My Boyfriend and My Best Friend Betrayed Me

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1: 1

My night shift ended, and I took a cab to the barbecue joint.

Edwin Mason and his crowd were already deep into the meal, the table loud and warm.

My best friend Nora Fox was pressed against his side in a deep V-neck, her face flushed pink.

Sonia Cox, you made it. Sit, sit. Nora waved me over like nothing was wrong.

I looked at the wreckage of the table, the few grilled skewers left, and mumbled an apology.

"Edwin, I want some of your grilled sausage." Nora looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

Edwin thoughtfully snapped the stick in two and held the sausage up to her lips.

"No, not that one. I don't want the top. I want the one down below."

The whole table burst out laughing. Not getting it, I laughed along too, awkward and lost.

Edwin and Nora watched me and laughed even harder.

Later, when I finally understood what that line meant,

the two of them were the ones crying.

1.

After the laughter died down, Edwin and Nora were still the center of everything.

And me, Edwin's actual girlfriend, might as well have been invisible.

"Edwin, you lucky guy. Your girlfriend's got such a great body."

I glanced down, on instinct, at my own flat, shapeless figure.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught the pleased look on Nora's face.

I knew it. Someone had mistaken Nora for Edwin's girlfriend again.

Ever since Nora met Edwin at my apartment,

the two of them had been stuck together like conjoined twins.

When I was burning up with the flu, he was helping Nora pick out nail designs.

When I begged him through my cramps to take me to the hospital, he left me on the side of the road because Nora was scared of thunder in the rain.

When I was cleaning up after his sick mother, changing her, wiping her, he was off chasing dreams with Nora at the ends of the earth.

Every dinner, every gathering, the one on his arm was Nora.

Never me.

At first, when people got it wrong, his friends would correct them for me.

Then, little by little, Edwin and Nora seemed to enjoy it too, and no one bothered anymore.

Something sour rose up my throat.

I'd worked too late tonight and missed dinner, and my useless stomach was starting to rebel again.

I fumbled for a cup, and someone on my right slid a glass of hot water over.

The warm heat went down, and that sour churning, whether it came from my stomach or somewhere else, got pushed back down.

"Edwin, come on, tell the guys how you and your girl met."

Edwin smiled. "Knock it off, man. Nosy."

But the guy wasn't satisfied. He picked up a beer and walked over to Nora.

"Come on, since Edwin won't say it, you tell us. How'd he win you over?"

Nora glanced at the fizzing yellow liquid in the glass.

Then she gave Edwin a wounded little look.

Edwin pushed the beer away for her and pulled me over by the arm.

"Wrong girl, buddy. This one's Edwin's girlfriend."

The guy holding the beer went red in the face.

Nora waved at him, playful. "I'm Sonia's best friend. She was running late from work, so Edwin just brought me along first. We're all friends here, right?"

Even with Edwin holding on to me, the space between us was still wider than the space between him and Nora.

The guy looked at me, embarrassed. "Sorry, sorry. My mistake, I've got no eyes. Three drinks, my penalty."

He knocked back three glasses one after another, gulping them down, his face flushing crimson.

Before I could get a word out, Edwin shoved a full glass of beer into my hand.

"Lee Whitney, come on, you've made your point. We're all brothers here. This one's on me and my girl, so we're the ones who should be apologizing to you."

I gripped the glass, the pain deep in my stomach making my hand shake so I couldn't stop it.

Edwin drained his own glass and looked at me, quiet.

"Drink up, Sonia. Lee did three to apologize to you. You've only got this one."

I looked up at the man wearing the title of my boyfriend.

I looked at the whole table waiting for the show, opened my mouth, and got ready to force the drink down through the pain.

"Oh, Sonia's probably not feeling well. Let me drink it for her."

Nora snatched the glass away.

Before it even reached her lips, Edwin blocked it.

His arm swung too hard, and the whole glass of beer splashed all over Nora.

"What are you trying to prove? Your period's about to start."

Nora looked at him, troubled. "I just didn't want to put you in a tough spot, Edwin. Now I'm all wet."

Nora's chest rose and fell, her curves even more striking.

More than a few pairs of eyes drifted over her.

"Take off your shirt and give it to me."

At his furious shout, I froze in shock.

2: 2

2.

"Take it off. If it wasn't you, how did Nora's clothes get wet?"

Edwin looked like a different person, the veins standing out on his forehead.

He clamped down on my wrist so hard it went red in an instant.

"Edwin, I've only got a camisole underneath. I can't take it off."

I said it in a low voice, my face burning.

