Chapter 3: One Lie Begets Another

My legs nearly gave out. I quickly grabbed her hand: "Don’t! He—he was fine, it’s not his fault, my period’s coming."

Tanya looked half-convinced: "Really?"

No, but would I dare say otherwise?

I clutched my stomach: "Yeah, really..."

Tanya pouted: "He’s never even had a girlfriend, how would he know how to take care of you? If I could’ve made it, I wouldn’t have asked him."

Wait a second—Nathan’s never had a girlfriend?

Then how did he last night—

"Hey, Aubrey, why’s your face so red?" Tanya pressed her hand to my forehead. "You don’t have a fever, do you?"

I quickly shook my head.

Tanya sighed: "It’s just a guy. There may be plenty of fish in the sea, but you’ll find someone better. Chris is a jerk—don’t waste another thought on him. Girl, you’re a catch. Chris is just a walking red flag."

I met Chris during freshman orientation.

He was good-looking, played basketball, and was a campus star. He wore his jersey everywhere, like he lived for game days.

He chased me for three months. I thought he was nice, so I said yes.

At first things were fine, but then I realized he never turned down any girl who showed interest. We fought about it a few times.

He gradually grew cold.

The day before yesterday, someone sent me a photo on Instagram: him lying on a hotel bed, his face covered in smeared lipstick.

I went to confront him, but Chris just broke up with me on the spot.

Ugh.

Thinking about it just makes me feel pathetic. I should’ve been the one to dump him. For a second I wondered if Tanya would track him down and threaten to post his DMs.

Tanya was furious: "Where are those two jerks? I’ll go teach them a lesson."

Me: "..."

Honestly, I didn’t want to make a fuss. After all, it seemed like I also...

"Forget it." I shook my head. "Not worth wasting time on people like that."

My phone buzzed—it was the DoorDash guy.

When I got the hangover soup, I was honestly a bit embarrassed.

Tanya clicked her tongue at the receipt: "Wow, my brother actually did something thoughtful. I thought—hey, my brother’s calling."

I froze instantly.

Tanya answered: "Hello, bro? What’s up?"

I didn’t know what they said, but a second later, she looked at me strangely and handed me the phone:

"Aubrey, my brother wants to talk to you."