My Best Friend's Ex(30)

Satisfied, I start to leave but then realize I forgot something. I turn to him once more and say, "And for your information, it's polite to keep your condoms in your nightstand, not the medicine cabinet, unless you want me to start tossing my tampons around like fireworks, popping them in your face. Is that what you want, Tucker? Tampon fireworks? Because don't test me, I will make it happen. I will make it rain period products." Walking off, I shout, "Feminine hygiene will be your worst nightmare, son!"

I slam my door shut and smile to myself. Job well done.

***

"Oh God, I was such an idiot this morning." I slouch in a booth at the student union   and place my tray of food in front of me on the table. I ordered my favorite orange chicken from my favorite quick-order place in the food court but now it's not looking so appetizing. I've spent my entire day at school. This will be my second meal in the union   because I can't bear to go home. Not after my embarrassing morning rant.

Tampon fireworks? Come on, Emma!

Adalyn sits across from me and starts to open her straw, tearing the paper off at the end and expertly working the plastic through the opening, saving the tube of paper so she can tie it in a knot, like she always does.

"Oh, you were an idiot? This is exciting. What did you do?" Adalyn takes a sip of her Dr. Pepper, orange soda combination-gross-and leans forward.



       
         
       
        

Before telling her what happened, I ask, "Was I a bad roommate?"

"No. If you were a bad roommate, do you really think I would have roomed with you for so long? Why do you ask?" Adalyn is always to the point, and I like that about her.

"I feel like I'm a pretty considerate person. I mean, I didn't put mint on your pillows or anything, but I made sure to make things as comfortable as possible between us, right?"

Adalyn picks up her wrap and looks at me, a knowing glint in her eye. "Uh oh, trouble in roommate paradise? How is that possible? You're rooming with a genuine, bona fide, certified, personified piece of man meat. What could be wrong with rooming with the epitome of all men? I mean, his smirk alone should make you feel complete at night."

I haven't seen that smirk in days.

I tug on my ponytail and shift in my seat. "I said something stupid the other night. I meant it, but I shouldn't have said it to him and now he barely says anything to me. We're just co-existing, not actually living together."

"What did you say?"

Groaning, I poke my fork at a piece of chicken and put it in my mouth. I talk and chew at the same time; it's Adalyn, she doesn't care. "I mentioned his ex-girlfriend who is one of my best friends."

"Who?" Adalyn is really getting into the conversation.

"Sadie, you met her."

"Oh yeah, she has the hot, nerdy boyfriend with the glasses. God, I wish she would use him as a feather against my body."

Slightly weird, but it's Adalyn. "Yeah, that's her. Tucker and Sadie were childhood sweethearts. Our group of friends always thought they'd get married one day."

"Huh, what happened?"

I think back to the day Sadie called me in tears, unsure of what to do, her future in the balance. "They were always rocky, especially when Sadie went to college at Cornell, but it wasn't until she got pregnant that everything went spiraling."

"Sadie was pregnant?"

I nod and take another bite of chicken. "Yeah, she lost the baby a few weeks later which changed everything, even our friend dynamic. Their relationship combusted and we were all kind of forced to choose sides. They didn't make us, but it felt like we had to. Tucker, being two years older than us, easily slipped out of the scene and that's why I didn't see him for so long."

"That's kind of sad."

"It is." My gut starts to churn as I think about the turn of events Tucker had to face. He lost his baby, his love, and his support system. He lost everything, and here I am, rubbing it in his face that Sadie wasn't the person for him. God, I'm such a freaking asshole. 

"What did you say that made him so mad?"

I swallow hard, thinking back to the other night. The devastated look on his face, the way he shut down so quickly, and then dismissed me, after we were having such a good night. I really should have kept my mouth shut. "I told him Sadie wasn't right for him."

"That doesn't seem so bad." I love that Adalyn tries to ease the tension in my heart.

"It is when she was everything he ever wanted." Leaning forward, I place my hand on the table and say, "Adalyn, he was and I guess still is so in love with her. He worshipped the ground she walked on. Yes, they had their fights, but even when they fought, you could still see the passion in his eyes for her. When they weren't together, he was miserable, and when they were together, he was happy. She literally could make or break him with a few words."