More than Friends - Monica Murphy Read Free Page A

Tuttle.
    Clearly I was delusional.
    “I didn’t want to tell you like this!” Livvy is yelling from the car. I stand up straight and watch her warily, noting the sadness in her eyes, how her face looks ready to crumple at any given moment. “I was kind of hoping you would’ve caught the photo on Em’s feed, though honestly, I don’t know which way to find out is worse.”
    “Em posted this?” Oh. My. God.
    That bitch.
    “Yeah.” Livvy nods and sniffs. “Last night.”
    My blood is immediately boiling. Whenever there’s something bad happening, Em always seems to be behind it. The girl is toxic. Poison. She’s also Livvy’s former best friend.
    I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her.
    “I was with Tuttle yesterday,” I say as I get back into the car, my mind going over everything that happened yesterday. What time he dropped me off at my house—around five—which gave him plenty of time to go somewhere else with Ryan and end up with the girls.
    “For how long?” When I tell her, her mouth turns grim. “He could’ve left you and ended up with Ryan and Em and whatever her name is…”
    I want to believe he would never do that to me. Every tiny molecule that makes me into who I am literally aches for that to be the truth.
    But maybe…maybe it’s not. Maybe he did leave my house to go meet another girl. He is a known player. Who am I to him, really? He says a bunch of stuff, and it all sounds good, but maybe he says the same thing to lots of girls.
    “The photo looks recent. Not like her and Ryan have known each other that long, but you know what I mean. Maybe it’s from another time when they were together?” she asks almost hopefully.
    “Please. This was taken last night.” I’m going with that. It’s almost easier to believe the absolute worst right from the start. Gets the painful part over with, you know?
    “You really think so?”
    Glancing in Livvy’s direction, I see the shock etched all over her face. She doesn’t want this to be true. She’d rather believe it was an old photo and Ryan is innocent. Of course she feels that way. He’s her boyfriend. She just recently gave up her V-card to that guy. He’s sort of a douche, but a hot douche, so I can kind of understand her attraction. Sort of like how Tuttle’s a hot douche too.
    Disgusted with my Tuttle-filled thoughts, I hit the button to shut off my phone’s screen and drop it into the center console cup holder. “If this didn’t happen last night, then they were probably together very, very recently.”
    Liv says nothing and I stare out the windshield, my fingers curled tight around the steering wheel. I need to start the car and drive to school, but it’s like I’m paralyzed. Going to school means facing Tuttle, and he’s suddenly become the last person I want to see.
    “What are we going to do?” Livvy whispers hoarsely. “I don’t know what to say to Ryan. I don’t want to look like the jealous girlfriend—he hates that sort of thing. But I don’t know how else to handle this without confronting him.”
    Ugh. Proof again that Ryan is a total jerk. He runs hot and cold with Liv, especially before they officially got together. “You’re allowed to be the jealous girlfriend. He has his hands all over Em, yet you’re supposed to be his girlfriend,” I remind her, heavy on the sarcasm.
    “They’ve hooked up before,” Livvy says.
    “Who cares? He’s with you now. Or at least he’s supposed to be.” I turn the key in the ignition almost violently, pressing my foot on the gas so the car’s engine revs up, loud and rumbling. I thought hearing it would bring me some satisfaction but so far, no go.
    Livvy is watching me in shock, with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. “Um, are you okay?”
    “Of course I’m not okay,” I bite out as I put the car into reverse, glance over my shoulder and back out of the driveway. I do it so fast that when I put the car into drive, my tires squeal as I pull away