Short Stories

Elle

I'm what you would call thick.  I have short, brown hair and blue eyes.  I'm rather stylish if I do say so myself.  My favorite color is yellow, I play piano, violin, and I like to sing. Coffee is what keeps me running almost every day. I love theater and I love to direct and watch performances. I work as a special ed teacher at the local high school and I'm the assistant speech coach. My best friends also work at the school. I work part-time at a local law firm as well. 

I've only just met him, Andrei, I mean. We've known each other for less than a year, and we are already so close. I didn't know how to feel about him at first, he was always so positive and happy.  It was wonderful to come to work every day and see his smiling face. Throughout this year, we've gotten very close, and while I feel it's moving too fast, I still relish holding hands and telling each other everything. It terrifies me that I can be so open with him after such a short time. 

We're more conservative than most couples, but even going to get coffee with him seems scandalous to me. I'd never had a boyfriend before, and miraculously he'd never had a girlfriend before me either. I don't know how, because he is just so sweet. He brings me cappuccino almost every day when I come in. 

Haley is my best friend. I can't help but be jealous of the friendship she and Andrei have. They are so easygoing around each other, feeding off of each other's positive vibes. Not that I'm not positive, she and Andrei just have animated conversations about nerdy things that I couldn't ever hope to understand. I know in my head that she wouldn't ever try to make a move on him, and she tells me regularly how infatuated he is with me. She is a wonderful bestie, unlike Reba. Reba was one of mine and Andrei's mutual friends, and for awhile we were fighting over Andrei. When she found out we were dating, she stopped talking to both of us. Of course, I had to have a few words with her over text before she really stopped talking to him.  I usually don't approve of bullying, but when it comes to my man, no one will stand in my way. Much less her. 

My biggest fear is that Andrei will find out about this little secret of mine. He still wants to be friends with her. He is much too kindhearted towards her.  I was so jealous of them when I first met him. It seemed like they were a couple, but then he asked me out, and told Reba, and she was still talking to him, and flirting with him and trying to get his attention. I just had to do something to relieve my jealousy.  I may not have been the right thing, but it made me feel a bit better. 

I know Andrei and Haley wouldn't approve of my underhanded methods, and Andrei rarely talks about Reba anymore, so I think he may have forgotten about her. I feel a little bit bad because he lost his long-time best friend.  

I'm truly not that bad, though, I love my life, and Andrei and I are happy. We are! I think I love him, and even though it's only been a few months I just can't stop thinking about him. He's constantly in my head, and I think that's what love is. 

I'm always there for people I love and care for, I'm willing to change, and I have lots of friends. I'm upbeat and happy, I'm involved in a lot of activities outside of my job, and I'm a well-liked community member. I'm very kind, and I respect people. I've never been pulled over or arrested. I was an A-B student in high school, and many of my friends would tell you that I don't have an unhappy bone in my body. 

I'm a generally good person who made a mistake. I'm crying writing this, thinking about Reba, and how much I hated her at the time, but how terrible I feel now, knowing that I broke up a longtime friendship like that, and how my jealousy got the best of me and how my actions hurt Andrei. 

I feel terrible, but I don't know if I can own up to what I did, knowing that Andrei has trusted me with so much, how would he feel to know that his girlfriend drove his friend away because of jealousy. 

-Elle