Accidentally in Love with the Best Friend
Chapter 8.|Caught Watching|

h.a.r.p.e.r.’.s....p.o.v.

Despite Carmela’s threat, when Monday came around, I didn’t break up with Toby, nor did I spill my feelings to Justin. I hoped that if I just ignored them, they would slowly fade away, and my relationship with my boyfriend to go back to how it was.

But, seeing Justin again, my knees turned to jelly and I could feel a heavy blush coating my cheeks. I tried to pass it off as just being flustered from the sweltering heat, but I think we all know that wasn’t going to work.

“Hey Harp,” Justin said from Casey’s locker, his arm slung around her waist. She shot me a death glare. “How are you doing today?”

I rolled my eyes at his antics before continuing on down the hallway. Just as I was unloading my books at my locker, I felt a presence behind me. Turning slightly, I could see Justin’s arm draped on across the locker, leaving me trapped. I spun around and came face to face with him, which was a lot closer than anticipated.

“Harp,” he said, his voice low and husky, making my toes curl. “Were you jealous?”

What was he trying to do? Was he just trying to rile me up and make me mad? “You wish.”

“Oh trust me, I wish for much more than that.” He smirked before giving me a wink, pulling me towards him slightly before leaving. My heart was jumping at a hundred miles a minute as I watched him leave, my breath still caught in my throat.

Instead of questioning why he got this reaction out of me I only smirked as I headed to first period. Two could play at that game.

“Okay, so would you mind explaining to me why you haven’t taken your eyes off of Justin since the beginning of the day when you two were awfully close.”

“It’s nothing,” I said, keeping my gaze downcast. Okay, so maybe I was paying a little more attention to Justin and trying to get him back, but it wasn’t like I really like him or anything.

“Oh, no, I think it is something. Just because your boyfriend isn’t here today doesn’t mean you can go hang out with Justin in the janitors closet.”

“Carmela! Where did you hear that?!” I only was watching Justin like he was watching me while I was going through the halls. And okay, maybe I moved close to him at one point, but I only did what he did! Whoever was bringing these horrible accusations to the table were going to pay.

“Kidding! But are you guys actually...”

I smacked Carmela’s arm. “There is nothing going on between us. Nothing whatsoever.”

“How would Justin feel if he heard that?”

“I don’t think he’d care. I don’t think he even really likes me.”

“You are so blind.”

I shrugged. I still couldn’t understand what she was trying to get at. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure. Sure, whatever.”

"Harp.”

“Justin.”

In our last class of the day, we acknowledged each other before sitting down.

Carmela couldn’t possibly have known what she was talking about. Justin didn’t like me, and messing around like this just proved that we were still the same old friends we’ve always been.

Of course, once I took my seat beside her, she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively before looking from me to Justin.

I shook my head, but she only nodded hers. Whatever.

The final bell rang as I exited the school building alone. Carmela had to drop something by her locker before she left, and had told me to go ahead without her. We didn’t ride together this morning, so it didn’t really matter.

When I made my way towards the parking lot, however, I was definitely not expecting Toby to be there, sitting on the hood of his car.

“Hey, where were you today?” I asked as I ran over to greet him.

Instead of saying hi or even answering my question, he turned around to look at Justin, who was currently watching us from Casey’s car.

“I heard you hung out with him today.”

Since Toby had many friends around the school, I didn’t question it. “Yeah, he’s an old friend. Why, what does it matter?”

“Are you cheating on me with him?” Toby’s eyes connected to mine, but his expression remained emotionless.

“What?! Where would you get a crazy idea like that?!” Shock flooded my features and I felt like I wanted to cry. Did he actually believe I would do such a thing? Is that what he thought of me?!

“I was told you two couldn’t take your eyes off each other and stayed close the entire day. You don’t even do that with me. You never let me walk you to your classes because you don’t want me to be late, yet you did it with him. Do you like him or something?”

“Like him?! I like him as an older brother, that’s it!” He rolled his eyes, clearly unconvinced.

“Okay, well until you feel like you can tell me what actually happened, without a bunch of lies in there, call me.” He sneered, rolling up his sleeves before hopping into his car and driving off.

Was I acting a little too friendly with Justin? Was it wrong to act like that when I had a boyfriend? Was I actually that bad of a girlfriend? I buried my head in my hands, trying to cease the sudden wave of tears. No, I wasn’t going to cry out here, in front of everybody - I wasn’t pathetic.

I wrapped my arms around myself, sniffling all the while as I left the empty parking space and headed towards my car. I wasn’t mad at Toby or Justin, but more mad at myself.

“Hey, you okay?” I looked up, teary eyed, to meet Justin’s penetrating gaze. “I can drive you home if you want.”

I shook my head, opening the door to my car. “I think I’ll be fine.”

“He’s a jerk to assume anything about you.”

I looked up, seeing him staring off in the distance, both hands clenched into fists.

“Have a good rest of your day, Justin.” I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew that I needed to get as far away from this boy as possible, if I was going to repair my relationship.

“Harp, wait-”

But I wasn’t listening. I pulled out of the parking space and took off down the road without so much as a glance back.

When I pulled into my driveway, I finally broke down. It felt good to let it all out. I just couldn’t help but wonder if it was actually me that was tearing Toby and I apart.