My Sister's Best Friend

26

At the hospital, I'm sitting in a plastic chair beside Maddie's bed — arms crossed over my chest with a firm scowl on my face. My molars are practically crushing each other from how pissed I am, and I bite down even harder when my mom makes a big fucking deal about Cameron rescuing Maddie.

"And you carried her all that way?" She continues on, pulling him into a tight hug. I roll my eyes, unable to fight the anger bubbling up inside of me. Like a tsunami, it erupts.

"What else did you do, Cam?" I lean back and fold my arms behind my head, awaiting an answer as Maya elbows me in my rib cage. "What? I'm just wanting the truth to be let out. That's all."

My father glances at him, and just for a second I find some relief. He's always said he'd kill anyone who would dare hurt Maddie, and he knows just as well as I do what a complete asshole Cameron can be to his monthly conquest. He's never going to let this fly.

"Uh..." Cameron closes his eyes and lets out a sigh, almost like he's bracing for the punch. "Maddie and I are... dating."

I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

But still, the punch doesn't come. Instead, my parents are grinning from ear to ear, and I'm so fucking pissed I can hardly stand it.

"I knew it!" My mom shouts. "I just knew it."

"You aren't mad?" Cameron replies. "I thought you guys would hate me. You guys consider me your second son... I thought..."

"Oh, honey." And then she has the audacity to hug him. "You thought we wouldn't still consider you our son? What better way than for you to be our potential son in law? We love you, Cameron. We are overjoyed that you and Maddie are together."

You've got to be fucking kidding me. Is everyone just flipping a switch now? Cameron, my dad, my mom, Maya... who the fuck else is getting added to the list?

"You have to be joking." I'm finally able to choke out. "You're going to let this happen? Dad?"

"What? He's a good kid, Ethan. He's your best friend. I would think that you'd be happy about this. At least she's not dating some dick bag like Mark that we don't even know."

Why the fuck would I be happy about this? I've been fucking struggling for months and my best friend couldn't even realize it because he was too busy screwing my sister.

"He's sleeping with Maddie!" I fly out of my chair, throwing my hands up in frustration. "He lied to all of our faces for months! Why am I the only one freaking out about this?"

What I really want to say is that everyone has been lying to my face for months. For some reason I've been left out of the fucking secrets around here. Every single one I've been chosen to not be a part of, and it's fucking hurtful.

"I'm..." Cameron clears his throat and then looks at my parents again. He hasn't made eye contact with me once. "Yes, Maddie and I have..."

Oh my god, I'm going to kill him.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's more than that with us. She's not just a fling or anything. I genuinely care about her."

"Oh, I know." My mom laughs. "Honey, it was more than obvious. I could see you holding hands in the back seat on the way home from that game."

"Is that why you asked about the dance?"

She shrugs. "I had to do some investigating to see if it was true, and it was."