal out of things?   Why is everything he says worthy of a fight?  “Everybody has a type.  I’m not trying to be mean.  I’m sure you have a preference.  What kind of guys do you like?”  He meant to ask the question to get the focus off of him, but as she taps her fing ers on the table, clearly in thought, Nick