My phone buzzes, pulling me out of my flu-induced haze. I glance at the screen, barely able to focus through the pounding in my head. It’s my best friend Maya.
Maya: Did you and Alex break up??
I frown, blinking hard to make sure I’m reading that right.
My heart stumbles, like it’s preparing for bad news.
The response comes almost immediately, the words so blunt they make my stomach drop.
Maya: He just walked into the party I’m at…with another girl.
The air feels like it’s been sucked out of my lungs. I read the message again, hoping I somehow misunderstood.
Alex wouldn’t do that. We’re engaged. He put a ring on my finger, for God’s sake! My hands shake as I try to type.
Kylie: Are you sure it’s him?
My heart shatters a little more.
Maya: They’re all over each other.
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. How could he? After everything we’ve been through together…how could he do this to me?
Maya: Maybe she’s just a friend?
A bitter laugh escapes my lips. Yeah, right. A friend who drapes herself all over him at a party? I can picture it so clearly — his easy smile, that stupid charm he knows how to turn on at the drop of a hat.
When he’s talking to you, he makes you feel like you’re the only girl in the world he cares about. It’s hard not to be pulled in by him, like a planet revolving around the sun.
My stomach lurches as my mind flashes to all the times he promised me he’d never hurt me, that I was the only one. Lies, all of it.
I get out of bed, put on a pair of jeans and grab my keys, ignoring the ache in my muscles and the sharp, dizzying pain behind my eyes.
Flu or no flu, I have to see what’s going on for myself. My phone buzzes one last time.
Maya: Kylie, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it. You’re sick.
I know she’s trying to protect me, but it’s too late. I’m already out the door.
If Alex is in fact cheating, I need to look him in the eyes and see if he has the guts to lie to me to my face.
I’m not letting him get away with this crap. Not tonight.
