“God, Reeve. Do you even hear yourself? You’re already indoctrinated.” I shake my head, disgusted that he can’t see my point of view at all.
“I’m doing what I need to do to establish my career!” he shouts, and I’m taken aback by the venom in his voice. Reeve has rarely raised his voice to me, and we don’t fight very often. These past three months, I estimate we have fought more than we’ve fought in years. It’s draining. More than that, we are drifting apart, and I don’t think he even feels it. Or he’s pretending like it isn’t happening, or maybe he just doesn’t care.
“Well then, you continue doing that. Continue putting yourself first Reeve, because you’re so good at it.” Then I do something I swore I’d never do—I hang up on him and switch off my cell. Fuck him and his selfishness.
Dragging myself out of bed the following morning, I try to think of a plausible excuse to get me out of meeting Audrey at the yoga studio for our regular class, but I know she’s not going to let me get away with it. I drank way too much after I hung up on Reeve last night, and I’m paying for it now. Big-time. As much as it’ll be torture attending class with a monster hangover, it should help to sweat the last of the alcohol from my system, so I grab a quick shower, change into my workout gear, and race out the door to meet my bestie.
“Man, that sucked balls,” I admit, as we sit in the café across from the yoga studio after our class has ended. “I honestly thought I was going to vomit during the revolved downward-facing dog.”
“You did look a little green,” Audrey agrees, smothering a smile.
“I feel better now, so it was worth the pain and suffering.” I smile at the waitress as she drops our salads and smoothies on the table. “Thank you.”
“Have you heard from Reeve yet?” Audrey asks, picking up her silverware.
I shake my head. “Nope, but he never calls early. Besides, I should probably call him first. I shouldn’t have hung up on him.”
“Are you sure you want to deal with all this shit, Viv? It’s already gotten complicated and the movie hasn’t even released yet. It’s going to get nuts next year, and, honestly, I’m concerned about you. I’ve seen the comments online, and you don’t deserve that shit. I’m pissed Reeve isn’t doing more to protect you.”
“I’m going to talk to him about it this summer. Arguing over the phone is getting us nowhere.”
“What will you do if he gets offered the other two movies?” she tentatively inquires in between mouthfuls of chicken.
“Cry, most likely,” I admit, carefully cutting up my chicken. “But ultimately adapt. Attending UCLA with Reeve has been my dream for years, but if I have to go it alone, I’ll survive.” I reach across the table, patting her hand. “At least, we can be UCLA widows together.” Alex wasn’t offered a place to play ball at UCLA, like he had hoped. Competition is fierce, and it was close, but they passed on him. So, he’s moving to Boston College to play for the Eagles.
“Isn’t it coincidental that our boyfriends may both end up in Boston while we’re still in L.A.”
“They couldn’t have planned it better, even if they’ll have little time to catch up with their busy schedules.”
“I have something to tell you.” Audrey wipes the corner of her mouth with her napkin.
I take a sip of my green smoothie while I wait for her to tell me her news.
“Alex and I have decided to break up at the end of the summer.”
She could’ve told me she murdered someone in cold blood, and I wouldn’t be any more surprised. “Why?” Those two are rock solid and so good together.
“Neither of us wants to spend our four years at college pining for one another. We have seen how hard it’s been on you and Reeve, and we don’t think we can cope with the long-distance thing.”
My mouth opens and closes as I grapple for the right words. “I don’t know what to say, except I hope our situation hasn’t forced you both into making this decision.”
“We were already discussing it. What you’ve gone through just reinforced our thought process.”
“I don’t know how you can be so…blasé about it.”
She sets her silverware down, gulping. “Trust me, I’m not. I’m trying to put a brave face on and accept it. Every time I think about him not being there, I tear up, and every time I think about him being with other girls, I want to throw up. But I don’t want to spend my time at college worrying about my boyfriend. I trust Alex. I really do, but he’s going to play for the Eagles, and women will be throwing themselves at him. I don’t know how you deal with the girls already fawning over Reeve. I couldn’t do it, and while I know Alex isn’t going to be dealing with it at the same level, I worry it’ll end up breaking us up anyway. At least this way, we can part as friends, enjoy college, and when it’s over, if we are meant to be, we’ll find our way back to one another.”