“I thought you were on a date. Where’s Patrick?”
And then, from the guilty look on her face…
I want to throw up.
“Your date’s withEllie?”
As I begin to spiral, Madison remains calm.
“I meant to find a good time to tell you.”
Madison andEllie?
“How long has this been going on?” I ask them both.
“It’s new,” Madison says.
“About a month,” Ellie says at the same time.
They share a loaded look, both of them seeming to take issue with the other’s answer. But I don’t care. I don’t care about the details. All I care about is that my best friend is dating the guy I was in love with for nearly half my life.
Was.
As innot anymore.
I’m not, I realize. Haven’t been for a while. Was I ever? And still—
“How dare you,” I cry, betrayed.
Do I think Madison will back down or cower or even apologize? If so, I’m sorely mistaken.
“How dareI?” she says. “Excuse you, how dareyou?I don’t owe you anything.”
“We’re supposed to be best friends,” I remind her.
“You’re not my best friend, you’re myroommate. I barely know you.”
The shock coursing through my body is so heavy, I feel it like a physical presence. I feel like I’m underwater, drowning in it.
And thattone—she’s never used such a cold, distant tone with me.
“What are you talking about? Madison, of course we’re friends.”
“For months, you’ve been blowing me off to hang out with that Alex guy or that girl from your class, Heather.”
“Helen,” I correct quietly.
“And now you come running over here, crying like some aggrieved party. You don’t get to obsess over two guys and act like you’re a victim when I develop feelings for one of them. I didn’t betray you. Get over yourself.”
Madison and I aren’t friends. How could I have missed this?
“You’re supposed to be with Patrick,” I whisper, not really intending to be heard, just trying to figure out where the hell I went so wrong.
“What is with your obsession with Patrick? You’ve nevertalkedto him.”
I ignore her and turn to Ellie. “You didn’t putthisin your story,” I say. I turn back to Madison. “Do you know about that? Do you know what he wrote? Did you two read it together and have a laugh?”
“Of course not—” Ellie begins, but Madison cuts him off.