"You're flat as a cutting board. Nobody's going to look. Hurry up and take it off."

I looked at the fury in his eyes, and at Nora behind him, one hand out, coaxing him not to be angry.

And all at once none of it seemed to matter at all.

I was down to the last button when someone caught the shirt from behind me.

"Edwin, come on, it's nothing. I've got a jacket, brother. Let his girlfriend's friend put it on."

I knew this man. He was Edwin's college roommate, Aaron Grant.

The moment I heard him say "his girlfriend's friend"

The smile fell off Nora's lips.

"Put it on. Don't catch cold."

Edwin dressed Nora with such care, then smoothed her hair back into place.

And I stood there in a mess, like the punch line to a joke.

"Don't hold it against Edwin," Aaron said. "He's had a few drinks, it went to his head."

Seeing how awkward I was, Aaron pulled me down into a seat.

He put himself between me and Nora and handed me a cup of hot water.

I held the cup and wiped the tears off my face.

"Edwin, you were pretty rough on her just now, weren't you? Scared her into crying," Lee said.

His words turned everyone's eyes to me.

"Sonia, let me apologize for Edwin. He acted on impulse just now. He didn't mean it," Nora said.

I looked at that pitiful little face of hers.

And I let out a laugh with nothing behind it.

She was apologizing to me on behalf of my boyfriend. In what capacity, exactly?

"Here's what we'll do. You go sit next to Edwin. You came late, you haven't eaten anything, so let Edwin feed you."

As if she were making some enormous concession, she pushed me over to Edwin's side.

With everyone egging him on, Edwin picked up the chopsticks, irritated.

There was almost nothing left on the table. He poked around at the grilled sausage that had long since gone cold.

"I was wrong just now. I apologize."

He held that grilled sausage, coated in grease and cold as ice, up to my mouth.

I raised my eyes to him. There was a layer of frost in them.

I couldn't find a trace of warmth.

"Edwin, you sure you're giving her the sausage from on top of the table?"

"Edwin, can you really bear to?"

Nora chimed in, all sugar. "It's fine, I don't even like eating it anyway."

Lee slapped his own head, all on his own. "I forgot. The one on top of the table is hers. The one under the table's the one for Nora."

Nora's face went red, and Edwin's hand jerked.

The grilled sausage I hadn't caught rolled off and dropped to the floor.

Landed in the trash.

Just like this relationship of mine, a thing in name only.

I set down the chopsticks and looked at Edwin and Nora, both laughing their hearts out.

And all at once I felt that everything should end right here.

3: 3

3.

The dinner broke up, and Nora stood there with her arm looped through Edwin's, both of them waiting on me.

"Hurry up. What's the holdup? Nora's legs have gone numb from standing."

Edwin snapped it at me, cold.

I sat there looking at the wreckage all over the ground, not moving.

"Edwin, my stomach hurts. I hope it's not that time of the month coming."

Nora's voice went all soft and pitiful.

That got Edwin worked up.

"Sonia, what's your problem? It's the middle of the night. Nora can't stay up like this."

I gave a cold little laugh.

Someone who supposedly can't stay up late is the same someone who kept begging him to set this late-night thing up in the first place.

"I'm counting to three. If you're not on your feet by then, don't blame me for leaving you behind."

After his voice cut off, I turned and watched him walk away, and heard how final it sounded.

"This one's not on me. Even if she runs and tells my mom, I'm not scared."

Edwin's voice was full of nothing but impatience with me.

"Edwin, why don't I just grab a cab home? You wait for Sonia."

Nora gave in, so very thoughtful about it.

"No. I want to see just how far she'll push this."

Nora turned her head to look at me, her eyes brimming with amusement and a dare.

For Nora's sake, Edwin had left me behind more times than I could keep track of.

So many I'd lost count.

But the most dangerous one, the time that scared me the most,

was last year over the Fourth of July, on the highway.

Nora had been going on about wanting a road trip.

Edwin drove, dragging me along to keep her company.

Then she got upset in the passenger seat, so Edwin just pulled the car onto the shoulder and locked it there.

No markers set out behind us at all.

I sat inside, watching cars roar past, terrified out of my mind.

In a panic I dialed 911, and my phone happened to die right then.

So the police contacted my emergency contact instead, Edwin's mother.

Once she learned everything, Mrs. Mason lost her temper in a way I'd almost never seen.

She made him kneel at his father's grave for three days and three nights.

Nora stayed there beside him the whole three days and nights, eyes rimmed red.

Even after I explained I hadn't meant any of it,

Edwin only grew more and more distant with me from then on.

