It'd been a few days since I'd spoken to Cooper. I tried my hardest to be up and out the door before he even came home in the morning, just so there wouldn't be a repeat performance of the awkward conversation about our relationship.

It was like the elephant in the room, which got bigger and louder as the days went on. Even Monster seemed to feel the tension, staying off in secluded corners when Cooper and I happened to be home at the same time.

I finally decided that I was going to forget the conversation and move on like it'd never happened. Stupid, but it was what I'd decided to do, and as much I would've loved to give into what we both obviously wanted, our friendship meant way more to me. The flirting would definitely need to stop. The mixed messages they were sending, were too confusing, and our situation definitely didn’t need any more confusion.

The morning of the reunion had finally arrived, and I was anxious to have a change of scenery from my normal hum drum life. Not only was I going to get to dress up and see a bunch of people from high school, I could possibly have the chance to see Jay again. Honestly, it was the driving reason toward my decision to show up.

The minute my eyes opened, I pounded my feet on the bed, pulling the white down comforter over my face, screaming wildly into it. I felt like a giddy school girl going on her first date, and I loved it. Getting to see Jay again didn't seem real until the moment I realized that in just a few hours, I could be face to face with the man I'd pined away for all those years ago.

Every cell in my body tingled and I felt like I was going to burst. Monster jumped on the bed and snuggled up to me. I grinned, pressing my nose to his, vigorously scratching his neck. I shot out of bed, dropping him on to the comforter without a second thought. He hissed loudly, then circled the bed, searching for a comfortable place to lie down.

"You enjoy that. I have big plans today, my love," I said before impetuously running into the kitchen for some coffee, completely forgetting that Cooper might've been home.

And there he was, sipping his cup of coffee, pretending I wasn’t even in the room.

"Good morning."

He set down his cup. "You look excited."

"I am!"

"So what do you have on the agenda for the pre-reunion shenanigans?"

He acted like he actually cared. What a crock of shit. "Oh, I dunno. A little of this, a little of that."

"Sounds fun," he said, picking up his cup as he headed out of the kitchen.

"Is that all you have to say?"

Why the fuck did I just bring shit up again?

Calmly, taking another sip, he stood next to me. "What do you want me to say?"

"Something—anything. I miss talking to you."

"What’s there to say? I get it—you aren't interested, and I need to figure out how to get over it."

"It's not that—" I stopped myself. Telling him that it wasn't because I wasn't interested in him would be selfish, and a downright bitch move.

"Not that what?"

I shook my head. "Why don’t we hang out today? Like old times."

"Old times? Like the other day?"

I laughed. "Don't be a dick."

"I don't try to be. It just sorta happens."

"Yeah, isn’t it your day off?" I asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Monster rubbed against his leg, almost urging him to accept my offer. Cooper's shoulder's slumped. "What do you have planned?" he asked in defeat.

I still felt awful after the last conversation we'd had. I needed to come to terms with our friendship and maybe hanging out like old times would help out.

"I made an appointment to go to the nail shop and get my toes declawed. Watcha' think?" she asked, looking down at her wiggling toes. "You wanna keep me company?"

I looked down at her toes. "I'll keep you company. Maybe even get a pedicure myself."

She laughed. "You're definitely secure with your manhood."

"If you only knew."

She looked at me then back down at the floor.

Fuck, why'd I have to go there? No more flirting with her.

I backed away. "Sorry, force of habit."

Anxiously, she rubbed the top of her right foot against the back of her left leg. "I'm gonna get ready."

"Okay."

She brushed by me, attempting to slap me on the arm. "Hurry it up."

Without a second thought, the animal in me took over and I grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to me. "What did I tell you about playing games, little girl."

"Little girl? I'm all woman if you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I've noticed," I whispered.

And just like that, we were back to flirting. It's like we couldn't turn it off even though we knew better.

Jesus, this woman is gonna be the death of me.

She looked away, and I let go.

"Ready in ten minutes?" she asked.

"Ten minutes." I needed a cold shower anyway. Being that close to her always left me tight in the jeans. "Make it fifteen."

She blushed and disappeared into her room. I headed for my room for a shower and a quick reprieve; otherwise my head would be clouded the rest of the day.

A little less than twenty minutes later, she yelled out, "Are you ready?"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'." I walked out of my room, slipping a black cardigan over my white V-neck undershirt.

She eyed me up and down. "Well, don't you clean up nice?"

"Take note," I replied with a wink.

"Noted."

