Chapter 12

For the next few weeks, Krista didn't see much of Angela.  All of her time had been devoted to Brian.  Whether it was on the phone, at one of their houses, or they were out, they spent as much time as they could with each other.  There was even one point that Angela spent the night at Brian's and never called Krista to let her know.  She claimed it was an accident, but Krista knew better.  In any case, Krista was tired of being neglected.  It wasn't that she wasn't happy for the two of them, she just wanted to see her best friend's face a little more often.  So she came to the conclusion that enough was enough and decided to say something.

"Krista?"

"What?" she called from her room.

"Brian and I are going to the movies.  I'll see you when I get back," Angela replied.

"I don't think so," Krista said, coming out of her room.

"Why not?  What's the matter?"

"Oh come on Angela!"

"Can you fill me in here?" Angela asked, confused by Krista's outburst.

"Like you don't know!  All you do is spend all of you time with Brian.  It's like I don't even exist anymore.  The only times I get to see you is when you come home at night, if you even do at all, and when you get up in the morning.  I thought I was the best friend.  Remember the saying 'Boyfriends come and go but friends are forever?'"

Krista's words slapped Angela right in the face.  She couldn't believe she heard those words come out of her best friend's mouth.  "I don't believe this.  I thought you were all supportive about this.  You know, the
supportive best friend?  What ever happened to that?"

"Oh, I'm the supportive best friend, but this had gone way too far.   I've almost forgotten what you look like," Krista retorted.

"Well, you're obviously not the best friend I thought you were.  I'm happy, and frankly, I think you're just jealous.  I'm going out with Brian tonight whether you like it or not.  And you know what else?  I don't feel guilty.  Your tears won't do anything for you."  And with that, Angela was out the door to go pick up Brian.

Krista just stood there staring at the door, not believing what just happened.

Meanwhile, Angela slammed the car door shut as she got in.  She drove to Brian's house and beeped the horn.  Brian came out and smiled at her through the windshield.  But when he saw her forced smile, he knew something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" he asked, concerned as he got into the car.

"Nothing," she replied.

"Come on.  You can tell me," Brian coaxed her.

"If you must know, Krista and I got into a fight."

"What happened?"

Angela went on to tell him what happened not too long ago.  "Would you mind if I, um, stayed at your house tonight?"

Brian looked at Angela with a funny look.  "Yeah.  But are you sure you wanna do that?"

"Yeah," she responded.  "I just need to get away for a bit."

"OK then."

Without another word, Angela started the car and headed for the movies.  The ride was pretty quiet.  Brian felt pretty awkward about the situation.  He wasn't sure what to do or say.

They pulled up to the theater parking lot and went in.  The new Freddie Prinze Jr. movie, "Until Always", was playing.  Brian decided to treat Angela to that.

Not much was spoken between the couple for the rest of the night.   Maybe a few words here and there, but that was about it.

After the movie, Angela just drove back to Brian's.  "Are you sure you're gonna be OK?" he asked her, one last time.

"Yes," she replied, without emotion.

They got back to the house, and Brian went into the kitchen to get something to eat.  She went into his room to find some sort of pajamas.  Not quite tired, she came back out to watch TV.

Brian came out of the kitchen and saw just how depressed Angela was.   He hated seeing her like this.  Not knowing what else to do for her, he decided to give her some alone time and go to bed.

He walked over to the recliner where she was sitting and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  "I'll see you tomorrow," he said to her.  Angela just looked at him and gave him a slight smile.  He wandered off to bed hoping that she would feel better in the morning.

Angela flipped through the channels hoping the TV would put her to sleep.  She suddenly felt alone.  Like she had no one.  Her family was back in Kentucky, so she couldn't go home to them.  She was mad at Krista, yet in a sense, she knew she was spending alot of time with Brian.  But, she didn't want to lose him.  Or Krista for that matter.  She ended up coming to the conclusion that her options were limited.  The next thing she knew is that she found herself heading towards Brian's room.

Brian was half-asleep and had no idea at first that Angela was standing in the doorway.  His eyes opened and he could see the outline of her headed towards his bed.  She crawled in under the covers and buried herself next to him, her head in the nape of his neck.  The tears started flowing from her eyes and dampened his shirt.  But he didn't care.  He just wanted to be there for her.

He knew he couldn't really say anything to make everything OK again.   She needed to talk to Krista.  In turn, he stroked her hair and let her cry.   That's the comfort that Angela was searching for.

Eventually her breathing slowed down.  Exhaustion had swept over her and she fell asleep.  Brian felt good knowing that she felt this comfortable with him and that she was going to be OK.  He had a feeling that even thought this wasn't a good situation for Angela and Krista, that this was somehow going to bring the two of them closer.  He too, with time, fell asleep.  And they laid together, in each other's arms, in the pale moonlight.