Heartbroken Saturday

"Wake up, it's time for breakfast!" Peter's mom yelled from downstairs.
The smell of freshly cooked pancakes slowly filled Peter's nostrils as he woke up. He was still tired, as he had stayed up way to late the night before. He was talking to the girl; who he had a crush on for three years. He was online until two in the morning talking to her, and that was the first real time they had talked for more than ten minutes online. She came to him when her Ex broke up with her, she was devastated, and needed to talk to him. He couldn't just ignore her, so he stayed up talking to her.
"Peter, are you going to waste the entire day in bed? I said get up?!" His mother yelled once more.
"Well..." Peter muttered to himself, "I might as well."
Peter yawned and stretched his arms. He rubbed his eyes with his fists. He stood up, and left his bedroom and headed for the kitchen, forgetting to get dressed.

Peter’s father was sitting at the table drinking his coffee with the Saturday paper in front of him. His father looked up for a brief moment and said "Peter, please get dressed before breakfast, we don't want to see you in your underwear."
Peter looked down and realized he had forgotten to get dressed. "Shit" Peter said.
His father looked at him sternly and reminded Peter "What have I told you about swearing?"
Peter said "Right, sorry, it just slipped out."
His father stood up and grabbed a jar from the top of the fridge.
He said "When you come down, bring the dollar for the jar." His father placed the jar on the table beside his coffee as he say back down.
Peter said "Alright."

Peter climbed back upstairs slowly, he was still very tired. He couldn't believe that Sarah, of all people, would come to him for help. She was the popular one, everyone adored her, as did he. There must have been dozens of better people she could have talked to besides him. Yet, she chose him, and Peter could not help but feel like that meant something. Maybe she liked him.

Several minutes later Peter came back down the stairs wearing faded jeans that had several holes in them. He wore a white t-shirt that had a bunch of colorful paint platters all over it. Peter sat down at the table, and was about to dig in to the plate of pancakes when his father grabbed the plate. Peter looked up to see his father still chewing on a mouthful of pancakes. His father pointed to the jar with his fork. Peter put the dollar into the jar, and his father gave him his plate back.

Peter began to chow down instantly. The jar had actually been his idea many many years ago, when he was five. Peter's older brother, Dave, had been swearing a lot, and his parents were fed up with it. Dave just wouldn't listen, so his parents were searching for ideas on how to stop it. Little Peter suggested the swear jar after seeing it in a TV show. Peter has regretted doing that ever since he first swore. The jar has even caused Dave to dislike Peter for a long time, but they grew closer together in the many years since.

Peter's father asked him "So, any plans for today?" As he took a dip of coffee.
"Well, I might go over to Sarah's house for a bit." Peter replied.
"Oh," his father said with mild surprise, "That's the girl you have a crush on, right?"
Peter blushed slightly and replied "Well, I wouldn't say that, well, kinda. I do like her, as a friend, maybe more. She wouldn't like me back even if I liked her."
Peter's father said "Don't be so sure of that, you are quite the handsome young man. Have you ever told her you like her?"
Peter thought for a moment before saying "No, I haven't, but, she wouldn't like me back."
Peter's father said as he read the paper "Don't be so sure she won't like you. I have seen her many times stealing glances at you when you weren't paying attention."
Peter was shocked, and he blushed again.
He excited exclaimed "What!? She has? When?"
His father looked at him and said "Calm down Peter. Well, that one time when we ran into her at the beach. For the first fifteen minutes after she arrived, you didn't notice she was there, but I did. She was with her boyfriend, Zach I think was his name. Yet she kept looking over at you."
Peter was shocked and asked "Why didn't you tell me this before?"
His father coughed to clear his throat and continued. "Well, she was not single, I didn't raise a cheater, did I?"
Peter answered, "No, you didn't."
Peter’s father continued "Also, when you noticed her, you kinda blew it. You got all nervous in front of her and you could barely speak. You didn't even manage to finish a sentence before Zach threw you I to the lake."
Peter felt ashamed of blowing his chance with her. I said in a defeated tone "Oh, right" Peter looked down at the table, trying to hide his pain from his father.

