CHAPTER TWO
“I don’t want to hear this again, Nat!”
I closed my mouth tightly, my lips thin with anger. He just wouldn’t listen. No matter how many times I tried to tell him that Annika was cheating on him with half the school, he shut me out.
One time last year, he’d gone an entire month without speaking to me when I’d dared to say anything against Annika.
Or any of those ‘friends’ of his he was always hanging out with.
They all laughed and talked with Tim, threw their arms around his shoulder, ate barbeque at his parents’ house, and acted like he was their favorite person.
But behind his back they’d almost all slept with his girlfriend. I knew they weren’t real friends. He wouldn’t listen to me, though.
I stood up. “I just want you to think about something. I’m your best friend.
The last thing I’d ever want is for you to be hurt.
Why would I tell you something that wasn’t true?
” I had tears in my eyes. “Tim. I promise you. She is cheating on you. It’s so hard for me to tell you this, but I’m forcing myself to because I’m tired of her making you look like a fool. ”
“Look like a fool?” He shook his head at me.
“How can you say that? Look, I know you don’t like Annika.
You’ve made that abundantly clear. But you need to quit attacking her character, Nat.
She’s always kind about you. She’s never said a word against you.
So how can you sit there and make up these awful lies about her? ”
The hurt in his blue eyes was painful to look at, especially knowing I’d put it there. I shook my head. “I swear to you, I would never make that up. I’m the least likely person to spread rumors or gossip. You know that. So why would I make up stuff about your girlfriend?”
“Because you’re jealous,” he spit out. “I spend more time with her than you, and you can’t stand it. I think we need some time apart.”
I let out a frustrated sound and rested my head on the wall I was leaning against. “Seriously? Again? You know what? Fine. I’m tired of this.
” I looked him directly in the eye. “But I want you to know something. Most people would say ‘don’t come crying to me when you find out the truth,’ but I care too much about you to say that.
When you find out—because you will find out—I’ll be here.
I’ll never hold it against you that you didn’t believe me, either.
I’ll just be your friend, the same as always. ”
Tim studied my face, a slight frown wrinkling his forehead. For the first time, I saw a hint of doubt creep into his expression. Good. Maybe he was finally hearing me.
“I’ll see you later.”
I left his room, ran down the hall and down the steps, and hurried out before I burst into tears.
Then I got in my car and headed home. It never felt like home anymore, except for Anne and Gilbert and memories of Mom.
But I couldn’t hang out at the Summers’ house and watch Tim continue to date a girl who didn’t care a thing about him.
***
Tim
I was walking into the downtown to meet Annika and a bunch of friends one Saturday.
Once again, I’d tried to talk Natalie into coming with me, but she’d turned me down.
She was still mad because we’d spent a couple of weeks apart since she couldn’t quit telling lies about Annika.
For some reason, she didn’t like Annika.
Oh, she’d never said as much to me, but it wasn’t hard to figure out.
Ever since I’d started dating Annika the summer between middle and high school, Nat had become more and more scarce in my life.
I hated it, but I couldn’t force her to hang out with me and my girlfriend.
Annika always seemed upset that Natalie didn’t want to be with us.
Besides accusing her of cheating on me, Nat never said a word against Annika.
She’d get this skeptical look on her face, though, if I mentioned that Annika wished she would hang out with us more.
I sighed. It was hard feeling torn between my girlfriend and my best friend. Nat was… everything to me. But Annika? I mean, I wanted to marry her one day. She’d been my first kiss, my first girlfriend, we’d lost our virginity to each other, and I was almost positive I was in love with her.
God. I was borderline obsessed with her.
She was beautiful, with that golden curly hair, those big blue eyes, and a fucking body that wouldn’t quit.
I spent as much time with her as I possibly could.
The only real drawback was that Nat and I didn’t see each other half as much as we used to.
It didn’t cause us to feel distant from each other, though.
Nat and I were simpatico like that. We could be apart for days and days, get back together, and it would be as if no time had passed at all.
Still, I missed her. As I walked into La Cocina, I saw a big table full of my friends mixed in with Annika’s friends. A lot of my guy friends dated friends of Annika’s, which made things easy and fun. If I could just get Nat to join us from time to time, it would be perfect.
I frowned when I didn’t see Annika.
