She texted me early the next day: “I can’t believe I’m folding your underwear.”

​

My heart smiled. Sometimes things are so good that you just want to freeze the moment. I texted back: “I can’t believe I wore my Sponge Bob underwear yesterday. Laundry day today. Going commando until then.”

​

“Don’t wear a skirt,” she said. “Going to that party tonight, you?”

​

“Same, see you there.”

​

I called Nico to ask if he knew of any party that was going on that night. He knew exactly what Mary was talking about. He asked me why I didn't ask her what party she was referring to and I explained to him that it was because I was the most pathetic human being on the face of the Earth. I asked him if he wanted to go, which wasn’t even a question. There was a lot to unpack so we agreed to meet there early.

 

The gps led me to a residential neighborhood. I could hear a cloud of bass coming from the near vicinity and the amount of cars parked in unorthodox ways increased as I got closer to the destination. “This can’t possibly be legal,” I thought. I later learned that the event had started as a house party some time ago and had organically grown into an actual monthly thing. Different djs in every room, live bands on the patio, a couple of bars here and there; the kind of party I would have very much enjoyed if it wasn’t for the fact that I knew she was going to show up at some point.

 

We got a couple of rum and cokes and sat outside. We were two schoolgirls on the school patio during break. We had ponytails and all. I think he was even more excited than I was. I wasn’t even excited, I was just nervous. He already knew most of the story but he made me tell it again and frankly, I didn’t mind at all.

 

“Let’s go over it again,” he said. “You told her bye bye and then cried like a baby…”

​

“I didn’t cry,” I said.

 

“And you cried like a baby,” he said. A laugh, a sip and a puff and he continued. “Then she wanted to talk. Then you said ok let’s be friends. Then you went to the pool and she peed on you!” His eyes were shining and he couldn’t stop smiling. “This is simply too good.”

 

I told him that I was worried because my hopes were through the roof but the reality was that there was still too much uncertainty. He gave the same advice as before: “Too many mind. No mind.”

​

The place got crowded. The bands were noisy in the best of ways. Every now and then my eyes diverted involuntarily to the entry gate, but still no sign of her. I wanted to text her but I didn’t want to text her.

 

She arrived around 1 AM with a group of three people; a girl and two guys. We weren’t too close to the entrance but I can swear that she saw me. If she did, she pretended that she didn’t. I turned to Nico. “What the actual fuck,” I said.

 

He did this thing he always does when he has something to tell me but he doesn’t know how to start. He said “OK…” then he laughed a short awkward laugh. “OK…” 

 

“What! What!”

 

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” he said. “I told you I didn’t know her, that was a lie.” My eyes got huge. “I matched with her on a dating app long ago,” he said.

 

“What!”

 

“Nothing happened, don’t worry. I didn’t tell you cause I didn’t want you to make a big deal out of it.”

​

I was shocked. Actually, I was mad. Not only mad, I was jealous; I wanted to have matched with her. I didn’t know what to say.

 

“It gets crazier,” he said and laughed that same laugh. “See that guy she’s with? I work with him. He’s her ex.”

 

“What!”

​

“When we matched, I showed him her profile and he said ‘that’s my ex’.” He gave me a few seconds to process and say something but I was truly speechless. He told me that he knew for a fact that they were just friends.

 

I wasn’t going to approach that group, of that I was sure. I was going to wait for the right moment. But at that point there was never going to be a right moment because my mind was already gone. Too much information for my poor little heart. It was more than I could take. Among the multitude, I managed to see Mary and her ex facing each other from a very short distance. I quivered at the sight of their complicit laughter, yet I couldn’t look away. I stared at the guy’s face. His eyes spoke louder than the entire crowd. Just friends my balls. I read the words “I love you” coming from his mouth as he leaned towards her and kissed her on the cheek.​

​

Nico hugged me by the head and took me to the bar. I offered no resistance. He bought two shots of bourbon. We raised our glasses. I looked at him, literally tongue in cheek, and toasted: “To just friends.”

​​

THE END​

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