Having Known My Childhood Friend for Sixteen Years, Turns Out He Only Saw Me as a Bedmate Chapter 2

It wasn't until the door had been slammed shut for a while that the frantic vibration of my phone brought me back to reality.

In our old high school class group chat, Jack had dropped a bombshell:

[The class president is back in the country. Party at the old spot tomorrow! Everyone must come! @all]

The accompanying picture showed two happy faces close together, Jack kissing Rachel's hand.

Below were a flurry of curious comments,

[Jack! Even if the class president hasn't been back for years, you don't need to be this enthusiastic!]

[Did I wake up in a parallel universe?! Since when can you kiss the class president?!]

Many people even tagged me.

[Aria, come to the front row to watch, your childhood friend has strayed!]

At our graduation party when we were eighteen, Rachel publicly confessed to Jack. The girl on one knee, full of hope, was only met with Jack's scornful laugh.

"Are you misunderstanding something, my dear class president?"

"It's not Chinese New Year yet, I haven't prepared any red envelopes!"

Seeing Rachel's reddening eyes, Jack turned away and put his arm around my shoulder: "I have my little Aria here, that's enough for a lifetime! We're getting married after college! None of you are allowed to miss it! You all better bring wedding gifts!"

Rachel stood up and slapped me hard across the face before running away in tears.

Thinking back now, his reddened eyes at that time weren't out of concern for me, but probably worry that Rachel's hand might hurt.

Just then, Jack sent another voice message:

"I can't kiss the class president, but I can kiss my fiancée."

"I'm getting engaged to Rachel."

Instantly, all the comments tagging me disappeared like the wind.

Only a flood of congratulations remained.

Someone else joked,

[Looking at the background, a night of passion is worth a thousand gold (dog emoji)]

Jack replied almost immediately,

"Get lost! Don't make such jokes!"

His tone was serious, full of protection.

I suddenly thought of myself.

At a class reunion six months ago, a guy in our class asked about my performance in bed. I got angry and argued with him.

But Jack said I was no fun, "We're all classmates, don't take jokes so seriously."

It turns out, he just didn't care.

As I smiled bitterly, Rachel posted in the group:

[Getting legally married on Sunday, law-abiding citizens doing things by the book (sunglasses emoji)]

Everyone quickly followed suit, offering congratulations.

Rachel then actively tagged me,

[Aria, I'm sorry. Eight years ago, Jack used you as a shield, which led to me slapping you. Now you're being joked about because of us again.]

[Jack said you volunteered to be my bridesmaid, thank you! See you tomorrow, old classmate!]

I was still wondering what she meant by "shield" eight years ago when Jack's messages came flooding in.

[Aria! Why are you pretending not to see?]

[Can we not bring up ancient history?]

[Rachel just got back, and you're already trying to put her in an awkward position?]

[Reply quickly!]

The messages came one after another, piercing my heart without giving me a chance to breathe. Finally, he dropped one last message,

[If you don't want to reply, forget it!]

Then he tagged me in the group again,

[Don't party too hard, remember to take the morning-after pill (dog emoji)]

Rachel quickly followed up with,

[I guess all those years abroad were wasted, I'm not as open-minded as Aria (covering mouth laugh emoji)]

I was about to reply when I realized I had been muted by the group admin, Jack.

Overwhelmed with anger, I called Jack. After a few seconds of connecting, it was Rachel's voice that came through.

"Jack, when you rejected me back then, did you really think I couldn't compare to Aria?"

Jack's familiar tone answered without hesitation,

"Aria? I never even thought of her as a woman."

"At that time, my dad's company was in trouble. I didn't know if my family could recover, so I couldn't bear to let you suffer with me. I had to find an excuse to make you give up, and I didn't want to mess around with other girls."

"But now all that's in the past. I can support both of us now."

"Rachel, I'm never letting you go for the rest of my life."

After a rustling sound of kissing, Jack said tenderly,

"Let's wait until we're legally married. We have a lifetime together, there's no rush."

"I don't want to wrong you without making things clear."

I abruptly hung up the phone.

At the graduation party, Jack had drunk too much. A few classmates carried him to a hotel.

I was afraid to leave him alone, so I stayed to take care of him. In the small hotel room that cost $30 a night, Jack pulled me into his arms.

The next day, seeing the bloodstain on the sheets, he slapped himself hard.

"I'm sorry."

At the time, I thought that "I'm sorry" was for me. Now I realize it was probably for Rachel.

Sorry for rejecting her.

Sorry for sleeping with me.

I wiped away the cold tears on my face and called a moving company.

It only took a few hours to clear out the room I had spent years decorating.

Watching the garbage truck drive away, I left the spare key in the shoe cabinet.

My parents divorced when I was young, and I was tossed back and forth like a soccer ball.

If there's any advantage to that, it's probably that I can quickly accept all heartbreaking things. No matter how much my heart hurts, I can force myself to act like nothing's wrong.

Closing the door, I called my dad.

"I'll agree to marry that disabled person you mentioned."

"Consider it repaying the debt I owe you."