CHAPTER 1 Friend Zoned
Evie
I suddenly woke up with a start to the sound of my phone ringing. I groaned in my pillow, wanting to pick it up and hurl my phone across the room, so I could go back to sleep. I lifted my head and glanced at my clock radio for the time. It was one in the morning.
There was only one person in the world who was bold enough to call me at this ungodly hour. My boss and my bestfriend, Draven Blake.
Without turning on my bedside lamp, I picked up my phone and answered it without even looking at its screen. "Yeah?" I croaked.
"Evie? Did I wake you again? I'm so sorry," he apologized. I rolled my eyes, knowing full well he wasn't sorry for waking me up.
I was about to get snarky on him, but I noticed the distress in his voice and the soft jazz music playing in the background. He was most probably already at home... at the penthouse suite of his building, Blake Towers.
"Oh no, no need to be sorry. If I didn't want to answer your call, I wouldn't, Draven. So, judging from the nonexistent trance music blasting through my phone's speaker, you're home, aren't you? What happened this time?" I asked, sighing. This wasn't the first time Draven has called me in the middle of the night to talk about his relationship problems. Actually, come to think of it, when hasn't he called me in the middle of the night?
God, I'm such a pushover.
Draven and I met in middle school. He was a new student transferring from New York while I was school body president of Chippewa Falls Middle School. Since I was president, the principal called me to his office so I could give the new student the school tour. In short, the principal wanted me to babysit.
"Mr. Cruz, why can't Kimberly do it?" I asked our school principal, annoyed I was being given another responsibility. Kimberly Davis was Vice President and didn't do much while I had the Thanksgiving Program and the Christmas Talent Show to organize. Why couldn't he delegate the responsibility rather than just shoving it on my already full plate?
"Because Kimberly is at home sick, Evie," Mr. Cruz said, implying he had already tried to delegate, but was unsuccessful. "Look, the school isn't big and all you have to do is show him where the gym, the cafeteria and his homeroom class are. You'll be done in ten minutes and everyone will be happy."
Before I could answer, I suddenly heard the door of the Principal's office open and the sound of heavy footsteps behind me. It was only mid-November in Wisconsin and it was already snowing.
"Ah, here he is now. Draven Blake, I want you to meet Evie Howell. She is the current Student Body President of this school. Since you're new here, she'll give you a tour of the school and take you to your homeroom," Mr. Cruz said before handing me a small piece of paper with the new kid's homeroom number.
I inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to compose myself, before I turned to face the new student. I was still annoyed I had to give him a tour.
However, all the irritation and frustration disappeared once I turned around and saw him for the first time. I actually didn't believe in "love at first sight", but when his dark eyes looked into mine for the first time, I fell in love.
He was handsome for a boy and well-dressed. He was wearing a maroon sweater and blue jeans underneath his dark blue scarf and parka. The white sneakers on his feet looked brand new including his back pack and the binder he was holding.
I reached out to grab his binder, so he could take off his dark blue gloves. Even his hands were handsome, the skin smooth and his fingers tapered. I smiled brightly at him and extended my hand for a handshake.
"Hi! I'm Evie," I said a bit enthusiastically. He glanced at my hand and I saw him hesitate. After a few seconds, he slowly reached for my hand and I was surprised how warm his hands were.
"Draven," he said and I fell in love some more. Even his voice sounded heavenly. He placed his gloves into the pockets of his parka and took his binder from me.
"Come on, I'll show you to your homeroom," I murmured, while opening the door and waving goodbye to Mr. Cruz. Draven nodded his head and gestured to Mr. Cruz before exiting the office. I sighed. He was so graceful.
I looked down at the piece of paper Mr. Cruz gave me and I almost screamed. He was going to be in my homeroom! Oh my gosh! Me and Draven, together forever!
Me, in love with Draven Blake at thirteen. It gave me the goosebumps just thinking about it. And until this day, I was still in love with Draven Blake even if he had made it so utterly clear to me that he and I are just BFF's.
God, was I pathetic!
I don't know...I must be a masochist or something. Through all these years, I have allowed Draven to take my heart and spit on it, step on it, stab it, and cut the poor thing into tiny pieces. But even then, I still loved him.... and I don't think there will anyone else. Only him.
"Evie? Are you still awake?" I heard Draven ask. Shit! He must have been talking about Cheryl while I was spaced out remembering the first time we met.
"Y-yes, I'm awake," I answered, yawning, pretending to have fallen asleep. I needed him to repeat what he just said without me asking him. I heard him mutter something under his breath. Unfortunately, he had to give me the summarized version of our conversation.
"I just have this feeling Cheryl is cheating on me, Evie," Draven said. "I need you to do what you do best." I actually already knew she was cheating, I just wanted him to find out on his own without me having to get in the middle of everything and give him all the nasty details.
Anyway, Cheryl thought the same... that Draven was cheating on her with me. She just couldn't believe her boyfriend and I were just bestfriends. Even if I have repeatedly denied any romantic involvement with Draven, she still thought otherwise. I had told her to imagine me to be a guy instead of a woman, but she argued no man would talk to another man on the phone for hours while he is with his supposed girlfriend.
"I'm the one who warms his bed, but you're the one he runs to for anything and everything else," Cheryl snarled at me. While Draven was stuck in a meeting, she decided to confront me in my office. She looked absolutely stunning wearing a light pink off-shoulder fitted dress with matching pink high heeled sandals which accentuated her slender legs. Her long straight platinum blonde hair laid flat over her back while her face had a thick cover of make-up . "Was sex between the both of you that bad that he has to find someone else to sleep with him?"
"I can't say, I haven't slept with him," I replied, looking over some documents Draven had left on my desk. "To be honest, I haven't kissed him either. We follow a strict 'friend zoned' list of rules, so I know my boundaries. Cheryl, honestly, am I the one who calls him? Am I the one who knocks on his door? Am I the one who demands time from him?" I raised my eyes to look at her and waited for an answer.
She gazed into my eyes, flustered I made a good point. "No, but-"
"Cheryl, he treats me like an employee. He pays me well to do whatever he needs me to do. So in short, if he asks me to jump, all I can do is ask... "How high?"
She stomped her foot like an impetuous child and cried out in frustration before leaving my office. I rolled my eyes at her as she angrily ran out. She may be blonde, blue-eyed and sexy, but she was so shallow...
Like all of Draven's other girlfriends.
"Draven, you don't need me to tail her. All you need to do is catch a glimpse of her messages. You said so yourself, everytime you two are together, she's on her phone, messaging someone. You don't need to grab her phone or anything. All you need is to take a peek. Invite her over tomorrow night and pretend you're asleep. I'm sure she'll start messaging once she thinks you're asleep. Now, stop drinking and get some sleep. I still need to wake up early tomorrow. There's that meeting with the Kimura group that I need to attend. Good night, Draven!"
"But Evie-"
"Draven, if you don't let me go back to sleep, I'll call in sick later and have you deal with Mr. Kimura and his team," I threatened.
"Fine. Good night, Evie. I'll call you first thing in the-"
I hung up before he could finish and threw my phone on my nightstand.
Evie, you have got to stop doing this to yourself. It's torture.
I know... I had to accept my reality. Draven Blake would never ever fall in love with me.
Draven Blake will always be my bestfriend.