*Mrs. Doubtfire voice* Helloooooooooo! XD

Welcome back, my lovely readers! Today’s Flash Fiction post is part one of a short story I wrote a few years back (again, on Quizilla). I’ll admit, I’m having trouble writing new flash fiction stories. For some reason, I have an irrational fear of them, like they’re easier to screw up than novels or something. Whatever, I’ll eventually get back to it. Anyway, here’s “Any Response”!

Any Response (Part 1)

 

 

Is it just me, or did he transform into a male model overnight?

 

I take another look at Graham, his dark curls flying as he dodges back and forth from his seat on the couch, playing Mario Kart. He’s always taken video games seriously, flinching when avatars get injured, or leaning right when trying to correct the path of a racer. When we were younger, I always picked on him about it. Why is this goober making my heart flutter all of a sudden?

 

Graham and I have been best friends since kindergarten—I shouldn’t be thinking this! This is the same guy that trampled through mud puddles with me as a kid, the one who I forced to play Barbies and My Little Pony against his will.

Yet somehow, I can’t picture myself with anyone else. Cue awkwardness.

“Jamie, what the heck are you doing?” Graham shoots me a skeptical glance.

My avatar driver, Yoshi, is running into a wall as I jolt back to reality. My face burns as I pause the game, handing the controller over to him.

“Sorry, I’m just not feeling well tonight. I think I’m gonna go home and get some rest,” I mumble, grabbing my jacket off the couch arm.

“Hold up. That’s not what this is about. You haven’t been yourself lately. We’re best friends—we tell each other everything. Just tell me what’s going on,” Graham demands.

Swallowing my nerves, I stare at the floor. “I can’t… it’ll be weird…”

Graham rises from the couch, slipping his arm around my shoulders. Breathe, Jamie. Breathe! “You can trust me with anything, you know. I’m not going anywhere.”

He’s right, I think, taking in the sincerity of those emerald eyes. I shouldn’t be afraid to tell him. Of all people, he’ll understand. Locking my gaze with his in a burst of confidence, I unearth the secret I’ve buried down in my core the last few weeks. “Graham, I… somehow I’ve fallen in love with you.”

Graham’s immediate expression is one of distaste, as if he had just eaten a spoonful of garlic powder. Stepping back, he pats me on the shoulder. “Um… thanks for telling me, Jamie.”

I open my mouth to respond, yet my words fall into the black hole that has formed in my heart, into the perpetual vacuum of the Friend Zone. I sling my jacket over my shoulder, leaving without another word.  Bolting down his porch steps to my car, tears of ice stream down my face.

Why did I tell him? He’ll never see me that way. I just ruined our friendship.

 

My room becomes my sanctuary for the next few weeks, allowing me to remain a hobbit in my room instead of venturing out and risk seeing Graham. Not that he’d care anyway. He hasn’t texted me since the night of my grand admittance.

And to think I thought the words “I love you” were the most volatile in the English language. Of all the outcomes, I never once considered absence to be his response.

©Allyson Kennedy, 2017. All rights reserved.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back next Friday for Part 2 of “Any Response”! Oh, and if you have any prompt ideas for future Flash Fiction Fridays, please feel free to comment below!

-Allyson 🙂