My phone rang. I wiped away the tears and answered.

"Parking lot. You've got three minutes. If you're not here, then get yourself home."

It was Edwin.

Before, I would have followed him obediently.

But tonight, all at once, I was sick of it.

The "don't" of "no need" never made it out of my mouth.

The engine started up, and the line went dead.

The night wore on. One by one the other parties broke up, and the barbecue joint went quiet.

The server kindly topped off my hot water.

Watching the steam rise, a pain drilled through me so sharp I couldn't stop myself from doubling over.

"Sonia, are you okay?"

I looked up. Aaron was standing behind me.

"How come you're back? Did you forget something?"

I cast around for it.

"Is it that jacket? If you go find Edwin, he'll give it back to you."

He crouched down and looked at me.

"Sonia, I'm not looking for a jacket. I'm only looking for you."

The server came over, all smiles.

"Sir, you're finally out. I've refilled the young lady's hot water twice now."

"It's totally normal for a young couple to argue. You're a grown manjust be the one to soften first, and the whole thing gets sorted."

Aaron thanked her.

He helped me up.

Maybe I'd been sitting too long. My right leg had gone numb.

I couldn't get my footing and pitched forward against his chest.

"There you go. Sir, hold your girlfriend a little more and it all works out."

Before I realized it, my face had quietly gone red.

Aaron didn't correct her.

He just smiled and asked the server, "Could I trouble you to make us a bowl of hot noodle soup? Pull the noodles nice and soft, chop the tomatoes fine, and go heavy on the garlic sprouts and cilantro."

After she left, I looked at him.

"How did you"

"Sonia, I'll explain everything. But first, come eat with me."

4: 4

4.

Inside, the light from the overhead bulbs was soft.

The cold air from the AC cleared my head.

The noodles came out, and they smelled wonderful.

"Eat. I noticed you barely touched anything back there."

He ladled the noodles into a small bowl and set it in front of me.

I held the bowl, looking at him, wanting to ask.

"Eat first. When you're done, I'll explain."

Two bites in, the tears came without my permission.

I hadn't eaten hot noodle soup this good in so, so long.

Edwin didn't like it. He thought it was cheap, poor-people food.

After I got together with him, I never had it, not once.

Maybe I really was starving. I cleaned out the whole bowl.

"Thank you. That's twice tonight you've helped me."

He smiled. "Sonia, after all these years, you're still so distant with me."

He poured me a cup of hot water. Steam rose, and the light fell across his face.

For a second I felt like I knew that face so well.

I gave a small smile. "Edwin doesn't like me getting too close to other people. You're his friend. I don't want any misunderstanding."

His smile faded.

"But he gets that close to your friend. That doesn't bother you?"

I froze.

Edwin was fiercely possessive and controlling.

Wearing the title of his girlfriend, I had to obey him.

But he had lost every boundary with Nora long ago.

I took a sip of water and gave a bitter little smile, saying nothing.

"Sonia, I shouldn't say this."

Aaron paused.

But it was as if he'd made up his mind about something.

"Sonia, but I'm going to say it anyway."

I looked into his damp eyes.

"Do you really not understand what Nora meant?"

I thought back to what Nora had said at the dinner.

"I, I don't know which part you mean."

Aaron looked at me, and something else surfaced in his eyes.

If I wasn't mistaken, it looked like pity.

He took out his phone and played the video of Nora whining for Edwin to feed her the grilled sausage.

Only then did I notice, in the crowd of laughing people,

that flustered version of me, forced to smile along, looked so helpless.

"It was just a grilled sausage. Nora was being greedy, that's all. It's nothing."

Aaron looked at me, his expression very complicated.

"Sonia, that line of hers can't be explained away as her being greedy."

"You saw the sausage on top of the table. You didn't see the one under the table."

He was talking faster now, with an edge of urgency.

"Aaron, you've lost me. What's the difference between the sausage on the table and the one under it?"

"I know you're worried about me. But I can't get angry over one line from her."

By the end, my voice had gone quiet.

Right. Edwin could dump me on the street in the middle of the night.

What right did I have to be angry?

Aaron looked at me, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Sonia, I'm not like them. Even if Edwin finds out one day, I'd still tell you the truth."

He opened his mouth, but he couldn't get it out.

He swallowed a few mouthfuls of ice water and still couldn't say it.

In the end he handed me the phone.

He pointed at a video and said, "This one. See for yourself."

One second was all it took, and I understood.

I finally understood what everyone at that dinner, and Edwin and Nora's laughter, had really meant.