“Just one more,” Jennifer stated. “Have you seenmyMichael today? Or better yet, last night?”
“I saw him earlier,” I said, leaving out that he was acting weird.
“Cooper said he was acting strange,” Hastings said, making my eyes widen. “Like from outer space or something.”
“I didn’t say outer space,” I argued. “Just a bit off.”
Jennifer slid next to me in the booth. Mimic Megan did the same and slid in next to Michael, her wide eyes telling me she was anticipating for Jennifer to make an all-important statement or perhaps drop a juicy piece of gossip.
“He didn’t text me after he got off from work,” Jen began. “I texted him like forty times until two in the morning.”
“Sounds like he’s sneaking around,” Hastings added.
“Mikey doesn’tsneakaround,” I defended. “Not his style.”
“Then where was he?” Megan pitched in. “Sounds super sketch in my opinion.” She interpreted the pause in conversation as her invitation to add more BS to the chat. “Missy Lyles’ boyfriend did the same thing last month. Several disappearing acts and stuff like that. He was cheating with Symmie Johanson.”
The comment woke Jennifer up from her musings. “You think?” she asked, pursing her lips. “That would be totally fatal to our relationship,” she announced, regaining her confidence. “Michael would never be forgiven,” she added, making sure to maintain her poise at the first sign of any news that could affect her status as queen.
“Mikey doesn’t cheat,” I reminded anyone listening. “Not even a possibility.”
“You seem so sure, Cooper,” Hastings added, gazing at me as he tested my allegiance to Mikey.
“Well, he wouldn’t,” I stated.
“Accept maybe withyou?” Jennifer asked half joking or maybe not joking at all. “You seem to know everything about my boyfriend, Cooper.”
“I know he wouldn’t cheat on you, Jennifer. Period. With no one,” I said. “And you should know that too,” I added, glaring at her and daring her to add another shitty comment like the one she’d just dropped in front of our friends.
People had been suggesting that Mikey and I had something going on since we were sixth graders. The noise only got louder after we started high school and our close friendship was so obvious. Mikey never entertained the gossip and I followed his lead. We were each other’s world and he didn’t give a rat’s ass if anyone didn’t like it. I loved that about him. That, and so many other things.
“Then where was he?” she asked, looking directly into my eyes like she had the ability to catch me in a lie.
“He doesn’t fucking cheat, Jen, and I don’t know,” I said firmly.
The other two sets of eyes watched us closely. The girlfriend and the best friend. Who held the most power?
I often wondered if Jennifer resented me. I held no ill will toward her even though I wished the roles were reversed; even if that meant I was the girl. Of course I was jealous of her. She was everything to Mikey that I couldn’t be.
“I believe you,” she finally admitted. “I’m not happy, but I believe you, Cooper. Now when are the four of us going on a double date?” She gestured between me and Hastings with her lacquered nails waving in the air.
“What about Greg and me?” Megan cried.
We all turned to Megan but it was Jennifer that went for the jugular. “That isn’t going to last, Megan.”
I watched as Megan withered like a spring plant in a severe drought. I wondered where Mikey had been. He hadn’t been home by the time I finally fell asleep around two or three in the morning while waiting for our goodnight wave.Where had he been?
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: Mike
Iwaited until Mom was gone for at least ten minutes before I tore through the house. The cemetery where Dad was buried was on the other side of town so she’d be gone for a while. There was a closer one, but my folks had been friends with the McPherson family that owned the funeral home across town when they decided to buy their plots. I’d attended classes with their son Brad. Classes where I assumed I’d be bumping into him again. I’d been rude to Brad just a week ago after Mom died in the other universe when I got snappy about not burying her in the prepaid resting spot, but that hadn’t happened here yet. This was getting fucking weirder by the minute.
I wanted to go through the house to see if I could note the differences in this universe.Wouldn’t it be trippy if Dad was a different man?First stop was the hallway of family photos. Dad was still Dad. All of the pictures of my childhood were the same, but only appeared halfway down the hall. The main difference being that all of the photos stopped before any senior graduation pics.
It was odd to be standing in the hallway and being able to visualize where the images of my adult life had been displayed. Those pictures didn’t exist here yet. This world hadn’t seen me graduate high school or attend college either. No pictures of the university I’d attended after Cooper died. No wedding photos with my bride, Jennifer. None of it happened. Those years were waiting to be experienced.
“Mom,” I whispered, wishing old Mom was nearby. “What the hell were you thinking?”
I stepped down the hall and imagined the frames on the wall from my memory. My nineteenth birthday. The used car Mom finally gave in and bought me the month before college. After Cooper died she purchased me a used car even though we’d agreed it was better financially not to. Graduation from The University of Washington. All of those memories should have been here. The second half of the hallway walls were devoid of pictures, along with nearly half of my life experiences.
