Read Devils Roses 01 - Cursed for Free Online Page B

would make me happy. We were the same in every way. We could play World of Warcraft in a room and not even need to speak. There was a cozy comfort between us, that I would never find in anyone else.
    We found a sunroom off the back of the house, where there were couches and a few couples making out in the muted light. The lights were dimmed and the music seemed a lot quieter. To me, it would be the place to pass a few hours till we got to go home.
    I sat on the older floral couch and admired the pictures of Shane and his sister that lined the walls of the sunroom, above where a large fireplace sat. Only on the Northwest Coast, would there be a wood stove in a sunroom.
    Blake sat down beside me. He seemed to be uncomfortable and nervous in the make-out room. I decided to go with the flow of the room and take my sister's advice.
    I turned and looked him in the eyes and I took a deep breath. “Blake, I need to tell you something. I like you.” It shot from my lips like a bullet from a gun.
    He smiled. “I like you too, Aimes, you’re my best friend—pink shirt or no pink shirt. At least it isn’t black or one of the variations. I've never seen anyone find as many different ways to depress their wardrobe as you have.”
    I shook my head and started to feel a little breathless. “No, I mean I really like you, like how they like each other.” I pointed to the couples making out that, clearly were, fond of one another. I took another deep breath. “I’ve thought about this long and hard, and we make sense for each other. We’re both smart, we both want to go to university, and we both love intellectually challenging and advancing experiences. I've thought about it and if we sit down, I believe we can come up with a reasonable, five-year plan.” My spiel didn't sound as good as I had hoped it would.
    He frowned. “Like them—you like me like them?” He pointed and seemed to look panicked, if not flabbergasted.
    I nodded, gulping as he looked around at each of them and then back to me.
    “ Aimee, you are the most incredible girl I have ever met. You’re my favorite person in the whole world. You are graduating with advanced placement in literature, but at the same time, rock at trig and advanced chemistry. You’re funny and really pretty--” he started to fret.
    I interrupted. “But…” My heart dropped into my stomach.
    Embarrassment flushed across his face, as he grasped at straws. “I think the world of you. You must know that.”
    I crossed my arms. “Blake, I told you how I feel—just say what you need to say.” I felt myself getting angry, as he flailed in front of me. My stomach weakened, waiting for the final crushing blow.
    He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I wish you had never said those words. I need you in my life, the way things are. I don’t feel the same way. You are the sister, I always wanted. I love you, but it's not the same.”
    I knew it was coming, but it hurt more than I thought it would. I had counted on him liking me, to feel like a normal girl. He had always been my back-up plan for love. I thought that as long as he liked me, it didn’t matter that all the other boys didn’t.
    I knew that to be a girl who felt good about her body image, I didn’t need the approval of boys. I knew it to be a truth, but at the same time, I had wanted Blake to like me. Somehow believing that Blake liked me in the romantic way, made me just a little more confident. I felt that confidence leave my body, like air leaving a balloon.
    None of my fantasy would ever come true and I truly would always be an unlovable monster.
    I nodded, trying to avoid the weight of the discovery. “I need some air, Blake. I’ll be right back.”
    He put his hand out to stop me, but I burst past him, leaving him in the make out room.
    I didn’t hate him—I couldn’t hate him. I hated myself for banking on him being the one I could fall back on, in my time of desperation and loneliness. I felt so frustrated and