Best Friend's Boyfriend

Chapter 16

            And right there, I lost it. I dropped my head and started to cry, so afraid of what would happen when he did. It’s not like I was proud of hooking up with Cody. It was just that he was the one thing setting me and Kelli apart. Now we were equals. This was fair. That’s why I kept doing it.

            “You can’t do that, please,” I begged him. “It’s honestly not what it looks like at all. Cody was there for me when Kelli wasn’t. I was just so upset at the time and he made me feel so comforted and I don’t know what happened, I kissed him. But he didn’t kiss me back at first, he yelled at me because it was wrong. But we both agreed not to let Kelli find out. That’s why we keep doing it- she’s not supposed to find out.”

            “And what happens if she does?” he asked, not feeling any sympathy towards me.

            “I’ll fall apart,” I said honestly. I surprised myself by my own answer. I needed Kelli. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed her. She knew way too much about me and could ruin my life in a second if she wanted to. And when she found out, she would definitely want to. Even though she stopped being a good friend, she still understood me despite the fact she pretended not to. Seven years of friendship isn’t supposed to end like this. I explained all this to Graham but he still stared at me with cold, emotionless eyes.

            “So then why don’t you stop hooking up with him? You know all the problems you caused by hooking up with all five of us. Did you have to get that sixth one? Was five not enough?” he sounded just like Kelli. “You had to have realized all the problems it’d cause when she found out. You can’t expect her not to. I thought you were over this, Brooke. It’s going to be even worse than when you hooked up with us. She’s your best friend.”

            “Can you stop making me feel so bad about it??” I yelled at him, still crying. “I know it’s wrong! Don’t you think I want to stop? Stop trying to tell me about all these problems that I’m going to cause- what about you?? You’re going to be ruining your best friend’s relationship too if you tell; you’ll be no better than me!”

            He stood there, biting the inside of his lip realizing I was right. “I won’t tell,” he finally said. I let out a sigh of relief before he added, “But not for you. For Cody’s sake. Not even Cody’s sake- he’s an awful boyfriend to do that to Kel. I’m doing this to protect Kelli.”

            “Why is everyone always on Kelli’s side??” I accidentally said out loud. She didn’t deserve to have any friends after she ditched her best one for a guy! That’s not fair!

            “Kelli’s not the slut whoring around with her best friend’s fucking boyfriend,” he said, picking up the board and skating back over to his friends who had clearly been watching but hadn’t heard. They looked at Graham, asking what it was all about and Graham looked at me. With tears in my eyes, I shook my head no, realizing he could ruin my entire life at this very moment. He shook his head back at me, disappointed.

            I had no purpose in being here if he was going to make me feel this shitty. I wiped the tears from my eyes, tried not to let the sad cries out of my mouth, and walked past them back home.