Peters father took another sip from his coffee and said "Well, don't think of trying anything with Sarah while you are over there. She's still dating Zach."
Peter laughed a tiny but to himself and then said "He broke up with her last night."
His father looked surprised and he put down his paper. His father asked him "How do you know this?"
Peter hesitated before answering "Well... Umm... She kinda came to me last night, I spent several hours comforting her."
His father picked up his paper and kept reading. He said "Well, that was very nice and gentlemanly of you. Just don't get put in the friend zone by her."
Peter replied "I will do my best not to."
Peter finished his pancakes and put his dishes in the sink.

Peter told himself "I will tell her how I feel when I see her. I won't mess up this time." Peter walked out the door and down the street. Sarah only lived a few blocks away, and it was a nice spring morning. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, it was a good day. Peter had walked to Sarah's house many times in the past, although it had not always belonged to her family. When Peter was younger, he had a very close friend, Luke. Luke and Peter were great friends for many years, until Luke had to move away. It was a hard day for both of them, and neither has seen or talked to the other since.

Peter walked up to the front door of Sarah's house, and knocked on the door. A few moments later, Sarah answered the door. She seemed surprised to see me. She had clearly been crying a lot, but she had wiped the tears from her face. Her nose was red, and her eyes were a bit puffy and red. She sounded very upset when she said "Oh, hi Pete." She stopped for a second to wipe her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to make sure that you're still okay." Peter replied. "You sounded so upset last night, and I knew you parents were away for the weekend."
"Umm..." She looked even more upset, and her eyes were filling with tears. She looked away as she let the tears flow.
Peter placed his hand on her left shoulder gently. Peter tried to look into her eyes, but she hid her face. Peter asked her "Do you want to talk?"
She nodded without saying a word or looking at me. She turned and went inside. Peter stepped inside her house and took off his shoes and placed them neatly on the mat.

Sarah was sitting on the couch crying with her face build in a pillow. Peter sat down beside her. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do.
Peter asked her "Do you want to talk now?" She shook her head. Peter placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed in very gently.
Peter said "It's okay Sarah, just let it all out."

It was ten minutes before Sarah finally stopped crying. Peter had just sat there awkwardly for most of that time still unsure of how he should help her. When Sarah finally looked up from her pillow, her face was wet with tears, and snot dripped down from her nose. Her eyes and nose were both very red and puffy.
Peter still found her very attractive, even when she was looking like this.
Sarah spoke first "He..." She stopped for a moment, and she looked like she was about to cry, but didn't. "He said he loved me..."
She began to cry again, but didn't hide her face.
"He said he loved me... Yet I found him two days ago with another girl, and I found him with yet another girl yesterday." She started crying and hid her face yet again. Peter moved a bit closer to her, and he rubber her back to try and calm her down.

Peter said "It's okay to cry, Sarah. You don't have to hide it." Sarah still hid her face and didn't respond. Peter wanted to help her, but was clueless as to what to do, so he just kept rubbing her back, hoping it was helping in some way.

After another five minutes, Sarah spoke again "He was dating two other girls while dating me..." She stopped to blow her nose, "He just dumped me as soon as I found out. I meant nothing to him."

This time Peter knew what to say.
Peter said "Zach is an idiot to not realize how amazing you are. To me, you are the most amazing person ever."
Sarah looked up into Peter's eyes. She looked a bit happy and shocked, there was the tiniest hint of a smile in her pink lips.
Sarah asked "Really?"
"Yes,” Peter replied, “I don't know how Zach could have possibly thought anyone was better than you. If he didn't appreciate you, then you shouldn't have wasted your time with him, and you shouldn't waste your tears on him either."
Sarah hugged Peter and said "It still hurts, he may not have loved me, but I loved him." Peter hugged her back and rubbed her back again. Sarah just cried on his shoulder for several minutes and didn't say a word.

