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"How could you not notice!?" Kelly was screeching as the two best friends walked through the streets later that afternoon.
"Can you yell this out any louder and just let the whole world know?"
"I definitely could do that, but then you'd kick me out of your house."
"True, but still! You're telling me that in those couple minutes after the game yesterday, you're 100% sure that I have not one but two guys wrapped around my fingers?"
"Well, in the first couple of minutes, I definitely wasn't imagining Vin draped across your shoulders."
"He was just being nice," Sharon retorted, but a faint blush appeared on her face anyway.
"And what is this?! This is the second time I've seen you blush in less than twenty-four hours! I swear, this is not like you," Kelly was laughing.
"Last night was nothing. I was just excited."
"Sharon, you're such a bad liar! What did Ana say to you?"
"Nothing…" she tried.
"And again, you're lying! Come on and just tell me!"
"You'll laugh and hold it against me."
"It concerns the guys, doesn't it?"
"Well it's definitely about the other guy you think is wrapped around my finger."
"What about Damon?"
"Hush Kelly! This is a small town I live in!"
"Then fess up and just tell me already!"
"She just said that he'd been looking for me is all."
"A-ha! I told you he likes you! He obviously misses you when you're not around."
"And the weight of someone depending on you like that is a good thing?"
"Oh don't be so serious! Isn't it enough that he's interested?"
"I hardly call this interest. It sounds a little more like dependency."
'Shar, just stop it!" Kelly laughed. "You are head over heels for Damon and don't even deny it. I saw the way you two were last night."
"And what way would that be? We never got close together once! No kiss, no hug, no pat on the back, not even a handshake. Where was the connection there?"
"Don't even lie to me like that! I saw you two hug each other before we left!"
"Well, besides that then, which wasn't anything besides friendly. What else was there?" she challenged.
"The connection was in your eyes," she announced with flair. "The way you looked at him, the way he looked at you, the way you two would look at each other without the other person noticing, and neither of you noticing me watching both of you and thinking to myself, 'gosh, will they just get this over with and do something?'"
Sharon burst out laughing. "Kelly, you are just too much sometimes."
Her best friend just groaned. "You haven't heard a world I said. Here," she said, pulling out her cell phone. "Call him and ask him if he wants to hang out sometime."
Sharon just gawked at her. "I can't do that."
"And why not?"
"Because I don't think he really likes me."
"Hello? What have I been saying all morning? Of course he likes you. I can see it!"
"You're biased – you're my best friend."
"If you can't take my word for it, tell me what in the world would so that you'd finally believe me?"
"It just has to be more obvious is all."
"Obvious? Fine. I'll just put mirrors all around your head so you can keep an eye on the boy yourself and catch him when he gives you those longing looks I'm telling you he gives."
"Eww!" Sharon exclaimed, trying not to laugh at the mental image she was getting. "Now you're making me sound like I'm the dependent one."
"Aren't you?" came the cheeky reply.
"Oh shut up," Sharon laughed as the two ducked into a little shop to grab a bite to eat.
The clock chiming 12:30 and Damon's stomach growling signaled the end of their morning study session. "I'm hungry," Damon announced, pushing himself from the table and leaning back on his chair.
"No kidding, Ana replied, not bothering to look up from what she was writing yet. "Your stomach has been grumbling since you got here. Didn't you have breakfast?"
"I woke up late so no. I had time to only brush my teeth, and grab my backpack before coming over."
"Well, at least you brushed your teeth. You know, you could have just called to let me know you were running behind."
"And miss out on my daily, recommended dose of Ana time? I would rather die."
"Oh please. The last thing I need on my head right now is to be the cause of your death."
"Ahh, but you will be one day. You do keep threatening to kill me."
"One privilege of being best friends. I do get the honor if ever you do overstep your boundaries," she said as she finally pushed herself back from the table to look over at him.
"I'll keep that in mind," Damon smirked.
Ana got up and walked to the refrigerator. "You're okay for leftovers, right?"
"Another highlight of my week. You know I love your mom's cooking."
"And the truth is out. That's the only reason why you're even here, huh? We could have been studying at the library, you know."
"And have my grumbling stomach annoy everyone we're sitting near? Thanks, but I think I'll pass on the dirty looks of death."
Ana laughed. "It'd serve you right! You should have gone to bed earlier and eaten breakfast before you got here."
"Oh come on! Don't I get any reward for pulling the game around last night?"
"What other reward do you need from me? Your girl showed up to both the game AND to Marty's shop to hang out afterwards." She paused, smirking as Damon began to blush. "And… I do believe I saw you two hugging before she and Kelly had to leave last night."
Damon's blush intensified at Ana's last comment. "It was nothing."
Ana laughed. "Don't lie to me Damon. If anything else, we both know that the person we should be thanking for turning last night's game around was a certain female who is not in this room. The only question left to ask is when are you finally going to ask the girl out on a date?" She placed a plate of food in front of her friend and sat back down.
"You make it sound like it's so easy but it's not! You're lucky you already have someone like Riley around."
"And I just want to make sure that you find the same kind of happiness. I know I'm lucky and I'm grateful for it, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about you too sometimes. Besides, you should be glad I actually like Sharon. She's a good girl and I think she'd be great for you. When are you going to ask her out?"
He sighed. "Not anytime soon. I saw that Vin was pretty close with her last night."
Ana grimaced. "You saw that, huh?"
"It was a little hard to miss," he replied quietly.
"I was hoping you wouldn't see it and would ask her out anyway."
"And just ignore Vin's feelings like that? He's a good friend Ana, and I don't want to jeopardize that either."
"I know, I know. It was stupid of me to even mention it."
The two ate their meals in silence for a little while before Ana put a voice to the thoughts going on in her head. "You know, we should find Vin a girlfriend."
"And do you have someone in mind? You know none of the girls here are worth it."
"I don't know. What about Heather?"
"There's no Heather in our class."
"I know. I was talking about junior pres Heather."
Damon stared off for a moment as he chewed his food. "It wouldn't be a bad match, I'll be honest. I guess it just doesn't help that Vin can be a little picky sometimes."
"And with good reason. But, if you're not opposed to letting me try my magic…"
"What is going on in that head of yours, Ana?"
"Nothing besides inviting a few more people to help out with the pre-Thanksgiving feast… And looking at the serving arrangement once more…"
"As long as it's not obvious," he replied with a shake of his head but a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.
Ana nodded. "Not obvious," she repeated, agreeing. "Besides, we needed a few more people to help out anyway," she added with a grin, her mind already racing with all the possibilities.
"Riley's really lucky to have you, you know that?"
She shrugged. "What's even better is he knows it too. Don't worry Damon. You'll win the girl yet."
"I hope so…"