“Where’s my girl?” I asked with a big grin as I sat down and grabbed my friend Dion in a headlock.
“Man, get your hands off me,” he said, a big smile on his face as we pushed and shoved at each other playfully. We were on the football team together and had been ever since we were in the PeeWee leagues.
When we were done messing with each other, I made brief eye contact with Tandy, Annika’s best friend. She bit her lip and looked away quickly. Was it my imagination or did she look guilty?
“Tandy, where’s Annika?”
The table got weirdly quiet. I looked around, but no one seemed to want to say anything.
“D?” I looked at Dion, but he shrugged.
“Don’t ask me. I walked in right before you did.”
Why was everyone acting strangely?
I scanned the faces and realized that Paulie wasn’t around, either. “Where’s Paulie?”
Silence.
“Okay, what the hell is going on? Why are y’all being weird? Just tell me where she is.”
Finally, Keela, a sweet girl in our grade, spoke up. “I think Paulie and Annika went for a quick walk together before the food gets here.”
I made a face, then shrugged. “Okay, then.” I waited for the waitress to come over, and Dion and I both put our order in.
Annika still wasn’t back after ten or so more minutes, and she wasn’t answering her texts. I finally stood up. “Guess I’m going to go catch up with them,” I said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Keela spoke up. “Don’t… don’t go out there,” she said, despite Tandy and some of the other girls giving her dirty looks.
“Why?”
No one would answer, and I started to feel a pit forming in my stomach.
With a sense of trepidation, I fought through the Saturday evening crowds of people waiting on a table.
The line stretched out onto the sidewalk, and several friends called out to me as I walked by.
I waved, smiled, and said a few words as I passed by them, keeping my eyes peeled the whole time for Annika, Paulie, or both.
No luck.
I couldn’t see them anywhere on either side of the street or down the block towards the town square and park.
I stopped at the end of the sidewalk and looked right and left before crossing the road to the next block of businesses. And that’s when I saw them.
Paulie had Annika pushed back against the brick wall of the restaurant. They were down close to the dumpsters where they wouldn’t likely be seen. Which was gross, but they clearly were too wrapped up in each other to care.
My mouth opened in shock and horror as I saw what was going on.
Annika’s legs were wrapped around Paulie’s waist. He was very clearly fucking her.
I watched as she rocked against him, moaning and crying out in ecstasy as she met him thrust for thrust. They were going at it like animals, like they couldn’t get enough of each other.
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see any more. But I could still hear them. Annika’s assurances that I was a great lover felt empty as I heard her screams and gasps of pleasure. She’d never sounded like that with me.
Jesus. How long had this been going on? I scrubbed a hand over my mouth as I forced myself to look at them. They looked like they were about ready to start up again even though I’d heard the unmistakable sounds of both of them coming.
I couldn’t bear standing and listening to that shit again. I started to say something, but then Paulie stopped things. “We should get back. Tim’s going to get suspicious.”
Annika laughed. “God. No, he won’t. I could do anything with anyone, and he wouldn’t have a clue. The guy’s that crazy about me.”
Paulie snorted. “Yeah, that’s for sure. You can do no wrong in his eyes.”
Annika laughed. It was a mean laugh I’d never heard from her before. “I’ve fucked all of his supposed friends. All of them. The guy’s clueless.”
“So why are you with him?”
“Because he’s smart. You’ve heard him. He’s going to Georgia Tech next fall. He’s already been accepted. He’s going to be an engineer, and I bet he’s going to be rich. That’s why I’m with him.”
I felt like I’d been stabbed right in the heart.
Her words literally took my breath away.
How long had this shit been going on? Paulie wasn’t even the first guy she’d cheated with?
And what about Paulie’s longtime girlfriend Jayne?
She was one of Annika’s supposed best friends.
She’d gone on a beach trip with her family, and it seemed that as soon as she was gone Annika moved in on her man.
I thought about Nat trying to warn me that Annika wasn’t nice and sweet like I thought she was. And that she was cheating on me with half the school. I shook my head. She’d been right all along, and I’d been mad at her for saying it.
I was a goddamn fool.
I stood and stared at them as they tried to make themselves presentable. When they turned and saw me, Paulie looked horrified. Annika? Not so much. She ran to me smiling.