Peter whispered into Sarah's ear "You are an amazing, beautiful woman, and you deserve to be treated like one." Sarah pulled away from my chest to look me in my eyes.
She replied "Thank you Pete, you are an amazing friend."

With that single sentence, she broke his heart. She just friend zoned him. Peter had loved this girl for a long time, and he had waited too long to tell her. He blew all his chances, every opportunity to tell her how he felt, he shied away. Now, after all these years, she just thought of him as her friend.

Peter said "Well... Uh... I kinda think of you as more than a friend." Peter desperately hoped that he would be able to get her to like him.
Peter continued "I have liked you for a long time." Sarah looked shocked and confused. She stopped crying for a few moments to think.
She said "Umm..." Her eyes began to fill with tears again. She said "I'm sorry Peter, but, I only like you as a friend."

Peter's heart was stabbed yet again. He had loved this girl for three years, and now she only considered him her friend. Peter tried desperately not to cry in front of her. Sarah looked uncomfortable now. When Peter tried to rub her shoulder, she moved back slightly.
She said "I am sorry Peter, but can you go?"
Peter was shocked, and hurt myself. Peter couldn't believe what had just happened. The girl he loved for three years just friend zoned him, and told him to get out of her house.
Peter said "Okay, I'll be online in a few minutes when I get home, talk to me there if you want." Sarah replied "I might, bye."

Peter left her house and tried his best to hold back the tears. There was no one outside on the road home, so he just let it out. He let the tears stream down his face as he walked. The same path he had walked earlier had gone from bright, sunny and cheerful, to dark, gray, and dismal. The birds had stopped chirping, and the sky had clouded over. It was going to rain, like it did so often in spring. It started to spit a block from Peter's house, and by the time Peter reached his front door, the rain was coming down harder. Peter was glad for the rain, it meant his parents wouldn't notice his tears.

Peter walked in the front door and took off his shoes. His mother asked him "How was it?"
Peter replied sternly "I don't want to talk about it."
His mother asked "Aww, what happened honey?"
Peter shouted "I said I don't want to talk about it!"
Peter stomped up the stairs to his bedroom. Peter slammed the door behind him, and threw himself onto his bed, he was so heartbroken. He had waited too long to tell her how he felt. She didn't like him back. He was stuck in the friend zone. Peter just laid on his bed face down and cried into his pillow.

An hour later, Peter's mother knocked on his bedroom door.
She said "I have some good news for you."
Peter didn't reply.
His mother continued "Luke is coming back to town for a few weeks. His mother just phoned me telling me that he should get here in an hour or so."
Peter still remained silent.
His mom continued "Luke is going to be renting a room in the house next to the one his family used to own. It's just him coming, I offered to let him stay here, but his mother said that they had already paid in advance for the room."
Peter said "Can you just leave me alone? I don't want to talk right now."
His mother said "Okay, just letting you know. Come talk when you're ready."
Peter fell asleep on his bed, emotionally exhausted.

Peter woke up a few hours later to the sound of thunder. There was a storm brewing outside. Peter was feeling a bit better, but he was still very upset. Peter remembered how much fun Luke and he used to have. Luke always seemed to be able to cheer him up when he was sad. Usually it was with some kind of slapstick comedy skit, or a joke. One time he got his hands on some fireworks, and they almost end set a tree on fire. They never played with fireworks again.

Peter sat up on his bed, and wiped his face. He walked I to his bathroom, and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked horrible, worse than Sarah did. He had a shower, and cleaned himself up. Peter put on some grey sweat pants and a new t-shirt. Every few moments, Peter would think of Sarah, and he would feel a pain in his chest. It would pass in a few moments, but it would hurt enough to make him stop what he was doing. Peter tried hard not to start crying again.

