Page 60 of Becoming Selfish

“Yes, please! Pineapple for me!”

“Gross,” he says to me as we both shake our head in disgust.

Marc and Ali have seemed a little more comfortable around each other this week, and I think my plan to make them friendly towards one another is finally starting to pay off.

“Well, the game is going to start soon, so I’ll be watching it in my room,” Marc informs me as he turns on his heel to head back to his dorm.

He quickly turns around and pops his head back in my doorway. “Have fun, but not too much fun,” he adds with a playfully pointed glance, causing me to laugh at his empty threats.

I’ve texted Eli twice now with no response. I hope nothing happened to him, but I’m starting to have a bad feeling. It’s already eleven, and he was supposed to be here at nine. I know he texted earlier that he was running late, but I figured he would’ve called if he was going to be this late.

As my concern grows, I decide to go down to Marc’s room and see if he’s heard from his brother.

His door is closed, so I gently knock and hear a distant, “Come in!” being yelled my way.

Walking in, I find Marc sitting on the edge of his bed, eyes fully focused on the game. Ali is here too because they shared a pizza, but she’s sitting towards the top of his bed with her back against the headboard, scrolling her phone, and not giving the basketball game on TV a second glance.

“Perfect timing, the Celtics just tied it up with two minutes left,” he tells me, without pulling his gaze from the game. “You and EJ done already?”

“No, actually, he never showed up,” I tell them both as Marc’s focus leaves the television, and Ali pulls her attention away from her phone. “I was wondering if you’d heard from him?”

“No, I haven’t. Let me call him.” Marc looks utterly confused as he grabs his phone from his bedside table and dials his brother.

“Have some pizza. We have leftovers,” Ali says, pointing to the large pizza box sitting on Marc’s dresser. I’m sure she’s hoping food will bring me some comfort. And she’s right, it usually would, so I open the box to grab a piece, but there are only pineapple slices left. No, thank you.

“That’s weird. It went straight to voicemail.” Marc looks at me then back to his phone, puzzled.

“Do you think he’s okay?” I ask as panic begins to set in.

“He’s fine.” Ali looks down at her phone, shaking her head in disappointment.

“What do you mean?”

She sighs. “You remember that blond chick from the party? The one I wanted to fight?”

“Alyssa? Yeah, hard to forget.”

“Well, I started following her on Instagram, you know, so that I could despise her from a distance. Anyway, look at her latest picture. She just posted it.” Ali holds up her phone for me to get a better look. “The location is tagged as ‘The Hockey House,’” she adds with caution.

My eyes scan the photo as my lips part in shock. It’s a selfie of Alyssa puckering her lips in her signature ‘more makeup, less clothing’ look. And there he is, standing a few feet behind her with a drink in his hand. Eli is looking off, talking to someone out of frame, so I doubt he even knows this picture exists for anyone to see. But here it is, right in front of my eyes.

“I’m going to kill him,” Marc says, looking at the photo over my shoulder.

“He’s an idiot,” Ali adds, sympathetically.

I almost don’t hear either of them. My ears are buzzing, my head is spinning, and I can’t seem to pull my eyes away from the picture on Ali’s phone.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” I try to convince myself as I shake my head, pulling myself out of the daze I’m in.

“Well, hang out with us and watch the game,” Marc quickly suggests, searching for a way to make me feel better.

“No, it’s okay. I think I’m going to go to bed.” I start to head towards the door, knowing that there is no way in hell I’m going to be able to sleep, but needing to be alone.

“Are you sure?” Ali asks, unconvinced.

She and Marc are both eyeing me as if I am a bomb about to go off, but I don’t react to disappointment in that way. I’ve had plenty of disappointment in my life, and I know how to handle myself and my emotions. Let’s just add Eli’s lying ass to that list of life’s disappointments.

“Yeah. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” I turn to give them a convincing smile, but I’m sure they notice how forced it is.

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