The Girl Who Stole My Face Chapter 1

Right before Thanksgiving break, I stumbled onto a post on our college’s subreddit:

[Title: AITA for wanting my childhood friend to give me his concert tickets?]

The post was about a trip to Savannah. The OP wanted to go with her best friend, but the last two tickets were bought by her childhood guy friend and his girlfriend.

I scrolled through the comments, and they were piling up fast.

[Top Comment]: > “Dude, it’s his childhood bestie, he should totally let her have them. Bros before… you know.”

[OP’s Reply]: > “Ugh, I know, right? But I’m worried his girlfriend will flip out. She’s… let’s just say she’s super possessive.”

[Another Comment]: > “Sounds like the perfect test of loyalty! If he picks his GF over you, then you know where you stand. Drop him.”

The OP shot back immediately: [OP’s Reply]: > “No way, he’d never do that. We’ve known each other for almost twenty years, we were basically inseparable growing up. He’ll always have my back!”

…

I frowned, scrolling down. The OP’s tone felt weirdly familiar.

Just then, a text message popped up on my screen. It was from my boyfriend, Ryan.

[Ryan]: “Hey babe, change of plans for Thanksgiving. Forget Savannah… what do you think about a road trip to Texas?”

* * *

The day before break, my roommate and I had just gotten back from a vintage shop downtown. I’d found the perfect sundress for walking through the historic streets of Savannah and couldn’t wait to show Ryan.

I was fresh out of the shower, about to FaceTime him, when I saw that Reddit post. Since Ryan and I had already—after weeks of waiting on a notification list—snagged tickets for a popular Savannah ghost tour, my curiosity was piqued. I kept reading.

[Comment]: > “Wait, are you seriously asking him to cancel his trip with his girlfriend for you?”

[Another Comment]: > “I mean, maybe they can talk it out. What if she didn’t even want to go to Savannah that bad?”

[Reply]: > “It’s the day before a major holiday break. Who in their right mind cancels a sold-out trip at the last minute? No one.”

Ryan and I had practically prayed for those tickets to come through. I couldn’t agree more, so I upvoted the comment. As I did, I noticed the OP had upvoted the comment right below it.

[Comment]: > “It’s an unspoken rule. The childhood friend card trumps everything. Just ask him for the tickets, straight up.”

[Reply]: > “Seriously! My guy friend and I are the same way. I suddenly wanted to go to Miami for Spring Break last year, but flights were sold out. I called him, laid on the charm, and he canceled the tickets he’d bought for his entire frat group. Me and my sorority sisters snatched them right up. They treat me like a queen now lol.”

The sheer audacity of that comment was flooring. It was quickly becoming the most controversial one on the thread.

[Reply to the Reply]: > “That’s next-level evil. And you’re proud of it?”

[Reply to the Reply]: > “Hope your ‘guy friend’ didn’t get his ass kicked by his frat brothers.”

I was getting secondhand rage just reading it, upvoting every single comment calling her out. But then I saw the OP had replied just a few minutes ago:

[OP’s Reply]: > “Well, the main issue is his girlfriend getting mad. She’s… ugh… so petty. I accidentally took a sip from his water bottle in front of her once and she threw a fit, threatened to break up with him. It was a whole drama scene. So annoying.”

She followed it up with a cat-sipping-tea meme.

[Reply to OP]: > “Girl, that just means you have all the power. What’s she gonna do when she finds out you were his first kiss? She’ll probably explode.”

[OP’s Reply]: > “OMG for real! We were each other’s first everything back in middle school. He’d never pick her over me.”

[Reply to OP]: > “Then go get your tickets, girl! What are you waiting for?~”

I felt sick to my stomach by the end of the thread. I remembered my boyfriend’s childhood friend, Hailey, had that same entitled way of talking to him. I was about to screenshot the whole disaster and send it to Ryan for a laugh when his text came through first.

[Ryan]: “Hey babe, change of plans for Thanksgiving. Forget Savannah… what do you think about a road trip to Texas?”