Don't Call Me Baby

11 | WHAT WAS I EXPECTING?

Stella has had this expression on her face twice before in her life: the first time was when she told me her parents are getting divorced and the second time was when she and her boyfriend for two years broke up after cheating on her with a way older woman. Was it illegal? Probably. Did he care? Not at all. Especially about Stella's feelings.

"Hey, Stells." I say quietly, after grabbing my usual drink and sitting in front of her. I look her up and down and my worry rises within with every second that we spend simply staring at each other. "Why do you look so...not Stella?" I ask shyly, although I don't know why.

"What were you thinking, Jordan?" She begins sternly and her tone almost scares me. "How could you start a relationship with someone so close to moving away, especially with that guy?"

"It's not that deep, Stella. I just wanted to have a taste of being with him even if it's for a short while. I know it might be a bit irresponsible and dumb but-"

"Yes, Jordy, it's very irresponsible and dumb. You know what Archer is like and you know he is not boyfriend material!" Her voice starts raising and I realize everybody is watching us, invested in our conversation. This makes me shift uncomfortably in my seat but I try to not pay attention.

Although I don't want to admit it, Stella's words hurt and I know she is right. Archer has been notoriously bad with girls and commitment. But it just felt so right with him that I- I can't really see him in a bad light anymore.

I've been more than happy to be with him and he hasn't shown any warning signs.

"I understand the whole one week relationship thing, Jordy, but it shouldn't've been with him. You shouldn't have done it, alright?" Stella grabs my arm and squeezes me hard.

It's almost painful and I don't understand where she's going with this rant of hers. I'm leaving soon anyway, so why does it matter if he's a playboy as long as he treats me nicely until I go to California? My eyebrows scrunch up in confusion and something else that I can't quite put my finger on. It's a feeling that's making the hairs on my arms stand up and I don't like it.

It's almost as if I'm scared. Scared that whatever she's trying to tell me will ruin my little thing with Archer and a small part of me, the coward, wants to stand up now and leave before I can hear what she has to say but of course i remain in my place, looking at her with a stern expression and gritting my teeth in hopes to keep my composure.

"Spill it, Stella. I know there's something you're trying to say without being direct about it, but you know damn well that I'm not good at this game of guessing."

She retrieves her hand and her eyes shift to the table as if it's something shameful that she's about to admit to. I can see that she is scared which makes my already fast beating heart completely freak out.

"Listen, Jordy, you'll probably hate me for saying this but I-" she clears her throat, "I've been sleeping with Archer for the past few months."

"What?" I ask dumbly, although I heard her perfectly fine. "You know I've been in love with him for years!"

My hands turn into fists and I'm stuck between wanting to cry and wanting to punch something really hard. What a strange turn of events that the girl I've been talking to about Archer is the one to stab me in the back.

It all makes perfect sense now and Archer's actions a few months back are now completely logical. And here I was like the biggest fool in the world.

I feel stupid and humiliated.

I get up from the chair before she could say anything else and on my way to the door, the memories start flashing before my eyes.

Archer Finn was spending a lot of time with me back in February, in fact he was so invested in our growing friendship that he was completely ignoring his other friends. We would hang out every day after school in Bailey's and we would spend our time reading poetry and commenting on it.

At first I never saw him as a literature type of guy, but as time passed and we discussed more and more authors, it started feeling completely natural. I wanted to get to know him more and get to touch his hair while he was reading, get to laugh at his silly jokes on my own, but I couldn't because we would always hang out with Stella on our side. She wasn't a big fan of reading and she hardly spoke during our meet ups but she was always there, cracking jokes and secretly trying to set me up with Archer. She would say that my hair was really nice, or that I was the smartest person she knew, or that my heart was made of gold. She was bragging about her best friend, as if she was talking about her boyfriend. In fact, at times, it was almost too much for me but I never saw any harm in her company. Archer would always completely ignore it whenever Stella would compliment me but when he was asked if he agreed, he would always send me a small smile and nod.

And then out of nowhere, Archer Finn stopped talking to me and completely forgot about our literature meet ups as if they never happened. It was alright, because I expected it from him, knowing that everything about Archer Fknn was just a phase. And him meeting with me was no different. I brushed it off, trying  not to think too much of it, although we all know I couldn't do that, but what irked me was that I saw him talking to Stella secretly next to the ganitor's room after classes one day.

The next morning I told Stella I saw her and she brushed it off by saying that she tried talking to him about why he stopped going out with us. I didn't think much of it, again, because I was used to her being straightforward and blunt whenever she wanted to say or do something. It was just the Stella I've always known.

"Wait, Jordy!" My so-called best friend grabs my wrist right before I exit and I can see tears glistening in her eyes, while searching for my own gaze. I send her a look that probably is a bit too murderous for a situation like this but she doesn't let go of me. She's way too used to my death stares to care.

"That's not all I had to say." She gulps. "I knew you'd hate me if I told you but I had to when you said you're dating him. Contrary to what you may believe I'm saying this because I care about you and don't want you to be brokenhearted but-...Archer came to my house yesterday and asked if he could crash for the night. I agreed because he has done it multiple times by now and then when we were about to go to bed, he told me that he was so proud of himself for having won the bet that he would manage to get in an unexpected relationship."

And then, in completely unusual fashion for Jordan Blue, I push Stella away and storm out of Bailey's after screaming 'Bitch!' In her face.