Friends Without Benefits

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen              

                “Wait, so let me get this straight. Trey was pretending to be your boyfriend to make Julian jealous, but then you suddenly realized you didn’t want to go through with your plan anymore?”

                I nodded, taking a sip of my chocolate milkshake. After Matt asked to get a milkshake with him, I spent the past hour going over everything that’s happened. I thought he would appear angry at what I had to say regarding Julian, but he took everything in with a curious expression.

                “Yeah, basically.”

                “So then you what, just quit your plan?”

                “Yes. I told Elaine and Robin I was done with it and broke up with Trey the next morning. Well, it wasn’t a real breakup, though we argued like it was real,” I said, trailing off at the end as I thought back to that morning.

                “What did Trey get in return for being your fake boyfriend?” Matt wondered.

                “I helped him with our English assignments and we studied together for quizzes.”

                “Do you still help him with that?”

                I frowned, disappointed in myself that Trey was probably upset about me not helping him. That’s why he hasn’t been himself. “No, I haven’t recently. We’re not exactly in a good place right now. But I wouldn’t mind helping him if he actually decided to talk to me.”

                Matt nodded and a comfortable silence slipped between us. Then, Matt asked another inquisitive question. “Why did you decide to quit your plan? Did Julian do something?” He sounded very protective after that last question, so I shook my head immediately.

                “No, nothing happened.”

                “Then why?” he prodded after the vague answer I gave.

                I sighed and pushed a few strands of hair behind my ear. “I realized that I was chasing after someone who I didn’t really have feelings for. I guess I was infatuated with the idea of being with him for so long that I kept doing everything I could to be with him. But then there was a moment at the lake house where I saw it.”

                “Saw what?” Matt asked, his eyebrows furrowed in both confusion and interest.

                I gazed into his eyes. “Everything. I saw Robin’s amazing relationship with her boyfriend, which made me a little envious. I saw Elaine’s natural, free spirit, fun-loving self and wished I was more like her. And then I saw you, laughing with your friends. For the rest of the night, all I could think about was how much I missed being the one who made you laugh and smile. I thought about how badly I screwed things up between us, all for a stupid infatuation.” I shook my head and quickly wiped a tear that escaped from my eye. “I’m really sorry, you know,” I added, trying to hold back anymore tears willing to escape.

                “No, I’m sorry, Darcy. I shouldn’t have thrown out our friendship just because you wanted to get some guy to like you. I was just being jealous and selfish,” Matt apologized.

                “But it’s my fault that I pushed you to that limit, Matt. I should’ve seen that our friendship was worth more to me than following through with a stupid plan.”