vexatious (infuriating sequel)

chapter seventy-six

"hey," i say to jake, as i plop down on the couch next to him. he's buried in his phone, scrolling endlessly on twitter. in response, he shows me a meme that made him giggle like a little kid. i laugh with him and go on my phone as well. i look around on social media for a few minutes before deciding to text colby and tell him about devyn. i know i can't expect him to comfort me, but i still feel the urge to tell him nonetheless.

me: miss you. devyn doesn't like me lol

colby: better for me. i get u all to myself

colby: miss you too

me: haha so funny

colby: i love you

i laugh gently and shut my phone off, setting it next to me and turning to jake. if i'm being honest with myself, the devyn situation won't leave my mind. it feels like yet another stab in the back from someone whom i considered to be my friend. i knew something was off about her for a while, i just didn't expect she'd go out of her way to say bad things about me because of it.

"can i talk to you about something?" i spit the words out, just wanting to talk about this with someone, anyone. even if it's jake, and all i get in return is a few jokes, i want to talk to someone.

"yeah, what's up?" he asks, shutting his phone off as well. he looks at me with a goofy smile until i speak again. "devyn has been talking about me... corey said she was saying i'm using you guys..." i trail off in a mumble as i tell him the information i just received. "are you?" he grins at me playfully. i shake my head rapidly, denying devyns unkind words. "but i don't get why she's saying it." i knew he'd only joke with me about it, but i will take that over nothing.

"is it anything to do with tara? she's crazy, you know. they're friends," jake gives his input and i just shrug in response. i don't know if tara would stoop that low, considering we semi-reconciled after our fallout a few months ago. i figured we were past the talking bad about each other, and i hope she wouldn't continue to start rumors about me. i can't shake the idea that maybe she still hates me, and wants to ruin what i have. she couldn't keep her friendship with these people, and i kind of took her place. i could see how she could be jealous, but that wouldn't call for her to talk about me in that way. i haven't talked about her in a negative way, nothing that wasn't true at least.

"are you holding up alright? with colby being gone and all?" jakes question catches me off guard, and i almost don't realize aaron walking into the room, joining us on the couch.

"i'm okay, i brought up what you said..." i trail off, not wanting to speak of the details in front of aaron, who i've barely gotten to know.

"what'd he say?"

"he said we could work on it... i don't know," i shrug, trying to drop the subject when i feel aaron's burning stare.

"well, i'm proud of you," jake says, shocking me yet again. this is a weird conversation to be having in front of aaron, but i don't mind as much as i probably should. "for what?" i ask, genuinely curious about his proclamation of pride.

"you've come very far. you used to hide behind tara every day, and i can see how much better you're doing without the shelter." his words remind me of how i felt a few months ago, alone and confused when tara hurt me in the worst way possible. "thank you. i'm proud of myself too," i admit shamelessly. it's true, i am my own person now regardless of my reliance on colby.

aaron clears his throat quietly, and i am quickly reminded that we have another person in the room. i feel the urge to shrink up into a ball, but that shouldn't be my first instinct. i do live with aaron, after all. i should be comfortable sharing details of my life with him as well.