We walked down the stairs and around the corner headed for my usual nail shop. As soon as we walked through the door, all the women stopped what they were doing and gawked at Cooper. One lady jumped up, leaving her customer soaking her hands in a bowl, quickly scurrying over to us—well, to Cooper.

"You and your husband want a couple pedicure?"

I quickly looked at Cooper with a smirk on my face. "Husband? No, no, he's not my husband."

I looked at Ella, a little hurt by how quickly she dismissed the notion that I could be her husband. "I'm not that bad."

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing," I replied, putting my hands in my pocket as I looked down at my shoes.

Lisa, which was the name printed on her name tag, took Cooper by the hand and helped him into a chair—even going as far as pulling his pant legs up for him. All the while, I was left standing at the door waiting for someone to hold my hand and guide me to a chair.

No such luck. After a few moments, I attempted to garner some attention by raising my hand as one does in school, and asked, "Umm, excuse me, where do I sit?"

The woman helping Cooper glared at me, then motioned to the chair next to him. "Here, sit here," she said, rather annoyed.

I took her tone to mean there would be no special treatment for me—not today. Not while Cooper, the prime choice USDA slab of meat was sitting right next to me, taking up all the attention.

Cooper chuckled to himself as he watched me plop down on the chair next to him, rolling up my pant legs. Leaning back into the oversized massage chair, I flipped the switch to get the massage balls rotating over my back. I closed my eyes as soon as the rumbling of the chair started, allowing the soothing motion to lull me to sleep.

The ladies cackled like hens all around Cooper, treating him like he was the crowned Prince of fucking Egypt. I paused, realizing I was letting the situation bother me too much. He was a single guy, and he was free to do as he pleased, with whoever he chose to do it with.

Lisa leaned in. "Why don't you have a wife?"

"Just waiting I guess," Cooper replied.

"A man like you? I don't believe it." She walked away to grab her basket of tools.

I felt a jostling at my shoulder. "Help me," he whispered.

"That's what you get for being so damn good-looking."

"Just do something," he urged in a low whisper.

I smiled and took his hand, twining our fingers. It felt good to hold him, but I pushed that aside when the idea of losing him altogether crept into my thoughts.

The woman came back holding her basket of tricks. I leaned in toward her, and whispered, "Just because I said he wasn't my husband, doesn't mean he isn't my boyfriend."

The look of awkward embarrassment blanketed the woman's face. "I'm so sorry. I didn't—"

"No, it's my fault, I should've said something. I just like to make him squirm." I replied, leaning in to nuzzle my cheek against his.

"Squirm—right," the woman echoed.

Awkwardly she slunk away, leaving Cooper and I joined at the cheeks. I moved away as he peered down at our interlocked fingers, giving my hand a little squeeze before shifting his gaze back to me. Not even a thousand words could sum up the glow in his eyes.

"Thanks," he said, closing his eyes as he leaned back into the chair.

"Anything for you," I replied as my pedicurist began to massage my tired feet.

"What do you think I should tell people I do for a living? I don't wanna tell them that I'm just a file clerk. How embarrassing! I was supposed to be the most likely to succeed for cryin' out loud, and what an awful title to make a kid have to live up to. That's like having a category called most likely to invent the cure for cancer, or most likely to discover the next planet. I mean, nothing short of a Nobel Peace Prize worthy achievement would even compare—just settin' us up for failure—must be the government trying to hold us down."

"Seriously, Ella? A government conspiracy? I don't even know why you care what they think about you. But if you want to tell them the truth, just say you got your degree in journalism, and you're still exploring your options. Or, if you want to lie you can always say you're married to a surgeon, named Cooper, and you're a lady of leisure." He laughed. "I've heard the other doctor's wives in my department boasting about being ladies of leisure, so it must be a real thing."

"A lady of leisure, huh?"

"Oh, by the way, I have three surgeries tomorrow, so I probably won't be up when you get home from the reunion. But I want to hear all the details when I get home from work—especially if anything happens."

"Do you really wanna hear about a bunch of twenty-seven-year-olds clawing tooth and nail trying to impress each other?"

"Of course, I sat here through a pedicure, and I'm quite confident I was almost violated by at least one of these women. I think I deserve to know what happens."

The ladies slid paper flip flops onto our feet when they finished and then angled a fan toward our toes to help them dry.

"Oh no," I yelled, staring at the clock on the wall.

"What?"

"I think my claws needed more work than I thought. I'm late," I said, jumping out of the chair.

"Wait for me!" he yelled, handing the manicurist four twenty-dollar bills, trying to catch up to me.

"Hurry up, Cooper," I hollered as I shuffled my feet, making my way out of the door.

