The Call From My Future Grave

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I had just finished making a pact with my best friend, Lucy, to apply to Georgetown together once our exam scores came out. And then, my phone rang. It was Lucycalling from ten years in the future.

Did we make it? I asked, my voice bubbling with excitement. Did we get into Georgetown?

Are we married ten years from now? Did we actually have that double wedding we always promised each other?

"Is my husband Dylan? And is yours as drop-dead gorgeous as a movie star?"

In the face of my rapid-fire questions, the line went dead silent. Just for a second. Then, a shaky, trembling breath broke through.

"No," she whispered. "None of it."

"You didn't get in. You ended up at some mediocre state school. And you never married Dylan."

"We didn't have a double wedding, either. Because you died the night before I walked down the aisle."

I froze.

On the other end, Lucy began to sob.

"Erica... I'm so sorry. Dylan and I... we're so sorry. We were already sleeping together before graduation."

"I was terrified you'd find out. To keep you from coming to Georgetown with us, I logged into your portal and changed your university preferences behind your back."

"I kept it a secret for ten years. You didn't find out until the night before my wedding."

"You broke down. You jumped into the river. By the time they pulled you out... you were gone."

"I've spent countless nights drowning in regret. If I hadn't done what I did, you'd still be alive..."

My hand clenched around the phone, my heart dropping into a cold, bottomless pit.

She tried to say more.

But in the background, a painfully familiar male voice cut in.

"Babe, the baby's hungry."

Dylan.

They actually ended up together.

After the call disconnected, I stared blankly at the ceiling for what felt like hours, hot tears slipping down my temples.

My phone buzzed in my hand.

It was a text from Dylan. He said his class was having a pre-graduation dinner tonight and asked if I wanted to come.

He and Lucy were in AP English; I was in AP Calc. Different classes, but whenever they had group hangouts, they always dragged me along.

Dylan and I grew up next door to each other. Lucy moved to our neighborhood later. She was beautiful, and since our homeroom teacher was worried about her walking home alone, she asked Dylan and me to keep her company.

From then on, we did everything together. We walked, did homework, grabbed dinners. Even after we ended up in different tracks, we promised to remain a trio.

Years of shared history couldn't be a lie. So how did it turn into this ten years down the road?

The weight of that phone call pressed hard against my chest. Stubborn and aching, I typed back a rejection.

Its your class dinner. Itd be weird if I showed up. I'll pass.

The moment I hit send, "Typing..." flashed at the top of the screen. It appeared and vanished, hesitating.

A minute later, his reply came:

Youre always at our hangouts. Everyone knows you. No ones going to say a thing.

And even if they do, the Crybaby will tear them a new one. You know how she gets when she's defending people.

"Crybaby." That was his private nickname for Lucy.

They had their special names for each other. For me, I was just "Erica." Or "Erica."

I had actually thrown a tantrum about it once.

Back then, Dylan would throw "Crybaby" around constantly, leaving me sitting there like a third wheel, unable to get a word in.

It was Lucy who noticed my mood first. Shed stopped teasing Dylan, ran over, and asked what was wrong.

When she figured it out, she tapped my forehead gently.

"Oh, Erica, don't be silly. I've been trying to shake that awful nickname forever. Why on earth would you want it?"

"Besides, you and Dylan are going to end up together after graduation anyway. Hes too busy trying to keep you happy to dare call you something so stupid!"

Dylan had nodded along eagerly, backing her up.

I let myself be swept up in their sweet words, letting the jealousy fade.

But seeing those words on my screen now, the tears Id managed to stop came rushing back.

Feelings don't change overnight. The seeds of their betrayal must have been planted back then, growing quietly in the dark.

Ten minutes later, regret set in.

I still couldn't bring myself to believe that the boy I grew up with could betray me so thoroughly.

I ordered an Uber and headed to the venue.

When I arrived at the restaurant, the private dining room was alive with laughter and music.

I reached for the doorknob, but froze when I heard my name.

Lucy's voice carried clearly through the door, striking me like a physical blow.

"Can we please do a different dare? Dylan is literally proposing to his almost-girlfriend tomorrow. Its so inappropriate for us to kiss right now."

Her voice was coy, drawing a chorus of rowdy teasing from the room.

"Oh, please! Like you guys haven't been making out in the back of the classroom all semester? We can practically hear you guys during study hall!"

"Yeah! Shes just the almost-girlfriend, not his wife. Its your last night of freedom, make it count!"

"Exactly! Kiss her! A hundred times if you want!"

The rowdy encouragement grew louder. Lucys face must have been bright red as she turned to Dylan.

Dylan raised an eyebrow, a lazy smirk in his voice. "Once Erica and I are official tomorrow, we won't have opportunities like this. You sure you want to pass it up?"