Peter walked downstairs. His father was watching TV in the living room, while his mom sat in her rocking chair knitting. His father had made a fire in their fireplace. On the mantle sat Dave's urn, and a photo of him shortly before the accident that took his life.

Dave had always been a daredevil. Always getting into trouble with everyone, from teachers, to the police, to his parents. It had never been anything extremely serious, usually just minor offenses. Dave liked to push the limits with everyone, just see when they would snap. This would often lead to Dave getting into fights with people. One time, Dave had been pushing his limits again, racing his car against someone he didn’t know. Dave was winning, by quite a bit, yet his car clipped a telephone pole at one point, causing the car to flip. Dave had been killed when the car landed.

Just thinking about his brother made Peter feel sick to his stomach. Peter took a fee deep breaths and tried to calm himself.
Peter asked his mom "Is Luke here yet?"
His mother looked up from her knitting and replied "Yes, his mother said he actually arrived a lot earlier than expected. I spoke to Luke and he said he thought he saw you walk away from Sarah's house all upset. He said he called your name, but you didn't respond." Peter didn't remember anyone calling his name.
His father asked "Would you like a ride over to his house? It's storming out, and I wouldn't want you to be walking outside when there is lightning."
Peter replied "Sure."

On the short drive to Luke's house, Peter and his father remained silent during the entire ride. Peter thanked his father for the ride, and walked up to the front door of Luke's house. Peter knocked on the door.
From inside the house, Luke's voice, yelled "Who is it?" His voice sounded deeper than Peter remembered.
Peter replied "Hey, is me, Pete, can you let me in?"
Luke replied "Yo, my hands are full right now, just let yourself in." Peter turned the door handle and went inside. The house looked very similar to the one next door, with the exception of the decorations and furniture.
Peter couldn't see Luke, so he yelled "Hey man, where are you?"
Luke replied "I've got company, I'll be down in a minute. Grab a beer from the fridge and a snack or something."
Peter yelled back "You know I'm not 18 yet, and besides, my parents would kill me if I came home smelling of beer."
Luke yelled back "Dude, just figure it out for yourself, and let me finish up here."

Peter was curious what Luke was doing, but he was too upset to ask. Peter found his way to the kitchen. Inside the fridge was a case of root beer. Peter couldn't help but chuckle when he realized that there was no actual beer in the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of root beer, and as bag of chips from the cupboard. Upstairs Luke was banging something around. The bed was creaking.
Peter yelled "Yo Luke, you got a chick up there with you?"
Luke replied "Yeah, I do, super hot one too. So can you stop bothering us and let us finish?" Peter replied "Not even in town three hours and you already got a chick in bed with you. You haven't changed at all."

Peter sat on the couch and waited for them to finish up. Like had always been able to get chicks like nothing. They would be falling all over him. Peter had always be jealous of Luke for this, yet never said a thing about it. Right now, after just being friend zoned by the girl he loved, this ability made Peter even more upset. Peter tried to calm himself by taking a sip of his root beer. Root beer had been one if both Luke's and Peter's favorite drinks when they were young kids.

