Liar Liar

The Phone Call that Changed Everything (Chapter 14)

I am never ever EVER going shopping with Chelsea again.

Ever.

~~Five Hours Earlier~~

"And who is this?" The lady in charge of helping Chelsea find dresses, Cindy, gestured to me.

Chelsea's eyes quickly flashed to me before she said reluctantly, "This is my maid of honor and best friend, Anna. She's also the wedding planner."

The woman appraised me for a moment before she guided us towards a plush white couch in the back of the store. She talked to Chelsea a bit about the style and price range for the wedding dress she wanted, to which Chelsea responded 'I'm open to anything'. Cindy left to go look through dresses and left Chelsea and I alone.

Which, you know, was really awkward since she still refused to talk to me.

We sat in silence for about two minutes before I tried to apologize.

Watching my fidgeting fingers, I avoided Chelsea's gaze and said, "Look, Chelsea, I know you and I haven't been on the best of terms lately, and I know it's my fault," I paused, waiting for her to interrupt. Every time we had an argument she would always interrupt me and then apologize at the same time I did, and afterwards we would always go to Starbucks, grab some mocha lattes and laugh about how stupid we were for fighting. We were best friends, and it was just what we did.

But apparently not today. Because for once, Chelsea didn't interrupt me. I gulped.

"I know you think I kept my relationship with Drake a secret, but honestly, I wasn't dating him until the night of the carnival. That was when he asked me to be his girl-"

"I'm pregnant."

That was REALLY not the interruption I was hoping for.

I turned to her, wide eyed, my jaw slack. "You're....what?"

"You heard me, I'm pregnant." She turned towards me, glassy-eyed and cheeks tinted pink. A single teardrop slid down her cheek. She flung her arms around me and I hugged her back mechanically, not really paying attention to her.

Pregnant? How could she be pregnant?

"This wasn't supposed to happen," she sobbed.

I snapped back into reality. Chelsea was the motherly type. She'd always wanted a family. A white picket fence, mini van, all that jazz. She wanted a loving husband and adorable kids. She was already getting married. Matt was rich enough to buy a mansion. Heck, he could buy two mansions and still afford to put a white picket fence around both of them if he wanted. A baby on the way would just be one step closer to her dreams. Why was she upset?

I tried to think about why Chelsea was so upset about having a kid. Then it hit me.

What if she found out Matt was cheating on her and didn't want to have his kids anymore? And what if she knew that I knew Matt was cheating on her all along and was so upset with me that that was the real reason she wasn't talking to me? What if she had broken off her engagement with Matt already and was trying to get me to confess the truth to her after her whole 'Anna is my best friend spiel'?

I felt sick to my stomach. The blood rushed out of my face, and I fought the urge not to throw up. "Chelsea, I swear, I was going to tell-"

"-me you weren't dating Drake before the night of the carnival? Yeah, I know," she said bitterly.

"No, that's not what I was going to-"

"You don't have to keep making me feel guilty about it. I get it, okay? You weren't dating Drake before the night of the carnival," her voice grew softer, "I believed you the first time you told me. I know you would never lie to me."