Left Behind

CARTER

Kristen and I sat in the kitchen at the counter as we worked on our project. Despite our short attention spans, we had managed to get half of our project done without playing around. The only time we had stopped was when I made egg and rice, something that my grandma made for me when I was little.

“Want Some?” I offered Kristen as she nodded. I fixed her a plate as well.
She stared at me with a smirk on her face. “You are so pissed off right now. I bet you can’t stand for Bryce to be locked in that room with Aliyah.”

I laughed because I thought that it was funny, but mostly because it was true. Why couldn’t they work on their project in the open like Kristen and me? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Why are you so worried?” she continued. “Do you not trust Aliyah? That would be a great choice, though, if that’s what you were thinking.”

“About that… why don’t you trust her? I bet it has something—no everything—to do with Brycen. I can just tell, Kristen.”

She shrugged her shoulders, and swept her blonde curls from her shoulder. “This weekend, Trevor and I are going to a party. You should come, Hon. It’s going to be a blast.”

“You’re changing the subject again, Kristen. Please just tell me what the hell went on between the two of you and Bryce.”

She sighed. “You won’t want to date him after I tell you this. I mean, Aliyah is your ‘BFF’ right? Let me tell you something,” she said. “You cannot trust her, Carter. She is not the bubbly person that you think that she is. Now, I know that we didn’t see head to head before, but we are closer and you don’t have to worry about me coming after you anymore. Trust me.”

“I believe you, whatever, but I still want to know.”

Kristen rolled her eyes as I sat her plate in front of her. She scooped some of the food on her fork and ate it. Apparently it was her first time having egg and rice despite the fact that it is the easiest meal to cook on earth.

“Fine Carter, if that’s what you want.” She looked at me waiting for me to change my mind, but I didn’t want to. I had wanted to know for the longest time what happened with Bryce and Aliyah. “Okay, whatever. Bryce and I dated for almost three years, so you would see why there was a problem when Aliyah and Bryce fucked last year.”

My mouth dropped open before I could stop it.

“You’re gonna catch flies, Sweet pea,” she ensured. “But, anyways, it was while we were dating which makes it worse. And Aliyah and I were best fucking friends. Every weekend we were having slumber parties and going places together. I was madder at myself for not seeing that something was going on between the two of them. I mean, it had to have been right there in front of my face, right?

“The only reason I found out was because Blaine saw it all happening. When I confronted Aliyah about it she told me but Bryce denied everything. Eventually everything came out, you know? And I was so hurt. Aliyah and I ended up getting in a huge fight, I whooped her ass, and she got mad because Bryce acted like nothing ever happened. I ended up forgiving him and shit… And everyone wondered why I was so protective over him.”

I sat there confused as hell. I didn’t know what to say or how to respond because although I did expect something interesting, I didn’t think that it was that bad. “No way.” That was all that I could come up with.

“I swear, Carter.”

“Well, then how I am supposed to know whether to trust Bryce or not? Or Aliyah? I mean, they are the closest people that I have right now. And I thought that I really liked him—”

“Thought? No, Carter, you still do like him. And don’t tell him that I told you. You can’t let him know that.”

“Fine.”

“Bryce is—”

He walked in with Aliyah trailing behind with a confused look on her face. “I swear I always catch you talking about me,” Bryce told us. “Y’all just can’t keep my name out of your mouths.”

Kristen rolled her eyes and got up to throw her plate away. “Carter, my boyfriend wants me to go to his baseball game in about two hours. Do you want to come with?”

I shook my head at her. “No thanks, I don’t want to be a third wheel or anything.”

“You won’t,” she replied with a smirk on her face. “I just found out that Peyton McMillan is his cousin, and he is also on the baseball team. We’re eating out afterwards. You should so come.”

I thought about it. It seemed like a great idea to relax due to the fact that what Kristen told me, if it were even true, was eating at my insides. If that was true, I couldn’t have a relationship with Bryce anyway since Aliyah did, even though he denied it. Friends don’t mess with friends’ exes.

“Of course,” I agreed. “I’m hungry anyway.”

Bryce grabbed my arm, catching my attention. “We were going to hang out later, remember?”
“No,” I said, “I don’t.”

+

“What are you doing?” Bryce asked me as I did my hair. He was standing in the doorway of the bathroom as I ran the flat iron through. “Why don’t you want to hang out tonight?”

I must say that I felt bad for putting him off, but he was making it bigger than it actually was. He was acting hurt and neglected, but what kind of boyfriend cheats with your best friend? I don’t want someone like that, if I had to choose someone.

“Carter?”

“What?” I yelled because he had been interrogating me since I agreed to go to the game.
He shook his head. “You’re standing me up, Carter. And… what’s your problem? Why are you yelling and ignoring me? I think you’re spending a little too much time with Kristen! What did she tell you?”

“What are you talking about? She never told me anything!”

“She must’ve,” he shot back. “She was talking about me when I walked in. And she convinced you to stand me up so easily as if I did something to make you mad. Just tell me the truth, please?”

I dropped my brush onto the counter, loudly. “Can you get out? Go work on your fucking project, Brycen.”

“What did I do?” he begged.

“Nothing—I can’t tell you. Just… please leave.”

He nodded before walking away, and I felt guiltier than I ever had. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings because I loved him, but I wasn’t going to set myself up for heartbreak. I already had trust issues as is. I had already been through so much hurt.

I wasn’t welcoming anymore.