The Other Guys

Chapter 9

“Sydney,” Erin chuckles lightly, setting her wine glass on the coffee table, then pats her lap, “come here.”

I want to stay mad, but I’ve never been any good at it, not even at faking it, so I naturally give in and lay my head in Erin’s lap again, letting her play with my hair.

“There are different kinds of love,” she says philosophically and I blow out a sigh, realizing this is going to be another lecture ‘Lessons on Love 101’, preached by Erin Powell, “some are hard to ignore, undeniable, obsessive, even unhealthy,” like the one you have with Brayden, a tiny voice in the back of my mind pipes in, “and others,” Erin continues and I try to focus on the sound of her velvety voice, “are more subtle, unassuming, and selfless. The kind of love where the other person’s needs are more important than your own, where the other person’s happiness and wellbeing is your top priority and everything else comes second.”

“I don’t understand,” I answer honestly, but all this talking in code is really not helping the matters at all. Say it with its real name, I’m thinking to myself. But then again, it’s a bit hypothetical of me to even think that since I’m an expert at talking in riddles and half-spoken truths.

“You will,” Erin promises, sounding so sure of it, but I wish I feel as confident as her, “one day.”

But that day won’t be today because at that moment Lola takes our house by storm and I make a mental note to myself to lock the front door.

Lola’s wild eyes first land on me, but then she actually takes notice of Erin, who’s for once home, and she all but throws herself into my mother’s arms.

“Erin!” Lola exclaims, almost crying in relief when she sees my mom. “Thank god you’re here! I need your help,” she declares, lying prostrate on the ground before spilling out all her troubles in front of Erin who patiently listens, nods her head at the appropriate times, and totally usurps my role as Lola’s best friend. But that’s you get when your friends love your mom more than they love you.

“So what am I supposed to do?” Lola bemoans, looking like she’s in a real tough spot. The thing is, Lola put drama in queen, but I don’t bother mentioning that to her, either. “Ignore him and avoid him at all costs?”

True to her nature, Lola’s always the one for extremes. I doubt her plan to pretend Rob doesn’t exist is ever going to work, considering their lives are so entwined already, it’s nothing short of impossible, but it’s not me she’s asking for advice, it’s Erin, who might as well major in teen drama, seeing how she’s sort of solved all our problems since we hit puberty, starting from ‘why is there blood on my panties’ down to ‘what should I wear for the homecoming dance?’

“Whatever’s meant to be, will be,” Erin, the Dalai Lama reincarnate, muses philosophically. Lola blinks at her a few times, thinking her words over, but I’m guess she has no freaking clue what Erin’s on about.

Erin sighs, realizing we’re just a couple of teenage girls, not fellow Dalai Lama reincarnates, “I mean, don’t force things. You just sit back and let fate do its job. If you and Rob are meant to be together, the universe will help you. If not, then worrying about it won’t help. What’s done is done. Don’t dwell,” Erin stresses, maintaining eye contact with Lola who, I can see, is torn between the urge to protest and agree with her unquestioningly.

“Yes, but-“Lola starts, unable to keep quiet, but Erin, predicting my friend’s move, puts up a hand to silence her.

“What have I told you, girls?” she asks, looking between me and Lola, but Erin’s such a constant source of wisdom, it’s near impossible to keep track with all her profound musings, most of which she doesn’t fail to share with me just to mess me up a little more.

She takes our silence as her cue to keep talking, “The key to a happy life is having no regrets, okay? So what if you slept with one of your best friends? It’s not the end of the world. Look at it on the bright side: worst possible scenario, this is another lesson life has taught you,” Erin explains coolly, shrugging at the end of her speech before she stands up and goes to make us herbal tea to ‘alleviate our troubled spirits’.

When Erin’s in the kitchen, slamming drawers and trying to find a pot to use, Lola turns to me and she’s considerably calmer now, or maybe just stunned, especially compared to the moment she turned up at my door, all frazzled-looking and haggard.

“So, translate for me, please,” Lola clicks her tongue before looking at me with that lost look in her brown eyes, “what’s the moral of the story?”

I shrug, thinking that I’m no Erin or Dalai Lama, but I know a thing or two about ruined relationships. “Don’t sleep with your best friend.”

A/N: Okeys, so in the next chapter we actually (finally) get to meet the last guy. Thanks for reading, babes!