Don't Leave Me

Friendship

One Year Earlier

"Come on, Jess! I can't believe you'd asked him that!" I laughed as she told me what happened last night with Jake her current boy toy.

"Well I've always wanted to try it! Tell me that after watching that episode of Broad City you haven't thought about pegging some hot guy?"

She looked at me in a bemused and serious way that it broke the dam. I was laughing so hard, I was practically getting abs as she looked at me expectantly.

"No, Jess, I haven't. It was funny though! And I cant believe Abbi ruined his dildo!"

We started laughing loudly as we walked to our class. Jess and I loved Broad City, we couldn't get enough of it. I was more than a little sad to hear it was coming to an end.

Abbi and Ilana were a little like us. I was definitely more of an Abbi and Jess was obviously Ilana.

Jess tried to catch her breathe as she continued her story, "You should have seen the look on his face! He was stunned, El, stunned silent. But then he started to laugh until he saw I was serious. And then... he ran! El. He. Ran." And then we both lost it again. Ugh! We're going to be late, again.

"Ok. Ok. Ok. Stop. We're going to be late to class. Professor James will look at us all grumpy death glare like again, you know it creeps me out. Plus Dylan will be all smug at us being late taking my money... Again. I swear I'm always be the paying his caffeine addiction." She looked at me and shook her head.

"You supply his just as much as he supplies yours. With all the little bets you guys make", she said a little gruffly with humor that seemed forced. She looked away and then back at me a little nervously.

I looked at her hands and sure enough she was shifting the ring on her index finger with her thumb, she was nervous but why.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?" I was getting a weird feeling, she was such a sure woman and lively, a little crazy with so much confidence it was a little off putting to see she was nervous.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Jess looked me in the eyes and nodded but didn't say anything, still toying with her ring.

"It's nothing, or well more like not my place to say. Can we just drop it." As they turned the corner Dylan came into view, our conversation forgotten and Jess waved to him.

"Hey, D!", she said to him with a look that I didn't quite understand but he sure did. He softly shook his head at her with fondness and with something else that I couldn't place.

He turned to me with a smile as he approached slinging an arm over Jess' shoulders, "Hello, Ellie. Late again." He extended his arm, palm up as he hugged Jess into him in greeting.

I felt a tinge of envy at there friendship. We had all met at that same time having known each other about two years now but his friendship with Jess had always seemed more then ours. Of course Jess and I hugged and he did occasionally hug me too but it wasn't the same.

He tended to hug her in greeting like now and share looks that I wasn't privy to their meaning and it hurt for some reason. I knew we were all great friends, I mean were best friends the three of us.

The three musketeers, as cliche as three best friends referring to themselves that way was. But it was true, we were inseparable. I took my five out of my back pocket, I was ready as always with a fiver as I knew he was in case either of us needed to pay up on a bet.

"Ugh, a minute shouldn't count. The teacher isn't even in here."

We took our seats, with Dylan sitting between us, him still with his arm around Jess she chimes in chuckling, "You know it's based on the time the class is scheduled not the arrival of the professor."

She turned to Dylan and smiled expectantly. Dylan turned to face her and chuckled as he took out something from his jacket pocket, handing it to her.

"Ugh! Thank you! You're the best!", she told him with such joy, it was just a bagel. Whatever, she must have texted him like always when she was running late and hadn't had breakfast. And he always said he could never say no to her.

There it was again that envy.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So did you ask him?" He was looking at Jess with a twinkle of mischief and laughter in his beautiful green eyes.

"He ran away, Jess laughed and then we were all laughing. Then he turned to me and handed me a bag with a bagel as well and my heart beat a little faster.

"Oh. Thanks." I smiled shyly as I took it.

"You didn't think I'd forget you, did you?" He smiled at me and my smile grew. I was still smiling at him as he turned his attention back to Jess for her to properly tell him about what happened with the Jake and her hilariously odd request until class started.

After class two other classes I was done for the day and headed to the cafeteria on campus to meet Dylan and Jess for some late lunch. I smiled as I saw them seated at our usual spot talking animatedly as always was Jess as Dylan listened wholeheartedly.

"Hey, guys." I sat across from them once I arrived at the table. Jess was animated with another of her stories and Dylan listened while drinking his iced coffee.

"Hey, El", they said then Jess continued her story about a girl in her class she was having issues with.

"Ugh, but she's so hot! Can't she just be mean and ugly," she sank further into her seat.

Dylan smiled at me and we both knew a bet will be placed on how long before Jess bedded her, that is if the girl was interested in Jess too.

"Stop it, she's straight. It won't happen." I laughed as she sulked looking between Dylan and Jess trying to muster my most innocent smile, "Don't know what you're talking about. So the problem here is she's straight?"

She pinned me with a scowl that only made me laugh. She shook her head, "You guys are about to bet I'll sleep with her I know it!" 

As an after thought she added, "And I'm not interested in her. She drives me nuts!" Dylan chuckled at that.

"Okay, if you say so. And no bet here she's straight and you're not interested", I said a I turned to Dylan knowing he didn't have another class if he'd want to hang out later, "Hey what you doing later?"

He looked to Jess and me, "Nothing. We making plans?" I shook my head, "Jess has a date tonight so it'll just be us too."

I turned to see Jess looking at Dylan, but he was looking at me as he answered, "Oh, ok."

If I thought about it, it was rare, the amount of times he and I hung out just the two of us. More were the times Jess and I or him and Jess hung out alone, and it was odd now that I thought about it.

So I had to ask, "Is that ok?" He look bewildered, caught off guard by my question.

"Of course! What, um, what'd you have in mind?"

I was about to answer when Jess blurted our, "I'll tag along!" I looked at her wide-eyed, "What about your date, Jess?" She looked flustered but quickly tamed it down.
"I mean it's just a date if you want I cancel?" She looked at me ask she said it but seemed to directed to Dylan, who was the one to answer.

"Don't be ridiculous. Plus you've excited about hanging out with Lily for a while. And don't try to deny it. As much as I believe you wanted to peg, I think you did that to get rid of him since you finally got Lily to go out with you. And we both know you're horrible at cutting people lose."

He seemed sincere but I still kind of felt as though I was missing something, did he not want to be with me alone or did she not want us to be alone?

But that's ridiculous. Right? Lost in thought I didn't hear what Dylan had asked me.

"Um, what? Sorry I, um, spaced out a bit."

He chuckled, he had a nice laugh but when he chuckled he always had a cute half smiled that showed of one of his dimples.

"Do you want to go out to a movie or something?" Oh, yeah that'd be fun there were a few movies I wanted to see.

"Yeah sounds great!" And it was settled. We returned to normal conversation but there was still this odd feeling I couldn't quite shake nor place what it was.