My Sister's Best Friend

15

Lingering by the wall, I wish I could say I'm surprised about this, but I'm honestly not. This is exactly how my life has panned out in every given situation. I'm second choice to everyone, and I always will be. The feeling of never being good enough has never left, and I don't know why I thought Jennifer had genuine interest in me when I treated her so horribly to begin with. I can't even be mad that this is how things worked out.

I would never choose to be with someone so shallow. I would never choose to be with someone who makes fun of my sister— no matter if she's putting out or not. If I've learned anything, it's that I can't give myself to someone who doesn't mean something to me, and that's not a bad thing. It's Jennifer's loss in the long run.

So I ditch her by the bathrooms and head back down the hallway to the front door. I want to get the hell out of here. As much as I know that it's her loss, it still doesn't hurt any less that I'm second place to, yet again, someone else, and I can't seem to shake the feeling that's already eating away at me.

Right on cue, as if I really needed anything else to bring me down, Maya walks into the party alone, her eyes immediately finding mine. I must look horrible because her eyes soften slightly, but just as quickly as they soften, they become filled with annoyance again. I know she's still upset about what happened no matter how much she may want to deny it.

"Are you high?" She asks, running her eyes over my face to try and decide for herself. It must be obvious because she eventually rolls them and pushes her way past me to go upstairs.

Is she going to meet Kyle? Is a bedroom reserved for them?

God, the thought actually terrifies me, and I'm so angry at the image of it that I find myself following right behind her. So what if I smoked? Why does that bother her? I'm allowed to do it if I want, and I'm so high that I want to debate it with her. I need her to tell me why she's so annoyed that I smoked.

If I were sober, I know there's no way in hell I'd be following after her. I'd be too embarrassed if she actually were to be meeting Kyle and I interrupted them, but right now I'm upset at life, and unfortunately she's getting the brunt of it.

"What is your problem?" I ask and grab onto her wrist so that she'll spin to face me. I'm panting heavily as I stare down at her, and her eyes are so fucking pretty it's almost impossible to stay angry. "What does it matter if I smoked? Why do you care that I took Jennifer to the dance? Why Maya?"

"You really want to do this here?" She waves her arms around us and lets out a sigh of frustration when I raise my eyebrows, awaiting an explanation. "I'm assuming you drove here high? Or did you get high when you got here?"

I can't say anything because I didn't think that was why my smoking bothered her, and I hate that it makes me care for her that much more. She doesn't know that we took an Uber, but it's nice to know that she just wanted me to be safe.

"You're an idiot," she says without letting me speak. "And as far as the Jennifer thing goes, it's really not my business. You can do whatever you please, Ethan, and I'm going to do the same."

"Clearly." I scoff. "Kyle seems to be a fantastic choice."

"Do you hear yourself?!" She yells and laughs again in anger, throwing her hands up in defeat. "¡Ay, Dios mío, Ethan! You're a fucking hypocrite!"

She storms into a random room, but she's not getting away that easily. I follow behind her and close the door, watching as she grabs her clutch from earlier off the side table.

Holy fuck.

She was in here with Kyle.

"You've got to be shitting me." I seethe. "You had sex with him, didn't you?"