Chapter forty-two | Dicks before chicks

I drove towards Andrea's place with thoughts swirling in my mind. After my conversation with Eli, I felt lighter and better. A small smile spread across my face as our conversation from before played in my mind.

A relief had washed over me with us talking stuff out. While the things were now calm between us, there was some lingering tension straining what we had.

Eli's words brought out some thoughts from my mind, making me realize my mistake. I was scared, but what I was going to do was important and right.

I just needed to trust my friendship with Andrea and try reducing the damage. It would be catastrophic if she got to know about it from somewhere else.

Yes, I was going to tell her about the Jacob incident. With my fingers crossed, I hoped that she didn't take it to heart and break our years worth of friendship.

It is a test! Is it dicks before chicks or chicks before dicks?

I parked my car in front of the suburban house, used to the enormous size of it.

My feet landed on the pavement as my eyes noticed an unfamiliar car.

Does Andrea have guests? Should I come at a later time? I thought as I moved closer to the door.

Shrugging my decency away, I pushed the doorbell. Chiming noise filled the air for a moment, piercing through the silence.

The old wrinkled face of their cook, Mercy Schultz, appeared on the door, making me smile warmly. A part of me also heaved a relieved sigh that it wasn't Mrs. Lawson, who opened the door.

"Hello, Cynthia honey!" she greeted, letting me in. "How are you? It has been long since I met you!" she said with her warm motherly voice.

Mercy Schultz was no older than forty-five, but her warm smile with her wrinkled face and smile lines gave her a grandma feel. It just got emphasized more with the way she dressed.

Not that anything was wrong with aging or looking old.

My eyes moved up as I noticed an approaching figure. Snacking on a biscuit, a tall man walked out of the kitchen. "Mom?" he called out.

"Rhys! Come here. Meet, Cynthia! Do you remember her?" A hurried squeal followed her words.

With his pale green eyes focused on me, he did a once over in an analyzing manner. His eye never lingered on my body as he turned towards my face with a grin.

"Cynthia, the braid crown one?" he questioned, making me blush under his words.

I remembered the mortifying day with an even more mortified expression, making the man in front of me chuckle. Mercy swatted his arm lightly and gave him a stern look. "Behave!" she commanded as if talking to a dog.

He raised his hand in submission as amusement lingered in his eyes. "Nice to meet you, Cynthia. You have grown to be beautiful," he complimented, making my cheeks warm.

Mercy gave him a satisfied nod and turned towards me. "Cynthia, I am sure you remember Rhys, my son." I just nodded in response.

Before I could say anything, Rhys jumped in again. "I am sure she remembers. After all, she wanted to elope with me when she was nine. Right, Cynthia?" he teased, making me clear my throat awkwardly.

"Uh, I need to see Andrea," I muttered and made myself scarce from their presence.

As I moved up the stairs, I heard a slight yelp, sounding a lot like Rhys.

I chuckled slowly and made my way towards Andrea's room. Like any other day, I barged into the room, expecting a color bomb to attack my eyes.

But what attacked my eyes, made me freeze on the spot.

Andrea looked up as her mouth dropped open. A gasp escaped my lips, and I placed my hands on my eyes. "Get dressed, both of you!" I screeched, stomping on the spot.

I heard a weird noise and then an irritated huff. Ruffling of clothes followed as I turned around and closed the door. Satisfied that I saved any other bypasser from witnessing the scene inside, I turned around.

While Navya was fully dressed in her clothes, Andrea only bothered with her undergarments.

I glared at my best friend's way and gave both of them a questioning look.

"Now that I have walked into you guys having sex, which I might say I am not interested in witnessing again, are you guys ready to disclose your relationship?" I gave them a questioning glare.

Navya scoffed and ran a hand through her hair. "It is not a relationship. Just an arrangement for mutual benefits."

Andrea nodded animatedly, agreeing with every word she said. I threw a questioning glance towards Navya as she observed Andrea's expressions.

Navya smirk deflated as Andrea's head moved in agreement. Her fists clenched on her sides as she threw a last glance towards Andrea's body. "I need to leave. Bye!" she gritted and ran out of the room.

I settled on the dressing table, avoiding the bed at all the costs.

"Seriously, what is going on between you guys?" I muttered, looking up at Andrea in an inquiry.

Andrea rolled on the bed leisurely, still clad just in her undergarments.

