Mine

That annoying sound again. The sound of a needy best friend calling you at nine in the morning on a weekend. The sound of a friend who doesn't appreciate your sleep. Despite being extremely annoyed at Madi ignoring my sleep requirements, I pick up my phone. We've been best friends since we were six, therefore, her obsessive nature is almost usual for me. I scan through my other notifications quickly, out of habit more than anything, and see his name. Matthias. What does he want? I thought. Since he knows me much better than Madi does, he knows to text, and not call. I don't feel like embarrassing myself so early in the day, so I decide to not reply to his texts until I'm fully awake. However, I figure that I should call Madi so that I can ignore her for the rest of the day.

"Madi, what is it?" I groan.

"I know that you have your sleep requirements, but this is bad."

"Go on then,"

"Well, as a joke, I asked Zac if he would date me,"

Zac is her crush, and also the boyfriend of our other friend, Sophia. When Zac is around, nothing else matters to her, unless she sees another boy who is supposedly cuter. But Zac only has eyes for Sophia, who isn't very invested in their relationship. It's a very complex love triangle. At least me and Matthias have a very normal status... We're just friends. I hate the 'just', but it's there, and I have to accept it.

"And the problem is?"

"He said yes. The boy has a girlfriend, and he said yes!"

She screams, clearly furious and frustrated. I'm not surprised, in all honesty. This is a serial dater that we are talking about here. But Madi's disgusted, and as her BFF it is my duty to join her in the disgust. She's now begging me to help her, and I begin to hatch a plan. It's not the greatest, but it has to do. At least for now. Madi's full of ideas, all of which include causing Zac permanent damage. I prefer to not be imprisoned for assault, so I lead her away from those particular ideas. The only reason why I agreed to help was so that I could use it to get a reaction from Matthias. I mean, my time and effort has to benefit me in some way. The plan isn't fool proof, but it's decent.

Once I finally manage to get Madi off the phone, the next thing I do is call Matthias. He's the best friend that everyone needs. Plus, I'm getting serious doubts about the plan that Madi devised.

"Matthias?"

"What the hell, Ciara? I'm trying to sleep!" He groans. "It's like, eleven 'o' clock!"

"Firstly, you've been texting me for ages, and secondly, your best friend is having a mental breakdown!"

"Cool. Get him to call me." He says sarcastically. I can imagine the little smirk on his face. He notices my silence and speaks again. "Sorry. You mentioned a mental breakdown?"

I went through all that Madi had told me, Zac agreeing to go out with her, Sophia not knowing, all that fun stuff. Matthias even had the audacity to laugh at my struggles. I then went through the plan again. I have to ask Zac if he wants to go to the park around one. I'm betting on him agreeing, and when he turns up, I've got to suggest that we go to McDonalds. Madi and Sophia will be waiting there, to confront him. Especially because, if he agrees, that's three girls that he's meeting up with. Hopefully, by the time we get there, he will have spilled some tea that could help me in some way. It all boils down to mum thinking I'm at Madi's, Zac thinking that I'm clueless, and Sophia thinking that we're meeting at McDonald's to go into town later. Fun, right!

"That sounds fun!" He says, his voice sounding forced.

"What's up? You don't sound very happy." I say, mainly because I want something else to talk about.

"Can I meet you at McDonalds? I desperately want one of their strawberry milkshakes right now."

"Please do. I might not even get to indulge in fast food if you don't." He laughs and asks what time I would be finished.

I guessed it would be at two thirty because, this whole 'ambush' is probably going to take forever. I'm going to get there at least fifteen minutes late, just because I want to make it clear that I'm very reluctant, the walk to McDonald's is at least thirty minutes, and I'm pretty sure that Madi and Sophia are going to take their time in exposing him as the dirty cheat that he is. That takes me to two fifteen. And Matthias is always early anyway. We've been friends for as long as I remember. Our families have never lived further than two streets away, we've always gone to the same schools, et cetera. I'm at least ninety percent sure that we didn't like each other at first.

I now have to change my outfit completely. I was just going to wear one of my band t shirts, but now I can't get away with that. I literally have to go through all my clothing holders to find a top, and even then, it still isn't my best one. I tie the ribbons around my neck nevertheless, and pull my jeans on. By the time I'm done, it's already one ten, and I have to go.

Grabbing my keys and my bag, I run out.

"Mum! I'm going to McDonald's with Matthias. I'll see you later, love you!" She definitely hears me, but she just doesn't reply, which fills me with anxiety.

I walk down the street to the park, dreading every second. Why is it always me who gets involved in this stuff? Being twelve isn't as easy as people make out. When I finally make it to the park, Zac doesn't seem excited at all. Which is good, especially since I'm not attracted to boys who would probably cheat on me with two different girls. He also doesn't hug me, much to my relief.

"Do you mind if we walk down to McDonald's? To be completely honest with you, I didn't really want to be here." I say, knowing that I’m crossing a line - that line being giving myself away.

"It's fine, I'm going into town with Sophia anyway and I'm meeting her there." I freeze, and Zac gives me a weird look. He's going to go into town with Sophia after this, and I'm meant to expose him? If there's a misunderstanding, and Sophia dumps him, I'm going to feel forever guilty. Not that he would have an issue. It would be straight on to the next girl. I was enjoying the silence, even though Zac was clearly hating it. It was at that moment that I decided to tell him all that Madi said. Easy as pie, right? Wrong. Right as I'm about to tell Zac why I'm here, he just goes,

"You're really cute, you know that, right?"

"What the actual hell, Zac?" I growl. "Fine. You asked for this."

I go through all that Madi had told me, adding in everything that I think of him, including the fact that he is a complete turd, and deserves to get dumped by Sophia. I also emphasise on the fact that a guy who's involved with two different girls should not be hitting on a third. He laughs. The idiot actually laughs, as if being a player is a laughing matter.

"Madi is actually so dumb. I thought she was kidding, so I played along. If I'd known that she was going to go psycho, I wouldn't have."

"Firstly, do not call my best friend dumb. And secondly, why did you call me cute?" I ask, still incredibly mad. It's just sad for him.

"That's just how I feel. I may as well say it before you get with Matthias." I feel my ears heating up, and use my hair to cover them.

"What on earth are you talking about?" I hiss, glancing around carefully.

"It's not like you guys are discreet. You're constantly giving each other lovey-dovey looks when the other isn't looking."

I roll my eyes angrily. Honestly, why is this boy paying so much attention to me? He has a girlfriend!

" I have somewhere to be at 2:30, and I cannot have you guys having a smack down in McDonald's, so you call Madi and sort this out."

He sighs and pulls out his phone. Madi’s livid, screaming on the other end. I hasten to add that she’s completely embarrassing herself. I’m still on cloud ten because of getting to see Matthias today, so I just keep walking whilst Zac tries to calm Madi down. I glance at my watch, whilst giggling to myself. 2:15. If Zac doesn’t hurry up, I’m going to be late. I’m probably already late since Matthias is always early, but still. As soon as I see the neon yellow arcs, I feel my heart skip a beat. I know that it’s such a cliche, but it's exactly how I feel right now.

I see Matthias sitting on one of the outside benches, and I'm 99.9% sure that my heart stops for a second. I push Zac inside, to the group of girls who are ready to murder him, and walk over to Matthias.

"Hey! I didn't think that you'd make it." He says, a bright smile on his face.

"Hi," I reply, slipping into the seat opposite him.

"So. How did your mission go?"