He followed close behind as we ran down the street, but the paper flip flops were making it hard for him to keep up with me. By the time we got back to the apartment, I was already running about an hour behind schedule. Scrambling around my room, I rushed around, trying to get myself in tip-top shape.

"Mr. Murphy strikes again," I shouted frantically.

"Damn you, Mr. Murphy," Cooper chanted as he ran out of the bathroom, almost tripping over Monster.

He was carrying my deodorant, lotion, razor, and some liquid in an unmarked travel bottle I couldn't even remember concocting.

"Don't kill the cat, I'm not that late," I said, trying to shave my legs and put on deodorant at the same time.

Unfortunately, in the rush, I ended up cutting a slice of skin off my shin, which resembled a thin slice of turkey from a deli slicer.

"Ahhh! I cut myself," I hollered as I flung the piece of skin into Cooper's face almost hitting him in the eye.

"Man, get that outta my face," he shrieked, slapping my hand away.

The piece of skin fell on the ground, and Monster ran over to smell it. "Monster, no! Don't eat that," I scolded, shooing him away.

"Throw it away. That's gross," Cooper said, cringing at the sight of it.

"What kind of surgeon are you?" I asked. "I'm sure you see worse every day."

"I'm the professional kind, and no I haven't. That was nasty." He laughed, wagging his finger at me.

"Whatever! Can you brush my hair while I finish shaving?"

"Brush your hair? Like you said, I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker."

I whipped my arm behind me, attempting to smack his leg, but I missed.

"Abuser!"

"Shhh. Just brush. Brush like the wind," I urged him, waving the brush in his face.

He tried to brush my hair as best he could, fumbling, and yanking at my head while I attempted to apply mascara.

"For a surgeon, brushing hair is obviously out of your wheelhouse."

Viciously, he raked the brush through a tangle.

"Ouch!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

"Funny, Cooper. Funny!"

"Ok, I think I've done all I can do," he said, laying the brush on the counter before he stepped away.

"You're probably right. I'll take it from here," I replied, waving him off as I began to apply eye shadow.

"Ok, I'll be right outside. Don't hesitate to call if you need me to bring in the power tools."

"Okay, keep talkin'. You better sleep with one eye open from now on," I joked, frantically trying to finish brushing my hair while running a straightener through it.

All the while, memories of how my clown hair used to invite hateful comments came flooding back, but tonight would be different; my hair would be different. No one would be able to say one bad thing about it.

I was snapped out of my flashback by the smell of burning hair. My eyes widened when I saw what I had done in the mirror.

"I burned off my ends!"

The right side of my top layer was an inch shorter than the other. I dropped my hands down to my sides, slouching in defeat.

"You did what?" Cooper yelled from outside the door.

I shook my head. "Never mind," I yelled back, screaming silently at the ceiling to let out my frustration.

Breathe. Breathe.

I composed myself and continued finishing up my hair and make-up. Once finished, I bandaged up the gash on my leg then slipped on my beautiful dress which still fit like a glove.

I took one last look in the mirror, smudging my black, smoky, eye shadow one last time, finishing off the look with a clear lip gloss to keep it simple.

I cracked the door open and peeked out. "Close your eyes."

Cooper closed his eyes and stood from the bed.

I opened the door the rest of the way and stepped out, readjusting my hair and dress, before I said, "Okay, I'm ready. What do you think?"

I opened my eyes slowly, focusing in on the beauty that stood before me. I had no witty remark or funny one-liner. I was dumbfounded, feeling like a deer caught in headlights.

"That bad?" she asked with a frown.

"I mean—you were beautiful before…"

"Yeah?"

"But you look like a dream, standing in front of me right now," I said, holding back the urge to take her in my arms and press my lips to hers.

"Just stunning," I added.

"Aww, you're so sweet, friend."

The word friend snapped me out of my daze.

Friend? Friend! There goes that damn word again.

"Hmmmm—friend," I murmured under my breath as I watched her twirl in front of the full-length mirror.

"Did you say something?"

"Oh, nothing, I hope you have a lot of fun—friend," I quickly replied, unable to contain the added sarcasm that crept into my tone.

Once again, I was reminded that I was destined to remain nothing more than a place holder, and that's when the resentment crept in.

All those wasted years pining over a woman who had never seen me as anything more than a roommate, and a backup date when she had no one else to go out with. I was over being the good guy, and I was definitely over taking the high road. I turned and stomped out of the room, heading for the front door.

"What's wrong?" she hollered.

I didn't reply. I walked out the door, slamming it behind me.