Page 40 of Not Over You

The Halloween party was my chance to dress a little sexy, so I decided to go as Jessica Rabbit. Tati called me as I was putting the final touches on my costume. Red lipstick was a must.

“So, I think I’m going to tell him tonight,” she says out of the blue.

“Tell who what?” I ask absentmindedly while checking my hair. I’d opted to not wear a wig, and my hair wasn’t doing the sexy wave Jessica Rabbit’s did.

“Tell Travis, how I feel,” she explains. The air rushes out of my lungs, and I start coughing.

“What,” I say between hacks, “what do you mean?”

“I love him, and I’ve decided tonight is the night I tell him,” she repeats. She can’t be serious. We were best friends who told each other everything. How could she keep something like this from me? Of course, I guess I wasn’t any better, keeping the same from her. Shit.

“Since when?”

“Since always. I’ve mentioned it to you before,” she huffs.

“No,” I tell her, my chest tightening as I realize what this means. “You said you liked Grady. I would definitely remember if you said you liked Travis.”

At the time, I had been weirded out that she was into my brother, but I didn’t say anything because it wasn’t my business. I would have known if she said she was into Travis. I had a choice, tell her what happened or let it go. I chose to let it go for then and get to the party. I needed time to think.

Getting to the party, the first stop was to get some punch called Fire Juice. The bottles next to it tell me it’s mostly cheap vodka and sprite with orange juice for the color. A giant Minion scoops out two cups and hands them to us.

“Such hospitality.” Tati giggles as she takes one.

Out of nowhere, Grady runs up to us in a tattered sweatshirt, and his face painted like a skeleton.

“Hey, Tati,” he slurs, “I’ve come to suck your blood.”

“You’re not a vampire, dork.” I laugh while looking around for Travis. I need to talk to him about us, and the Tati development. We need to figure out what we’re going to do. A united front, that’s what we need.

“Where’s Travis?” I ask Grady, trying to sound nonchalant.

“He was working really hard on some couple’s costume. He’s trying to impress a girl,” Grady says before tickling Tati, which causes her to spill her drink. Both of them erupt in drunken laughter. I should probably laugh with them, but I feel like anything but.

“A couple’s costume?” I repeat, so quietly that no one hears me. How could he do this to me? It doesn’t make any sense. Where did this other girl come from? Is it because I didn’t call him right away, or did I do something wrong?

Grady takes off somewhere into the crowd, leaving me alone with Tati. “What’s the matter with you? You look like you’re about to cry.”

“I slept with Travis, all right. I didn’t know you loved him or whatever,” I make air quotes, “you never said a word.”

“Wow, you slut,” she spits, stinging me with her words. She’s never spoken to me like this before. “You couldn’t stand it, you had to have everything, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She usually doesn’t drink, maybe the alcohol got to her.

“You slept with him to hurt me.” Tati burst into tears. “I thought you were my friend…”

And that’s why I downplayed the relationship to her. Now, I really wish I would have just stuck it to her. I wish I would have told her he loved me, and we had an epic night together.

Two months later, she started a vicious rumor about me but played my supportive best friend during the hard time. Then she started another rumor, and that time I found out that it was her.

Shaking my head, I try to forget that part of my life. I need to get the advice of a real friend. When Sloan and I met in college, I found out what a true friend is. They’re someone who is happy when you accomplish something and support you no matter what.

When I’m almost to the point of crying, I decide I have to call her. Grabbing my phone from my nightstand, I find her under my favorite numbers and hit the call button.

“Sloan, what are you up to?” I ask when she picks up.

“Screwing the mailman, what are you up to?”

“You’re what?”

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