Ew. The library was no longer a sacred place. Seriously, cheaters were making me nauseous.
SOS
CHEATER INCIDENT REPORT
CASE: 069
CLIENT: Hillary Hamm
SUBJECT: Midas Murdock
FINDINGS: At approximately 4:00 p.m. on October 14, Mr. Murdock’s phone received an obscene text from Carnie Trinidad (the slutty new girl from his writing class). The exact text was recorded and transcribed; you’ll find it included with this letter.
Take note on page three of the mention of “no underwear” and meeting in the library study carrel. It is our assertion that you were correct about Ms. Trinidad. You were also correct about Mr. Murdock’s infidelity. He was later observed engaging in inappropriate forms of PDA in the library. The front office was notified.
SOS offers our deepest sympathies. We hope that we will not have to assist you again in the future, but please keep us in mind for referrals.
Keep smiling,
SOS : )
SOS
Text: 555-0101 * Exposing Cheaters for Over Three Years
Chapter 18
Hillary Hamm did not take the news well. Leona and I delivered the envelope (along with a dozen perfectly pink carnations) to her house just before I was supposed to meet Aiden.
The moment she saw us on her large covered front porch, she started crying. Then she cursed and took out her cell to send the most tragic text ever to Midas. Something along the lines of hoping he caught a nasty venereal disease.
But she appreciated the pink carnations I’d brought.
“So when are you meeting with Aiden?” Leona asked as we got into her Beamer, watching the sun fade behind the trees.
“In about twenty minutes.” My nose twitched. I was still upset from my conversation with Kira. In fact, I’d ignored all of Joel’s texts because I wasn’t sure if she’d run back to tell him. It was pretty cheerless having your boyfriend tell his ex everything. And vice versa. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yep,” Leona said, checking her rearview before pulling out into the street.
“Do you think Aiden is the reason I’m having a tough time dating Joel?”
“Um …” She turned to me, her dark eyebrows pulled together and then looked back at the street. “Well, first, I didn’t know you were officially dating Joel. Second, of course. Aiden is the reason you do anything. And third, why the hell didn’t I know you were dating Joel?”
“I don’t know. I really didn’t tell anybody because I was afraid it’d hurt Kira’s feelings. Even though Joel told her and—wait. What do you mean, ‘Aiden is the reason you do anything’?”
Leona smiled. “Why are you meeting with him tonight?”
“To find out why he turned us in.”
“And you don’t think if you would have asked really nicely, he would have told you over the phone?”
I guess I hadn’t really thought about that. He said he’d rather tell me in person. I assumed it was because it was difficult to talk about. Like he was embarrassed. But maybe …”
“All I’m saying, Tessa, is that it’s okay to still care about Aiden, even if he’s just pulled the biggest d-bag move in history. And honestly, I don’t think he’s a bad guy. I think you trying to make him the bad guy is what’s eating at you. If you’re looking for excuses as to why you’re not hooking up with Joel on a regular basis, I think it has to do with you more than anyone else.”
“Meaning?”
“What am I a freaking fortune cookie? I don’t know, Tess. Figure it out. Decide what you want and do it. Stop waffling. It’s not becoming of a Smitten Kitten.”
I smiled. Waffles were delicious. “You’re right,” I said as she paused at a red light. “I need to clear my head. Maybe I should go back to meditating?”
“It did keep you wonderfully centered.”
“Agreed.”
Leona drove me home, and after I got inside my house, I heard the first splatters of rain hit my bedroom window. The season was starting. It would rain for months at a time, but I think I was getting used to it. Maybe the fact that it always happened made it more comforting somehow.
I decided to meditate before I was supposed to meet with Aiden. I wanted to be in top form when we talked. He was smooth, and I needed to be prepared for that. Sitting on a fluffy pink pillow on the carpeted floor, I tried to clear my mind as best as I could. But something always popped in there.
First it was SOS and how now that we weren’t a secret, people didn’t like us. Well, some of the girls still did—evidenced by our steady stream of cheater requests. I’d actually gotten into a very thoughtful debate in sociology class about the anatomy of a cheater. My teacher was very impressed. But mostly the guys called us names, or tossed wads of paper at us when we passed by.
But I kept my head held high. After all, I’d caught most of them in compromising positions. Who was the one that should really be embarrassed?
Then I thought about Joel, and I got a little angry. He had told Kira what I had explicitly told him not to. Why would he do that? I understood that they were friends, but was he completely clueless about her feelings for him? Ugh. I’d have to speak with him about that.
I was about to try to blank out my brain again when my phone went off. I glanced down at it, vibrating on my floor. The screen said it was Joel. I held in a breath, but I didn’t move. I hadn’t thought about what to say to him. I’d needed notes for this.
I glanced over at my alarm clock and saw that it was almost seven. Aiden would be here any minute, and even though I didn’t have to get pretty (not like I cared what he thought), I did want to put on a warm, sort of cute sweater.
Hm … now where did I put my lip gloss?
When my doorbell rang, I thought my heart would be stuck in my throat forever. It had been a while since Aiden had been to my house—at least, a while since he’d been invited. I crutched into the kitchen, but before I could open the door, I heard voices on the other side. What was going on?
Just then the door opened, startling me.
“Sorry, honey,” my father said when he saw me, a huge grin on his face. “Didn’t mean to frighten you. But look who I found on our doorstep.” He was beaming as his hand clutched Aiden’s shoulder. I was a little too breathless to respond.
There was my ex-boyfriend, smiling as he stood with my father. His skin looked warm and tan, so inviting in the cooling fall weather. His hair a little longer, growing out to become the messy curls that I used to love. Like always, just looking at Aiden was enough to make someone melt. But I quickly pulled myself together.