Is It Friendship or Something More? Mixed Signals in a New Teen Romance

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When you have a crush on someone, it’s not fun when they’re giving you mixed signals. But it can happen. They may show signs that they like you, but then when you ask for more from the relationship, they shut down. They claim you’re better as friends. Or they refuse to share how they feel about you even after you’ve confessed your feelings to them.

Chloe knows a thing or two about this.

Chloe is the female protagonist of my new teen romance “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?” And she has a big crush on a boy at her school named Mordecai. Chloe starts the story as a sophomore, while Mordecai is a junior. And because of Chloe’s parents’ “no dating until senior year” rule, she won’t be allowed to date until she becomes a senior.

Mordecai claims that’s the reason he doesn’t ask her out right away. But throughout the story, the mixed signals he gives Chloe make her wonder whether that’s the only reason and how he really feels about her.

Hints of Jealousy

At the beginning of this YA romance, Chloe gets a new male friend named Simon. Even though he and Chloe are just friends, Mordecai shows hints of jealousy when he learns about the new man in her life. But if Mordecai and Chloe are just friends, he shouldn’t be bothered by her having a male friend, right?

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 4 to give you a taste of Mordecai’s jealousy. Chloe is narrating.

That Friday, Mordecai calls me soon after I get home from school.

“Hey,” I answer.

“That’s all you have to say to me? ‘Hey’?” he wonders.

“Excuse me? Should I have said something more?”

“Yeah, you should have. What’s the deal with you and this new guy?”

“What new guy?”

“The guy you’re always hanging around with now.”

“You mean Simon?”

“Yeah, Simon, I guess. What’s the deal with you two?”

“What do you mean?” I wonder.

“I mean, I’ve been seeing you guys together a lot lately.”

“So…”

“So…what’s the deal?”

“No deal. We’re just friends.”

“Just friends, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“You mean like you and I are just friends?”

“No,” I say. “Simon and I are the type of friends who might actually date someday.” I say that mostly to tease him, not because I truly believe it.

“You’re saying we’re not friends that way?”

“Not from where I’m standing.”

If Mordecai were really a friend and nothing more, he most likely wouldn’t mind that Chloe has a new male friend. He might even be happy for her—maybe even want to learn more about him or get to know him. Instead, with his reaction to seeing Chloe and Simon together, Mordecai seems to be saying that he wants what they have—a public friendship. At the start of the story, their friendship is mostly private (more on this in the next section).

Or, as the following sample from Chapter 7 shows, maybe Mordecai really just wants to be the only guy in Chloe’s life. For context, before this conversation takes place, Chloe had been struggling to give Simon and Mordecai equal attention while chatting with them online. Of course, she couldn’t help but reserve most of her attention for Mordecai. But while she’s taking a break from Mordecai to talk to Simon, Mordecai calls her.

“Hello?” I answer.

“I was getting tired of being ignored,” Mordecai says.

I smile. “I’m sorry. I’m talking to Simon.”

“Oh, the guy friend—the one you might actually date someday.”

“That’s right.”

“I still don’t know how comfortable I am with you having guy friends.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I like being the only guy in your life.”

“Well, we could arrange that if I were the only girl in your life.”

If Mordecai were willing to brave Chloe’s parents and ask them for permission to date her, he might actually get his wish of being the only guy in her life—at least, her only romantic partner. But he doesn’t. And he doesn’t tell her how he feels about her either. All he does is give these mixed signals—showing hints of jealousy one day but then insensitivity to her feelings another.

This is a lot for Chloe to handle, especially since she’s a studious student who’s trying to keep up with her schoolwork while dealing with all of this.

Keeping the Friendship Secret

Another thing to note is that Mordecai seems to prefer to keep the relationship between him and Chloe private. It seems like he doesn’t want her to mix with those he considers part of his “real world,” although he doesn’t say this in so many words. And that means he and Chloe experience most of their friendship, at least at the start of the story, from a distance—through IM chats and phone calls.

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 11 to show how Chloe would like more from the friendship. To give you some context, summer vacation has just started, and Chloe tells Mordecai (by phone) about her plans to finish her schoolwork before July. But she says that might not happen because she could get distracted.

[Mordecai] “Oh? By what, for instance?”

[Chloe] “By any number of things, like pool parties, trips to the movies, or just hanging out with friends.”

“Or talking on the phone to your best friend?” he suggests.

“Actually, Krista has an internship this summer, so I won’t be able to talk to her during the week until after four.”

“I was talking about me.”

“Oh. And when did you become my best friend?” I wonder.

“We’ve been through this already, Chloe. I’m your best guy friend, remember?”

“Mmm, no. That would be Simon.”

“You sure? Can you talk to Simon about all the things you can talk to me about?”

“Mostly, yes. And Simon and I actually hang out together in public, unlike you and me.”

“This summer, Chloe. This is our summer. We’re going to hang out this summer—in public.”

“Really, officially?” I ask.

“Really, officially,” he says.

(Krista is Chloe and Simon’s mutual friend.)

You can imagine how excited Chloe is at the prospect of spending time with her crush in public. But you’ll have to read the story to find out if that ends up happening.

Anyway, while Chloe is waiting around for Mordecai to spend time with her or ask her parents’ permission to date her, she enjoys a lovely friendship with Simon. And this one is public.

If only Simon could find the courage to tell Chloe how he feels. Because he has a crush on her. He struggles to tell her this, though, and it’s partly because of her strong feelings for Mordecai. But even though Chloe may be in denial about Simon’s feelings for her, his feelings are constant, unlike Mordecai’s.

So, will Simon ever confess? That’s something else you’ll have to read the story to discover.

Final Thoughts

Being friends with someone you like is hard enough without them giving you mixed signals about how they feel about you and the friendship you share. If you’d like to go on the emotional roller coaster ride with Chloe as she tries to decipher Mordecai’s true feelings, don’t wait another second to dive into “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?”

You can click here to learn more about this YA romance or here to start reading Chapter 1 on Medium. (The first three chapters are free and you don’t need an account to read them. But you’ll need a Medium account to read the rest. And you may also need to become a Medium member.)

~ Ashley C.

P.S. If you would like to sample more of my story-writing style, feel free to click here to read some stories that are currently available.