The tone was light, but the underlying tenderness was unmistakable.

While they basked in their mutual heat, I stood on the other side of the wall, my world turning ice-cold.

My feet felt glued to the floor. In a moment of pure, masochistic desperation, I forced myself to watch through the crack in the door.

Dylan pulled Lucy onto his lap.

They leaned in, exchanging a deep, practiced kiss.

And when Dylans hand began to slip beneath the hem of her skirt

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and ran, collapsing on the curb outside, sobbing uncontrollably.

With trembling fingers, I dialed the future Lucy back. "Why?" I sobbed into the receiver. "Why did it have to be like this? We were supposed to be best friends!"

A long, heavy silence stretched over the line. When she spoke, it was the same three words:

"...I am so sorry."

"Erica, I'm not a good person. You looked at me through rose-colored glasses, but the truth is, I never saw you as my best friend."

My breath hitched. The crying stopped instantly.

Lucys voice was quiet, hollow.

"I was always jealous of you. You weren't flashy, but you were better than me at everything."

"No matter how hard a task was, you handled it beautifully. Meanwhile, I ruined everything I touched."

"My mom, my teachersthey always used you to put me down. Even Dylan only had eyes for you. I wanted so badly to ruin you."

"So, on the day we submitted our college choices, I logged into your portal and changed your preferences. I wanted to make sure your perfect grades only got you into some third-rate state school while we went to Georgetown."

I suddenly remembered a time back in high school when shed had a massive fight with her mother and got kicked out. I had offered to let her stay at my place.

Instead, she had pushed me away like a wild animal, telling me to stop acting like a saint.

At the time, I thought she was just stressed. I didn't think twice about it.

Now, the pieces finally fit. She had hated me all along.

My voice was raw, barely a whisper. "Do you have any idea how much those applications meant to me?"

"I knew. Thats why I chose that exact moment to destroy them. But Erica... do you think I've been happy?"

"This call... this is my chance to make things right. Erica, please, this time, do not trust me. Okay?"

The call cut off again.

It took a long time for the fog in my mind to clear.

By the time my vision focused, the tears on my face had dried into stiff, salty tracks.

She was right. I shouldn't waste another second of my life on these people.

When Dylan came over later that evening, he brought a box of custard buns.

"Your parents aren't home, and I didn't want you skipping dinner. The Crybaby said these are amazing, so I figured you'd love them. Don't starve yourself."

He noticed I hadn't moved, my eyes fixed on the side of his neck.

There was a fresh, dark hickey there.

A flash of panic crossed his eyes. He quickly covered it with his hand, offering a clumsy excuse. "Man, the mosquitoes in that restaurant were brutal..."

"Right," I said quietly. I took the plastic bag from him. "Thanks." Then I closed the door in his face.

Half an hour later, Lucy texted me.

Erica, whats wrong? Dylan said you seemed off when he dropped off the food. If somethings bothering you, don't keep it bottled up. You always said I was your therapist!

The memory of them in that dining room flashed in my mind, tightening my throat.

Lucy sent another text, reminding me to eat the custard buns while they were warm.

I looked down at the trash can. Inside, one of the buns had burst open, its yellow filling resembling a mocking, gaping mouth laughing at my stupidity.

I absolutely hated custard buns. Neither of them had ever bothered to remember.

The next day, I went to the private restaurant Dylan had booked three months in advance.

But when he dropped to one knee, holding out a bouquet of lilies, I looked him in the eye and said, "No."

His body froze. He slowly stood up, his face contorting into a sudden, unprecedented rage.

"Are you kidding me, Erica?"

"We literally planned this! We agreed wed get together after graduation. What the hell is this?"

Lucy, who had been sitting nearby to "witness" the moment, panicked. Her chopsticks clattered onto the table.

"Yeah, Erica, Dylan has waited so long for you. Do you have any idea how many girls he turned down over the years? Youre just joking, right?"

"If you're upset about something, just talk to us. There's no need to hurt Dylan like this. We all know how crazy he is about you."

I didn't say a word. I just watched them.

Finally, a dry, cold laugh escaped my lips.

He was "crazy about me," yet he could pin Lucy against a wall and slide his hands up her skirt?

Lucys eyes welled with tears. She lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, Erica. This is between you two. I shouldn't have opened my mouth. Please don't be mad at me."

She played the victim flawlessly. I didn't budge.

"Enough!" Dylan snapped.

He grabbed Lucys wrist, pulling her up from her chair.

"You did nothing wrong, Lucy. Why are you apologizing to her?"

"Shes been acting like a psycho all day." He glared at me, his eyes dark with malice. "Let me tell you something, Erica. I offered you a chance, and you threw it back in my face. Don't you dare come crawling back to me."

With that, he dragged a sobbing Lucy out of the restaurant.

