1The next day Trick prepared breakfast in bed worthy of room service at the fanciest hotel. Eggs Benedict, French Toast, and freshly squeezed orange juice all made the tray. He carefully carried the breakfast tray up the stairs. Until yesterday he hadn't even realized they owned a breakfast tray. He was rummaging through a closet trying to come up with a plan when he found it, and thus his plan was born. He needed the plan to provide him with the answers to his questions. He was in desperate need to know how she felt about him. And he was much more than a little curious to hear about a certain dead history teacher.
He waited until 9:30 to walk into her room. He didn't want to wake her up in case she was still sleeping. But at 9:30 he was ready to burst with anticipation. When he went into her she was already awake, and dressed, reading in her chair.
"Good morning, beautiful," he said, setting the tray down on her vanity table.
"Well good morning to you," she said, smiling.
"I made you breakfast."
"So I see. I don't believe this was an entirely selfless task."
"What, I can't make breakfast in bed for my best friend in this world? Well, okay I will admit that my motives were not entirely altruistic."
"Is this about Mr. Richards?"
"Not entirely."
"Patrick."
"I'm a guy, I'm naturally curious about stuff like that. Is it that wrong to want to know the details about the dead body that you found?"
"Yes," she said, taking a bite of French toast.
"Come on, our history teacher dies and you expect me not to be the least bit curious about it, even though you're the one that found the body?"
"Was killed." She picked up her glass of orange juice and drank a big gulp.
"He was murdered?! You didn't tell me that."
"I found his body in a creek. How did you not just figure that out?"
"I just thought that he had a heart attack or something."
"The man was at the very most, 30, dork."
"I guess I just didn't think about it."
"More like you didn't think at all."
"It's your beauty, I just couldn't think. Blinded by …"
"Okay Romeo, that's enough."
"What?"
"It's just too early for cheese."
"Ha ha, very funny. You're just a regular comedienne this morning." He sat down on the bed with a pouty look on his face.
"Come on, you know that was cheesy, and if you really want to try this you're going to have to do a little better than that. I thought you knew me better."
"Wait, what?"
"Against my better judgment I've had feelings for you for a while. But there have to be some serious rules because I don't have anywhere to go if this goes south."
"Right."
"And first and foremost for the time being I love you as my best friend. You being my friend is very important to me."
"You know that you're my best friend, Ally."
"No offense to you, Trick, I mean it. I'm not saying this to hurt you, but you kind of have this hump her, dump her thing, and I'm sorry but I just can't do that, not with you, not with anyone."
"Ally, I would never do that to you."
"I'm not saying that you would, I'm just making my opinion quite clear. I have no interest in being a one-night stand. You're a really great guy, Trick. You have the potential to be a wonderful boyfriend."
"Potential? Now there's a word I hate."
"You shouldn't hate that word. Can you honestly say that you've been a wonderful boyfriend before?"
"Well, I guess not. But maybe that's because I've been in love with you since I started dating. I mean it, Ally."
"That makes no sense, Trick. If you were in love with me than why would you date other girls?"
"Because I was afraid of what you would say. I don't know what would have happened if you had rejected me. I didn't want to make it awkward." She smiled brightly.
"You sure took a chance last night then."
"Now do you understand why I was acting so weird? It's not easy to tell your best friend that you love them. You have no idea how long I planned it."
"Sorry I had to go screw it up and find that dead guy." The mood in the room suddenly darkened and she was mad at herself for saying it.
"Are you okay?"
"I think so."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Do you mind?"
"Nope, I told you that I want to be there for you anytime you need me and I really did mean anytime. You're my best friend."
"It was just so weird, you know. I mean that's the last thing you expect to see. And there I was just jogging along and there he was, just lying there."
"Was it terribly gross? I mean, was he messed up bad?"
"Well, yes finding a dead body is gross, but the police didn't seem to think that it was there for very long. I mean that let's just say that I'm really glad that the animals hadn't gotten to him yet. The first officer said that that's the worst."
"I would think that the worst would be if it smelled really bad and it had all kind of bugs."
"Trick, that's disgusting. Besides, I kind of think that's what he meant. I mean, if it was old like that, wouldn't have animals gotten to it."
"Well, birds at least. Like on road kill."
"I think I'm going to throw up."
"Did you?" he asked, as gently as possible.
"Yeah, when I found out who it was."
"But not before?"
"I think I was in shock. I don't even remember dialing 911."
"And you thought carrying that old cell phone of my parents was a bad idea."
"No, I didn't think it was a bad idea, I just didn't know if it would work."
"I told you that I read it on the Internet."
"Yeah, because they never lie on the Internet."
"Well, now we know it works. I just can't believe that it can still dial 911 even if it doesn't have a phone number. That's just so weird."
"Weird but very useful."
"This is true. Do you mind if I ask how he died?"
"No, it's probably in the paper anyhow."
"So?"
"He was shot in the chest."
"Gross."
"Yeah well, you're telling me."
"Why don't you go get dressed and we'll go get the paper. That is, if you feel up to it."
"Tomorrow's Monday and I'm going to really need to know if I'm mentioned in the article. I have to prepare myself for all the questions."
"Good idea, I'll take these dishes downstairs and wait for you."
"I'll be down in just a sec." He smiled widely at her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Thanks."