Page 9 of Friends That Heal Us
She grips her chest, out of breath, and her jaw quivers. “Where is he?”
My grin rises as I stare at her with pity. It’s the same way she used to look at me. “Why would he be here?”
“Are you two fucking now?” She steps closer to me.
I square my shoulders and laugh.
“Are you?” she yells.
I don’t answer her. I’ll let her come up with her own thoughts to run through her head all night and day. Make her crazy for once. “You need to leave!”
Tears stream down her face. “Where is he?” she mutters.
“How should I know?”
“You can’t tell me you two aren’t talking,” she says, wiping the snot from her nose.
“No shit, we are. He’s my friend. Unlike you.”
She hangs her head lower, sniffling. “I’m sorry, Vi. I never meant to hurt you.”
Those are the words I’ve waited to hear. Not sure why, because now that I hear them, they sound empty. She threw away a lifelong friendship for what? She’s not sorry. She’s only sorry she got caught or else it wouldn’t have kept happening. Shit, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Her words fall flat, just like her, as she stands there with tears streaming down her face. Just like I did when I was going out of my mind. The worst part of it is she sat there and watched me. She made me believe he wasn’t cheating.
I shake my head at her, rolling my eyes.
“You have to believe me.” She steps closer, and I step back. “Please tell me where he is?”
I knit my eyebrows together. “He’s at work like all the adults.”
She raises her head but ignores my comment. “He’s not there. They said he hasn’t worked there in six months.”
“Then I don’t know what to tell you,” I say, trying to ignore the fact that I’m now, too, questioning where he is.
I catch her eyes lighting up.
“What’s going on?” I hear behind me.
I pivot myself around and see Ez coming up the stairs. He has a simple white T-shirt and light blue jeans on. Just the sight of him brings down some tension. Rya bumps my shoulder walking past me. He stops in his tracks, and as she reaches out to him, he turns and she misses him. She almost falls down the stairs.
“Ezra,” she squeals. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“I’m not sure why. There is nothing between us,” he says with his lip curled up.
She reaches out for him again, and he steps closer to me. She abruptly stops and glares at us both. “Are you two fucking?”
“We’re not you, Rya,” I snap.
“Whatever. I know you’ve always wanted him.”
My stomach sinks waiting for her to say what I think she’s going to say. A couple of months ago, I wouldn’t have believed she would air out my feelings I had for him, but now I don’t know. I know nothing about her.
“Isn’t that right, Vi?” she asks, focusing her gaze on me. “Ever since senior year when you confessed your feelings to me about Ez.”
Out of my peripheral vision, I see him glance over at me and then back to her.
“The thing is, he never wanted you. He wanted me,” she says sternly.
She sounds erratic now. One minute she’s looking for him, the next she’s apologizing, and now the attention is back on me as if I betrayed her.