The cloying scent of lilies drifted into my nose. The bouquet was left on the empty chair.

He had bought her favorite flowers for my proposal, and he still wondered why I said no.

My knuckles turned white as I clenched my fists, a bitter wave washing over me.

I sat in that empty restaurant until closing time.

Dylan blocked my number. For the next few days, not a single word passed between us.

I spent every waking hour researching schools and majors, determined to find a path that wouldn't cross theirs.

Before this, my parents had begged me to apply to colleges near where they worked in New York, but I had refused without a second thought.

"Dylan, Lucy, and I are a package deal," Id told them. "We're going to Georgetown together."

Truthfully, with my academic record, I could have easily gotten into Columbia. But to accommodate Lucys lower scores, I had aimed lower.

What a joke. They didn't deserve my sacrifice.

The day before the final application deadline, Lucy and Dylan suddenly showed up at my doorstep.

Lucy was holding a small bakery box, offering it like a peace offering.

"Don't take what happened the other day to heart, Erica. Dylan only yelled because he loves you so much and got hurt."

"We can't let one emotional fight throw away eighteen years of friendship, right?"

She nudged Dylans arm, prompting him to speak.

He offered a couple of half-hearted, reluctant murmurs. Satisfied, Lucy got straight to the point.

"We have to submit our final choices tomorrow. Have you decided? Were still doing Georgetown, right? You didn't forget our promise?"

There was a frantic, desperate gleam in her eyes.

Lucy wasn't smart. She had never been good at hiding her emotions.

It was almost funny. Because I had trusted her blindly, it had taken me eighteen years to notice the jealousy dripping from her every word.

Taking a sip of water, I looked at her. "I didn't forget."

Lucy let out a visible sigh of relief. "Great! Lets go to the computer lab and submit together tomorrow, okay?"

She wrapped her arm around Dylans as they turned to leave.

As soon as the door clicked shut, the future Lucy called again.

"Do not eat that cake. It's laced with heavy-duty laxatives. Thats how she did it last timeyou were stuck in the bathroom all morning, which gave her the perfect window to log onto your computer and change your submission."

Even though I had spent days processing her betrayal, hearing this sent a chill straight down my spine.

The lengths she would go to destroy me.

My stomach churned with sudden nausea. I slumped over the trash can, dry-heaving into the dark.

The next morning, I woke up early.

I logged onto the portal and submitted my application to Columbia. The entire process took less than an hour.

On my way back, I ran into Dylan, who was carrying a bag of breakfast.

It was from Lucys favorite bakery. It wasn't hard to guess who it was for.

I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my wrist.

He looked at the empty hands where my application folder should have been, his brow furrowing. "Erica, you told Lucy we were going to submit together today. Why did you go behind our backs?"

I yanked my arm free, my voice deadpan.

"I never promised her anything. Keep your guilt trips to yourself."

Dylan blinked, then nodded, his expression turning cold and accusatory.

"I get it. You hate her. Don't think I haven't noticed how hostile you've been to her lately."

"I hate Lucy?" I let out a dry, incredulous laugh.

"Dylan, are you blind or just stupid? She brought me a cake laced with laxatives to make me sick, and you're accusing me of being hostile?"

Dylan froze for a fraction of a second, then immediately shook his head.

"No way. She's too innocent for that. Besides, she has a weak stomach herself; shed never use something like that to hurt someone."

"You obviously just ate something bad and you're blaming her sweet gesture. I actually feel sorry for her having to deal with you."

I bit my lower lip so hard the color fled.

The defense I wanted to scream died in my throat.

Slowly, my shoulders slumped. I turned away.

His heart belonged to Lucy. Any explanation I offered would be a waste of breath.

I went home and blocked them both.

Then, I bought a plane ticket to New York to clear my head with my parents.

When I finally returned to school to pick up my physical enrollment packet, I ran into Dylan and Lucy near the courtyard. They were holding hands.

Seeing me, Lucy panicked and quickly pulled her hand away.

"Erica, its not what you think... my hands were just cold, and Dylan was warming them up..."

I walked past them without stopping. "I don't care."

She scrambled to keep up.

"You and Dylan love each other! You shouldn't let a stupid misunderstanding ruin things!"

"Who loves him?" I snapped, turning around. "Lucy, if you want him, hes all yours. Keep me out of it."

She froze. Dylan stepped forward, shielding her behind him, his face dark.

"What is your problem, Erica? We're all going to the same college. Were going to see each other every day. Do you really have to make things this miserable?"

Looking at their unified front, I smiled. "Who said we're going to the same college?"

Dylan frowned, opening his mouth to ask what I meant.

But before he could, the guidance counselor called out from across the lawn.

"Erica! There you are! You're the last one to pick up your package!"

Before I could move, Dylan bolted past me, snatching the envelope from the counselor's hands.