A Year Of Hope

I tried to be a good boyfriend to Sam.

I tried to fall in love with her. I tried to feel something when I kissed her the way I had when I kissed Jane.

Her and I went on small little dates, but this relationship felt far too casual to be romantic. It was like a friends with benefits, expect the benefits were sometimes we kissed a lot and sometimes she had me feel her up under her shirt.

Three weeks later, her and I still hadn't had sex. The closest we had gotten was some heavy petting. But that was only once.

She was patient with me. She told me she wouldn't rush me, but I could tell she really wanted me to have sex with her. And in a way I wanted to also, but for the wrong reasons.

I was convinced the only reason I was so hooked on Jane was because I had sex with her. Maybe what I felt for her was just simply lust, and not infactuation. But deep down I knew that wasn't true. I think I had liked Jane for a while and I was too dumb to realize it.

Jane was ecstatic to hear that Sam and I were dating. She shrieked when she heard the news. "Cai! I fucking knew you had a crush on Sam. Ugh, you two are so cute together!" And I just smiled because how the fuck was I supposed to tell my best friend I accidentally said yes to dating our mutual friend.

And Jane and Carlie were still dating, but the holes in their relationship were starting to shine through. For one, when Jane met Carlie's parents, she only introduced her as a friend, to which she assumed Carlie was still in the closet, until she found a large lesbian flag hanging on her bedroom door. Carlie also was always making excuses as to why Jane couldn't meet her friends, and they only hung out at very odd hours.

So one day, Sam called us for a house meeting in the kitchen one night after work.

"Cai, you and I are on a secret mission," Sam said.

"Are we?" I asked. "What is this mission?"

"We're gonna catch Jane's girlfriend cheating."

"It's possible she's not..." Jane said, but even she  sounded uncertain.

"Okay, sounds like a mission. Is there a plan in place?"

"Yes! We need your car. Jane made plans with Carlie, but she canceled last minute. We suspect something is up. So we're going to drive to her house, and see if someone enters, or see if she goes to meet someone. If she goes out to meet someone, we'll follow her. If she goes in somewhere, you and I will go in, without Jane, and watch her from a distance."

"And if she's not cheating."

"Then we're just creepy stalkers, but something in my gut tells me she's doing something sketchy."

"She gave no real reason... she just bailed, and said she 'had obligations'" Jane said."Yeah that's pretty sus. I'm in," I said.

So the next night we prepared. For some reason they decided we were gonna wear all black as if we were spies. Sam dressed as normal, and I wore basketball shorts, a hoodie, and some tennis shoes. Jane wore a black flannel, combat boots, and ripped black skinny jeans, and a beanie.

"Here, wear this beanie Cai, it will complete the look," Jane said, and threw me a different beanie.

I put it on and combed my hair with my fingers. Sam kissed me afterwards and said, "You look hot in hats."

"Okay, come on lovebirds. Let's see if she's cheating."

I drove, and Sam sat in the front seat, and Jane in the back middle seat. We drove to her neighborhood, and parked a couple houses down and turned off the car. Sam pulled out binoculars and watched the house.