by Erin Downing
“Surprise!” I shouted, gleeful.
I grabbed his doorknob.
I turned it.
I pushed.
And gasped.
Jesse did not seem to have heard me knock at his door, or call out to him. He did not notice that his bedroom door had opened and that I was now standing in his doorway. He was completely oblivious to my presence, for better or for worse.
For better, because I’d like to think that if he’d known that I was standing there, he might have ceased and desisted all suspicious activity.
For worse, because said suspicious activity seemed to involve swallowing my best friend’s face whole.
The blood drained from my face and I felt faint. There, right before my plane-puffy and red-rimmed eyes, were Jesse and Alana. Kissing. And possibly doing some other stuff that was maybe a little more PG-13. His hand was buried in her straight-ironed, low-lighted, meticulously layered hair. Her premium-denim-clad legs were splayed across his legs. Kelly Clarkson sounded incredibly chipper about this whole state of affairs.
I, however, wanted to die.
“What the…?” I started, grabbing against the door frame to keep myself steady.
Fortunately, just then Kelly stopped wailing, and Jesse and Alana were finally aware of my presence. They had the good grace, at least, to spring apart to opposite sides of the bed guiltily, Alana furtively straightening out the hem of her tank top. She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, silent.
A power guitar chord cut through the tension, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Sheepishly, Jesse grabbed at a remote and shut the stereo down. Now you could hear a pin drop again. That, or the tiny, tearing sound of my heart as it made its way through the meat grinder that was my best friend and boyfriend’s betrayal.
Ouch.
The awkwardness threatened to suffocate us. Finally Jesse cleared his throat, breaking the silence. He ran his fingers through his unruly brown hair.
“So,” he started, looking equal parts embarrassed, ashamed, and confused. “You’re home early.”
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