We Must Be Careful Who We Pretend To Be

I took a shower and put on some pajamas before settling onto the couch. I turned on the tv and channel surfed. There was a Pixies documentary on and I stopped there. A few hours later, Ellie walked through the door with Rob. She took one look at me and sat down.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," I lied, "I'm just tired."

There was no way I was going to talk to Ellie in front of Rob. She gave me a dirty look.

"Rob, go home babe."

"What? I thought I was staying here?"

"I'm sorry Rob, this is important."

"Ellie, it's ok. I'm going to bed anyways."

"I can tell something's wrong."

"And I don't want to talk about it!" I exclaimed, raising my voice a little. I got up and stormed into my room, slamming the door behind me. I kicked my bed and then sat on the edge of it. My cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Abigail."

"Will?" I asked sarcastically.

"Are you ok? I was kind of concerned when you left so quickly."

"I'm fine," I mumbled.

There was some awkward silence. Will cleared his throat nervously.

"So, what do you think about Amanda."

"She seems nice, I didn't really get to talk to her," I said. I mean, what was I supposed to say?

"I really like her."

I wanted to say something along the lines of," why are you telling me this?", but I didn't.

"Are you happy?"

There was more awkward silence.

"Because, that's all I want for you. I want you to be happy."

"I'm happy," he murmured.

"Then I'm happy for you," I replied.

"So, do you want to go get some coffee tomorrow?"

"How would Amanda feel about that?"

"Well, she knows what happened. But, she trusts me."

"I suppose. Do you want to meet on campus?"

"Would that be easiest for you?" he asked.

"Yeah, didn't Ellie tell you? I'm teaching drawing and illustration."

"No, she didn't.

"So, I finish at 2."

"Ok, 2:15 at the school coffee shop?"

"Sounds good."

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

I hung up my phone and sat there. I was just torturing myself. He had a girlfriend, he was happy. I couldn't break that. So, I curled up in my bed and dreamed of the love that I gave up and couldn't have anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"All right guys, I'll see you on Wednesday. Remember that your 1st project is due on Friday."

My last class got up and filtered out of the room. I gathered my things and went to the coffee shop. Will was sitting there with two coffees and a stack of papers. He was so handsome as he concentrated, eyebrows knitted, red pen in hand. I went and sat down with him.

"Well, hello there sailor," I drawled.

He smiled and looked up.

"Abigail, my bonny lass. This is for you. I figured I'd just order 2 since we drink the same thing."

"Ah, you think you know me Will Harrington?"

"Oh, I don't think, I know."

"So self-assured."

"Are you being snarky?"

"You can't use my word!" I exclaimed
.
"You put it out there!" he cried.

I grabbed my coffee and took a drink. He watched me with his usual smirk.

"What?"

"You drink that coffee with so much gusto."

"Hey! I can't live without my coffee! Sue me! So tell me, William, why did you ask me out for coffee?"

"I just missed hanging out with you."

"Hey baby! Are you done yet?"

Amanda came up from behind us and sat on his lap. She set her fast food cup on the table and put her arms around him.

"Ugh, KFC? How can you eat that shit?" I asked.

"It's good!" she cried defensively.

"Have you seen what they do to their chickens? They step on them, spray paint them, throw them against walls. It's absolutely disgusting."

"They're just animals."

"Will, I'll leave you with your lady. I'm not going to get into an argument on ethics."

"Abigail"

"Why do you always call her Abigail when everyone else calls her Abby?"

"I don't know, I just do."

"Ok, William, I'll talk to you later. And Amanda, please, eat somewhere else."

I got up and left. I was disgusted with the fact that Will was dating a girl who didn't respect the way he lived his life. I hated her, with a passion. And trust me, if I could kick the bitch, I would. She was everything I hated, or maybe it's just because she's with Will.

"Will, this is getting uncomfortable. I wish you would stop talking to Abby. You weren't when we first started dating, I don't know why you have to start now," Amanda complained.

"She's my friend. I'm not going to stop talking to her."

"Will, if you really love me, you'll stop going out of your way to hang out with her. She doesn't like me, all she does is pick on me. And friends or not, you two have a history."

"She likes you just fine. But, she's passionate about the vegan thing. You know, I am too. And the thing about history is, it's history."

Amanda pouted, so Will gave in.

"Fine, I won't go out of my way to see her."