Page 137 of We Shouldn't Be Together
I meander back to the couch and flop backwards onto it. Dang it. What a mess.
I rub my thumb in a circle between my eyebrows. She called me a dumbass. She called me that because I like Tabitha. A wave of nausea surges from my stomach, through my throat, and crashes onto the back of my tongue.
Gross.
I sit up, swallowing hard. Is this it? If Tabitha and I are for real, are Jamie and I toast?
I grit my teeth as my jaw rocks, and I stare pensively at the staircase. Jamie was livid, but she cooled down enough to say she’d still watch my game tomorrow. That’s what they call hope, isn’t it? Maybe this discussion, althoughheated, is a chance for Jamie to warm up to the idea of seeing Tabitha in a positive light.
Although, she should’ve already been doing that. Tabitha put herself in the firing line, to the point her so-called friend accused her of having an eating disorder. And what? Jamie just wiped it from her memory?
Ugh. I can’t think about Jamie anymore. It hurts my head.
Instead, I pick up my phone and text Tabitha."I need to see you."
"Right now?"
It makes me silently chuckle. "Tomorrow, definitely."
"When are you free?"
"Right now, I’d skip my game to see you."
"Whoa. Soccer is your whole deal. What’s up?"
I wince and tap the phone against my forehead, contemplating if I should divulge what happened with Jamie. When I lower the phone, my heart wins.
"Kinda had an argument with Jamie. Didn’t think it’d blow up like it did."
She texts back,"Did you argue with her over me?"
“Yes,” I say it aloud because I don’t want to tell her.
Dang, but I do want to talk to her.
I click the phone icon and start calling her phone. After three rings, Tabitha answers with a tentative, “Hello?”
“Hi.” I sigh. “Just wanted to hear your voice.”
“You sound off,” she comments. “Is this because…”
“I tried to tell her,” I blurt, hoping to put her at ease. “It didn’t go well.”
“Oh.” She pauses for a few moments, and I hear the patter of her breath through the line. “Does she know we kissed?”
“No. She shut me down any time I tried to point out any of your good qualities.”
“Well, she hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you.”
“She sure as heck doesn’t like me.”
“She doesn’t know you. Ah, man. It’s infuriating. She didn’t even give you credit for diverting Camila’s attacks onto yourself. Ugh. Jamie made me so mad tonight.”
Tabby sniffles. “Your friendship is not over, is it?”
“No, no. We made up. Well, kind of. We might’ve just swept everything under the rug. But I’ll see her tomorrow at the soccer field. Maybe I just need to diffuse the tension before bringing you up again.”
