"We were just kids in love."
Nicole is an outgoing senior in high school, hoping to make this year her best yet. She is the new girl in town and is looking forward to new friends and experiences. All seems to be going smoothly until meeting Tessa.
I...
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As I was bringing a case of soup out of the stock room to place on the shelves, I saw Tessa approaching me. Rolling my eyes, I wondered what the hell she could want.
The closer she gets, I can see her tear-filled eyes and crimson face twisted in anger. In response, my shoulders drop.
Here we go.
Bracing myself for impact, I place the heavy box on the floor and cross my arms, ready for the impending explosion.
"What the actual fuck, William?" she bellowed.
My expression hardens. "What happened now?" I retort.
"You happened!"
I looked heavenward, curious about what I did to deserve this attack. "Care to elaborate?"
Tessa's eyes blazed with fury. "How dare you tell that bitch Nicole about my father? I trusted you, William, and never thought you would break your promise, but I guess I was wrong about you."
Realizing that Nicole had said something to Tessa about Tessa's father, I closed my eyes and shook my head before apologizing. "I'm sorry, Tessa. I never meant for it to happen. You have to believe me; I didn't have a choice."
I started to tell her why, but she held up her hand to stop me from continuing.
"Save your breath; little miss jealous, nosy-ass snooper told me the whole sob story. That didn't give you the right to break your promise to me," she screamed.
Surrounding shoppers looked in our direction, curious about our overzealous interaction.
Trying to defuse the confrontation and remove us from prying eyes, I ask, "Can we please take this conversation into the stock room?"
"Screw you, William," Tessa announced with enthusiasm as she turned on her heel and left the store leaving behind a group of shocked shoppers, including me.
I pick up the bulky box and walk to the canned food aisle. After setting it down on the tiled floor, I pull my box cutter out of my back pocket and cut open the case.
All I can think about while stocking the shelves is that even though Tessa is nasty toward Nicole, it doesn't give her the right to break my trust by using Tessa's dad against her.
The more I think about it, the more pissed I get. The first thing I do when going on break is to call Nicole about what the hell happened with Tessa.
It didn't go well at all. After accusing Nicole of being no better than Tessa, Nicole hung up on me. I could tell by her voice that my words deeply hurt her. The sadness in her voice when she said to me that she had to go all but broke my heart.
I told her I thought she was better than that. But she did what I did to Tessa: break the trust. In truth, I'm no better than Nicole. We both are to blame for Tessa's misery.
