A Womanizer Extraordinaire

28. You, Me, and Lee

When I got home that evening, despite my dad being back early from work and wanting me to join him downstairs, I headed straight upstairs and threw myself into my room. It felt like my life was falling apart before my very eyes. Perhaps that was an overreaction to the situation, but it was how I felt. As soon as something happened in my life that made me happy, something happened to counterpoint it; was I expected to suffer in silence in order to keep my friends happy?

No, no Tasmin, slow down, I thought to myself. That was the truth of the situation with Josh, not with Shelly - and Shelly was the one who really mattered. She would never expect me to be unhappy. I simply needed to be a good friend to her again. Leaning over to my desk to grab my phone, I unlocked it and flicked through my contacts. Before I could lose my determination, I called Shelly.

She picked up after the third ring. "Shelly, hey." I began, shyly fiddling with my fingertips.

She paused. "Hey."

"I know there are no excuses for how bad a friend I've been lately," I said, groveling. "Are you free at the moment? Can I come over? I've..." Don't lose your nerve, Tasmin. "Got some things to tell you."

Pause. "Okay. See you in a bit." With that, she swiftly hung up. I stared at my blank phone screen, blinking. Shelly was obviously still upset but she wasn't shunning me, blocking me out - she was giving me a chance, and for that I was thankful. I don't know what I'd do if Shelly refused to let me try and make up with her.

A brisk, fifteen-minute walk later and I was on her doorstep, ringing the doorbell. I heard it go off inside before a woman appeared a moment later, holding a little boy on her hip. Shelly's mum and baby brother.

"Tasmin, hello," Shelly's mum greeted in a warm voice. "Come in. How are you doing?"

"Fine thanks, Ms. Barrett." I smiled, looking at my feet as I entered the household.

"Tom..." Shelly's mum spoke to the little boy. "Aren't you going to say hello?" The boy looked at me with timid brown eyes, waved at me and then immediately pressed his face into his mother's shoulder. Shelly's mum and I laughed before Shelly's mum yelled for Shelly to come down. "She's not replying, but she's up in her room. You know where it is."

In Shelly's room, Shelly was sat at her desk on her laptop. When she saw me in the reflection of the dark scene, she closed it shut, flicked her radio off and spun in her swivel chair. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey..." I said, standing awkwardly in the doorway, playing with the zip on my coat. No response.

 "Shelly, the way I've been treating you recently hasn't been okay. It's been a lot worse than okay. I'm sorry. You deserve to know why." I moved to sit cross-legged on the floor by the base of her chair. Her eyes seemed to have softened a little bit, but her crossed arms remained. "So, with Aaron..." I gulped. Come on, Tasmin, you need to do this. "It wasn't a good relationship." I looked up at Shelly to see her unblinking, just listening to what I had to say. That was a relief. "It was really not good... He... He didn't treat me the way he should have... Like really didn't treat me the way he should." I looked up at her, wondering if I needed to say anymore if I needed to spell it out.

Shelly's eyes had turned round. "What exactly did he do?"

...Well, at least she didn't seem to hate me anymore. "He... May have... Maybe hit me." My voice was so quiet. It was difficult to say.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry," Shelly said, dropping down off her chair to get on her knees next to me and hug me like that. I hugged her right back, thankful to not only have my best friend back but to truly have her back; to have finally told her. And to get a hug. Shelly's reaction was exactly the opposite of what Josh's had been, as was to be expected. "Tasmin I'm so sorry. I should have been here for you. But I'm here for you now." She pulled away, her arms still around me as she looked me in the eye. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I evaluated that for a moment, trying to pinpoint what exactly had prohibited me from opening up to Shelly sooner. "I... to be honest I was being an idiot. I don't know why... I thought I could fix it myself. I didn't want to give up so quickly. It was only recently that things got bad... I realized I couldn't do it on my own."

"You two have broken up now?" she asked. I nodded. "Yeah, he's been telling everyone he meets. But we'll sort that out later. Now you're with Leo? What happened there?"

"You've noticed he's always seemed to take a particular interest in defending me from Aaron," I stated, to which Shelly nodded. "I don't know why, but he just seems to.. get it. He just seems to understand without me having to say a word."

"I've always seen him looking at you," Shelly commented. "There's obviously something between you two." She hugged me again, before mumbling into my shoulder, "If he hurts you I'll break his face."

"Aaron's not in the past, though," I replied. "He said that this isn't over, and he's been sending death glares in my direction."

"He's nothing that you, me and Lee can't face together," she squeezed me. "I promise."

With that, we couldn't continue the conversation any further as Shelly's mum shouted us downstairs. "Michelle, Tasmin! Girls come downstairs, I've got snacks!"

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