The Ex Best Friend

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

“Oh my God and the way he punched him…that was amazing!” Stacy said grabbing my shoulders.

We were sitting at a small table at our favourite café inside the food court at the bottom of our building.

“Yeah, yeah, so Jake came to the ‘rescue’.” I made air quotations with my hand. “Big deal.”

I didn’t want to make such a fuss in front of Stacy. She already thinks that me and Jake are destined to be together. Why add oil to the flames? Besides, I myself rather not think about what happened yesterday. First, because it’s quite traumatizing, I mean Anthony was all up in my face. Second, because it was weird that Jake did that. He’s usually the reserved type, or if you want me to put it truthfully, Jake’s just all talk. I’ve never actually seen him punch a guy except for in the 8th grade but that’s a different story.

Stacy gaped at me. “Big deal?! The man practically risked his career for you Jessica and all you can say is big deal?!”

Rolling my eyes, I waved her off. “He’s done worse.”

I thought back to all the times Jake’s gotten into trouble – not for fights of course, as previously explained – but just for all the dumb stuff that he comes up with.

“How would you know?” she asked slowly.

In my head I was throwing myself off a building. “Uh…I just – you know, just had a hunch.”

Stacy narrowed her eyes at me. “Well, obviously that’s not the case because you just stuttered like forty times so now I know you’re lying. Seriously, what’s the deal?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

I sighed. “It was just a hunch, okay?”

“Jessica, I’ve been your best friend for almost a year now. That might be short but in adult world, that’s like centuries. So don’t think that you can lie and get away with it,” Stacy told me stubbornly.

Darn it. I’m caught. I channelled through my brain, looking for a possible excuse.

“Okay, if I tell you, you can’t tell anyone,” I improvised. To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to say.

Stacy smiled deviously. “Ooo secrets.”

I gave her a reprimanding look. “Yes, but you have to keep your mouth shut.”

She pretended to zip her lips shut, and threw away the key. Only Stacy can be that cliché. “My lips are sealed.”

“So um…”

What was I supposed to say? Oh by the way Stacy, me and Jake were best friends when we were younger and I just left him because he was always with his girlfriend who had the brain capacity of a spoon. And also I failed to mention this, but I think I kind of like him. Uh, no way. If I told her that, she would blow up like a volcano.

“So um?” Stacy said.

“Um…well the other day, I was walking to Jake’s office to bring him his coffee.”

“And?” she asked expectantly.

“He was on the phone and I don’t know with who.”

Stacy’s evil grin turned even eviller. “Did you hear something you weren’t supposed to hear?”

I stared blankly at her. Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. “Yeah,” I nodded.

“What did you hear?”