My Bestie Used My Photo to Catfish a Man—She Never Knew He Was My Boss Chapter 03
I swallowed hard. Boyfriend? Mine?
I instinctively glanced sideways at Lauren. Of course, we made eye contact. Her smile froze at the corners, a flicker of irritation crossing her face. I was used to reading people’s moods, and I caught it instantly.
Time seemed to stop. I forced an awkward laugh and linked arms with Lauren, glancing back at Adrian. “Um… we’re gonna head out now.”
The whole day, until we parted ways, she never brought it up. Not once. My head was spinning.
I took a shower and collapsed into bed, restless. After some thought, I added Adrian on my burner account
first.
[Old account’s dead. Using this one now.]
I racked my brain trying to think of how those confident, gorgeous women text. After way too long, I typed
two more words.
[Babe.]
My palms were sweating. My phone case felt sticky. I quickly cleared my apps.
I needed to unwind, so I opened Twitter. Right at the top of my feed, a post from a girl’s profile I didn’t
recognize. Tagged: People You May Know.
[Some people are so sneaky these days. I give her everything, and she plays games behind my back.]
[She went behind my back and stole the guy I was talking to. Disgusting.]
My heart seized. My oversensitive instincts told me immediately-this was Lauren’s alt account. And she
was subtweeting me.
Hands shaking, I opened the comments.
[Who? Lauren? I’ll go off on her for you.]
Lauren replied with a cute emoji.
[Nothing really. Just saw the true colors of someone I thought was my friend.]
I stared for a long time. Hot tears blurred the words on my screen, followed by a wave of nausea. I wanted to throw up.
Because I wasn’t as pretty as her, she used my photos to brush off some guy. That alone was condescension. Now she was playing the victim. Acting like I’d hurt her.
What exactly did she think I was?
My thoughts spiraled. Back in school, Lauren was the catnpus beauty. Always surrounded by crowds of people. But she’d pull me aside, batting her long lashes, tears welling up.
“Iris, you’re the only one who’s ever genuinely cared about me. Everyone else just wants something from me. It’s all fake. You’re my only real friend.”
Three sentences. That’s all it took for me to devote myself to her completely. Looking back, I’d almost never
said no to her.
A notification pulled me back to reality.
[…]
[You’ve never called me that before.]
