How To Stay Afloat (BxB)

Chapter 25: Testing the water

On friday Carla, Harry, Austin and I all meet up at a coffee shop to discuss my stupid lie for my birthday party tomorrow.

"She's called Anna?" Carla asks me amused.

"Yes." I say nodding. "And she's basically Austin, just as a girl." I explain.

Austin groans annoyed. "I can't believe you're really doing this."

"Come on, it's just for this weekend." I say.

"Can't you at least pretend you guys broke up?" He asks me frustratedly.

Oh. Right. I could say that. I mean my asshole girlfriend has to work on my birthday. What a bitch. That's a reason to break up.

"You're right. I'm gonna tell him that." I say, gaining a cheer from everyone.

"But, you still have to pretend like we planned." I say. "Carla, you're gonna inform Caleb with all the details." I command.

"Yes, sir." She says and I roll my eyes.

"Okay, and no gay jokes or similar." I announce.

"Sammy, don't you think that's all a little too much? I mean he's your friend, why not just tell him the truth?" Harry asks me frustratedly.

"Because." I turn to him. "He would get mad at me for not saying anything earlier. You know how it is with secrets. The longer you wait, the more people that know, the harder it gets to tell someone who you should have told right away." I say, clearly talking about him and Adam.

Harry bites his lip, glaring at me. Carla just looks confused between us two and Austin looks annoyed.

"You know what? It's not that hard." He says and then turns to Carla. "Carla, I gotta tell you something." He says.

She sits up excitedly, waiting for the great reveal.

"Let me guess. Camille doesn't look like in the pictures?" She asks, smirking.

"What? No!" He says, shaking his head.

Didn't he show her the pictures of them together? Did he only show them to me? They're his lock screen after all.

"I got pictures of us." He says. "I'm gonna show you later. Now I gotta tell you something else." He says and takes a deep breath.

"Hang on." Austin says. "Should I- should I leave?" He asks unsure.

Harry looks confused. "Right, you're still here, too. Nah, stay here, who cares. You don't spread any secrets because you talk to no one."

Austin doesn't even take offense in that and just nods.

Harry turns his attention back to an impatient looking Carla.

"I had a thing going with Adam." He says without any more hesitation.

Carla looks confused, not even shocked or surprised, just confused.

"A thing with Adam? What do you mean by a thing?" She asks.

"We met up about once a week to, well, uhm, to hook up basically. And it's been going for a few months until I ended it three weeks ago." He says.

Carla looks at me and then at Austin and back to Harry. "Did they both know?" She asks angrily.

Harry looks at Austin who doesn't show any surprise about the story.

"Wait, Sammy did you tell Austin?" He asks me accusingly.

"No! No, I didn't." I claim, looking nervously at Austin.

"I heard you talk about it with Sammy and I heard you talk about it with Adam, too." He says, shrugging. "Plus, I was at a party where you both disappeared in the same room."