What My Best Friend Did by Lucy Dawson

Gretchen the truth, but that I’d lied about my relationship with Tom to someone at all had been eating me up inside with confusion since the very moment the words had come out of my mouth.
    “So Gretchen …” I began, and Vic immediately shot me a sideways look through narrowed eyes.
    “Would that be poxy, stupid Gretchen who you’re always out with when I call? It’s such a crap name. Makes her sound like she’s Heidi’s little sister. Does she also keep goats?”
    “Er no.” I thought of Gretchen. “That’s about as far removed from her as you could possibly get. You know, I get the feeling you don’t like her,” I teased.
    “I totally hate her,” she shot back instantly, “for doing such a blatant snatch-and-grab on my best friend. It’s rude, is what it is.”
    I smiled. “You’d actually like her a lot.”
    Vic pondered that. “Nope,” she said, “I definitely hate her.”
    “Sorry,” I said, shielding my face as I turned to look at her, “I forget, who was it that moved away and abandoned me for some smooth medical git? Oh, that’d be you.”
    “Yeah, yeah.” Vic grinned, but then her smile faded. “I do miss you though, Al,” she said. “Lots. Just because I’m out here doesn’t mean I don’t think about you loads and stuff. Don’t totally replace me.”
    I squinted at her. “You don’t really think that’s what I’m doing, do you?”
    “Sometimes,” she confessed. “Well no, not really, but lately you’ve been all ‘Gretchen this and Gretchen that …’ I spoke to Jess the other day and she said you’d blown off her and all of the other uni girls for dinner because you were snowed under with work again, but yet you seem to have plenty of time to spend with her.”
    That was true, I did, but it was because Gretch was around a lot during the day to chat and meet up with when I had quieter periods, stretches of time when everyone else—like the uni girls—were at work or in meetings. It was just easy for both of us and nice company. There was no conspiracy.
    “I don’t want you to be lonely without me,” Vic said quickly, “I just don’t want you to have a friend you like more than me.”
    “Not possible,” I smiled at her. “And you know that.” I meant it too—I liked her and Gretch in completely different ways, but I privately resolved to make more of an effort to phone Vic.
    “Tell me a secret she doesn’t know,” Vic said decisively, lightening the tone again.
    “Well, that sort of leads me back to the bad thing.” I glanced ahead to make sure the boys were still out of earshot. “I met Gretchen’s brother over coffee and after he left, I told Gretchen I thought he was nice. I meant to talk to and stuff—he’s a travel writer and has been everywhere—but then Gretchen sort of hinted he was single and got all nudge nudge, wink wink, should she put in a good word?”
    “What?” Vic looked puzzled. “She knows about Tom though, right?”
    “Um,” I scratched my neck uneasily. “Sort of. She thinks I’ve been casually seeing my flatmate.”
    “Why does she think that?”
    “Because that’s what I told her,” I said and suddenly found I couldn’t look Vic in the eye. There was a pause. “And she asked me if I was still seeing him or if it was over and my mouth said it was over.”
    “Alice!” Vic was shocked. “Why on earth did you say that? That’s an out-and-out lie!”
    “I know,” I said in a small voice. “I don’t know why I did it and I’ve been driving myself nuts with worry about what it all means.”
    “I don’t understand,” Vic said. “You didn’t just tell Gretchen you had a boyfriend when you first met her?”
    I hesitated and realized that what I was about to say was not going to make me look good.
    “I know this is really sad,” I confessed, “but when we were in LA, everyone was really cool and I got a bit swept up by all of it. I just wanted to seem a little less predictable and settled, a bit edgier …