Peter heard the door open and Luke quickly appeared at the bottom of the staircase. Peter asked Luke in a half taunting tone, "So, who's this girl you got up there? Don't tell me that you have actually picked just one this time?"
Luke replied "Nah, just met her. Anyway, Pete, was that you I saw earlier, just before it started raining? I called your name, but the guy didn't answer."
Peter replied "Yeah, it was me. I was too upset and angry. I don't even remember hearing anyone calling my name."
Luke asked "I thought it was you. What happened between you and that chick anyway? She was crying when you left. You looked very upset as well"
Peter replied "Well, I have had a huge crush on her for three years, and..."
"Hold up... “Luke interrupted, "Three years man? What the hell? Dude, you should have stopped being so shy, like you always are."
"Well," Peter continued "She was dating this huge asshole, Zach for most of that time. Last night, they broke up. She came to me at like midnight wanting to chat. So we chatted, and it was the first time we had talked online for longer than like ten minutes. She seemed to like me."
Luke said "Man, I feel like shit now."
"What, why?" Peter asked.
"Never mind," Luke said "Continue."
Peter continued "Well, she was upset, and I was there for her. I comforted her. Then today, I went over to her house to be with her. Her parents are out of town for a while, and it didn't want her to be alone."
"Dude, you wanted to bang her, didn't you?" Luke said in a very perverted tone.
"What?!" Peter said in surprise, "No, well, yes, but no. Yeah, she's alone, and single, but I wouldn't take advantage of her like that. I went to just try and make her feel better."
Luke said "Well, I would have."
Peter replied "That's you, not me."
"True enough" Luke commented, "So what happened? Why'd you leave all upset?"
"Well," Peter explained, "It was going fine, she was beginning to feel better, then I told her that I liked her. She friend zoned me, and then told me to leave."
"Ouch” Luke said, "That's gotta hurt man."
"Yeah, it does a lot." Peter replied, "So, who have out got up there? Bring her down."
Luke said "I'd rather not."
Peter said teasingly "She's ugly, isn't she?"
"No," Luke replied "She is smoking hot."
Peter asked "Then why not bring her down?"
Luke replied "Well..."

Just then Sarah came down the stairs. Peter was shocked, and his heart was shattered yet again. Peter looked from Sarah to Luke and back. Peter didn't know how to respond. His best friend just had sex with his crush. She rejected him only a few hours before.

Sarah was the first to speak, "Oh God. What are you doing here Peter?"
I was still in shock, I couldn't speak. Luke replied "He is my best bro. I used to live in your house before I moved."
Sarah's mouth dropped a bit. Peter couldn't handle this situation. Peter got up from his seat, and ran outside into the storm.
Luke yelled after him "Bro, I'm sorry, I haven't seen you in three years, how was I supposed to know you were in love with Sarah?"
Sarah said "What? He was in love with me?"
Luke looked at her and said "Yeah, he was for three years, and still is. You friend zoned him? That's why he was all upset earlier?"
Sarah looked down and said "Oh, I didn’t know that he loved me. He just said he liked me as more than a friend. I had no idea he has been in love with me for three years. I feel horrible/ I should just go. Bye"
Luke said “Yes, you should.”
Just then there was a bright flash of light and the sound of thunder made the whole house shake. Luke said “Shit, this storm is getting bad. Pete’s out there running home. I better go make sure that he gets home safely.”

Luke ran after Peter. The storm was getting worse. Peter was halfway to his house when Luke noticed the lightning hit the tree. Peter didn't even notice the tree falling right above him. Peter was crushed by the tree. Luke rushed to his side, and held Peter's hand. A large branch had pierced Peter's chest.
Peter tried to speak, but just coughed up blood.
Luke said "Fuck man, I am so sorry. I would have never done it if I had known."
Peter managed to say "It's okay, Luke."
Luke said "I am so sorry bro, look hold on, I need to phone an ambulance."

Luke stayed right beside Peter as he talked to 911. Luke held his hand the entire time. When Luke hung up the phone, he looked at Peter, his hands were weak, and his eyes were closing. Luke shouted "Pete, wake up man. Not like this, hold on just a few more minutes. The ambulance in on the way."

Peter opened his eyes briefly and said to Luke, "Promise me you will treat Sarah right. She needs someone who will treat her right."
Peter coughed up some more blood.
Luke said "Dude, you're gonna make it. Once you're all better, you will have her, I'll make sure of it."
"No," Peter moaned, "I'm not going to make it."
"Yes you are bro," Luke said "I'm gonna make sure you do."
"Luke..." Peter said, his voice very weak, "Promise me you will treat her right."
With those final words, Peter's hands went limp, and his eyes closed.
Luke shouted "Peter, Peter wake up."

Luke began to scream. He hugged Peter's body and whispered into his ear "I promise Pete, I'll take care of her for you."