Before You

Chapter Twenty Five.

           

"What are you doing in my room, Macy?" I half shouted, my face burning red and my hands practically convulsing as I snatched the letter away.

"He's been cheating on her with you?" She demanded, her dark hair bouncing in the high ponytail as she shook her head. "Jessica is your friend and they were dating, yet she got a letter blowing her off, and you got this?" She widened her eyes before turning her back on me. "How could you do this to Jessica?"

I hugged the letter to my chest, trying to keep my eyes away from the nice handwritten lines of words that I just can't allow myself to read. Not anymore. "I didn't do this to her!" I insisted. "Yes, they were dating, but they weren't an official couple or anything and I-."

"Do you hear yourself right now?" Macy cut me off, spinning back to give me the full power of her disappointed glare. "You're making excuses about technicalities of their relationship to make yourself feel better about this secret affair the two of you are having."

I knew she was right, which only upset me further. I was barely holding back the tears as I carefully folded the letter back up and slid it inside of the envelope. "I don't expect you to understand." I muttered, although, if I was being honest, of my friends, I would have picked Macy for being the one I thought might have been the most understanding, not Sarah.

The look she was giving me hurt right into the pit of my stomach. Like a kid who was being scolded by their parent. I hated myself, felt dirty even for it, but I couldn't tell her that.

"Have you been sleeping with him, Tayler?"

Her accusation took me right from feeling so bad about myself, to being highly pissed off at her again. "Are you freaking kidding me? Am I sleeping with him?" I laughed. "Yeah, Macy, because that's the type of person I am, right? I just go around sleeping with random people?"

Macy stepped closer, the space between us full of tension. "How am I supposed to know?" She snapped. "I didn't think you were the type of girl who goes and steals a guy right from underneath your friend either."

"I didn't steal him!" I shouted, grabbing both sides of my head and squeezing as if that was going to help the swarming mess going on inside of it. "I didn't plan this, I didn't ask for it, and I sure as hell didn't expect it!" I cried, hot angry and embarrassed tears streamed my face. "Like anyone would have thought a guy would chose me over Jessica."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth I regretted them. I hadn't admitted to myself, much less said it out loud that I kind of liked the idea that someone could like me better. I've always been a little jealous of Jessica and her beauty and her charisma, and then along comes Hunter, one of the most amazingly gorgeous, and sweet to boot, guys I've ever known and he wanted to spend his time with me. He chose me.

A lot of good that did me.

"You're pathetic, you know that?" Macy sneered, her arms folded across her chest.

My bedroom door pushed open wider, knocking me in the shoulder as Sarah stormed in, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me into a hug while I cried.

"What the fuck is going on here, Mac?" She asked her, petting my hair to soothe me.

"She has been seeing Hunter behind Jessica's back!" She yelled, pointing at me. But something in Sarah's reaction, or lack thereof, must have tipped her off. "You knew about this?" I'd thought Macy sounded incredulous with me, it was twice as bad with Sarah.

Sarah sighed beside me. "I didn't know the whole time, I only found out right before he deployed." She explained.

"And you didn't think that maybe we should tell our best friend what she'd done?"