It looks like a lingerie commercial. My mind supplied.

Her eyes met mine as she offered me a lazy smile.

"It is just fun, Cyn. We are taking our time getting used to our new sexuality and exploring it to another level. Just a simple arrangement."

As her words filled my mind, Navya's unsatisfied expression entered my thoughts. "But what if you guys catch some feelings through this complete process?"

Because I am pretty sure someone already is knees deep in them.

My words brought a small frown on her face. Andrea gave a slight pout as she thought about the answer. She licked her naturally pink lips and blinked up at me.

"I don't think that will happen, and even if it does... well, then we will think about it then. I am not ready to be in a relationship at the moment," Andrea answered, making shock grip my body.

"But you are the type of person who loves being in a relationship. You don't believe in this fuck them and fuck it type of things. What caused the change of heart?" I demanded, walked closer to her.

Andrea gulped and averted her eyes. Even when I was half a foot shorter than her, my stare was intimidating enough to freeze many on their spots.

"I just don't want to repeat the same mistake as I did in my relationship with Jacob," Andrea muttered. "Now that I think back to it, our relationship was so dysfunctional. With almost all the initiative from my side. He never really cared."

Tears pooled in her eyes as I tried to form words. Her words brought back the reason for my visit. I mentally debated whether I should tell her the truth, but in the end, my conscience won.

"Andrea... uh," I stuttered. "I need to tell you something."

Andrea gave me a weird look. "What happened, Cynthia? You are shaking like a leaf." She gasped at the end and jumped to her feet.

Concern dripped through her eyes as she made me sit on the bed.

I blinked up at her and bit my lips hard. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as tears filled my eyes.

"What happened, Cynthia?" she questioned once again. Her voice was soft and concerned.

A small part of me questioned whether she would act the same way with me once I told her the truth. Will she forgive me or break our friendship?

Not pondering further on this line of thought, I blurted my next words out. "I slept with Jacob, Andrea."

Andrea froze in her spot. Her hand rubbing my arms in comfort stopped as she gaped at my words. "You slept with my ex-boyfriend? So, the rumors are true? Did you and Eli end whatever you guys had?"

I looked up surprised. I was expecting a lashing on sleeping with her boyfriend, not cheating on mine (not that he was at the moment).

"I didn't. I slept with Jacob almost a year back."

She stopped her oncoming rant and blinked up at my words. Andrea got down to her knees and matched her gaze to my level. "You slept with him when I was in a relationship with him? He cheated on me with you too?" Her voice portrayed her horror.

I shook my head vehemently and cupped her face in my hands. "I didn't. It was before you started dating him. Around three days before... wait, what did you say?" I asked, replaying her words in my mind.

"You too? You knew he was cheating on you?" I inquired, still trying to grasp her words.

She gave me a heated glare, making me cower away. "Don't try to change the topic, Cyn. Why didn't you tell me about it before I got into a relationship? I thought we shared everything?"

Shame filled my features with her words. Tears threatened to escape their restraints as I hiccuped my next words out.

"It scared me to lose you. You know that you are my only real friend and I couldn't lose you. I was going to tell you but when I saw how happy you were with him, I couldn't break the news to you."

My eyes remained downcast in shame. "Then Jacob started to taunt how you would leave me after the truth, scaring me even more. I am sorry."

Andrea shook my shoulders slightly. "You are such an idiot. No boy, even if he is as good looking as Jacob, can come in between us. We are bitches forever. I am not that easy to get rid of."

She paused for a moment, giving me a disappointed look. "I expected you to trust our friendship more than this, Cyn."

Guilt flooded through my heart at her words and then threw myself on her. Year's worth of fear leaked through my eyes, making her pat my back reassuringly. "There there," she said.

I chuckled lightly and pulled back from her comforting embrace. "Stop quoting Baymax."

She laughed at my words, throwing her head back. Her laughter caused mine to erupt as the tension between us reduced to smoke. All thanks to a fit of giggles.

"We need to do something about that Jacob. Like seriously, that was so low of him. That complete ass will hear it from me. He made you feel like shit." Anger simmered through Andrea's words, making me smile.

Why did I ever doubt her?

My smile disappeared, and Jacob's words echoed through my mind. "Jacob said he loves me. He also said that he dated you to make me jealous."

Andrea's words came to a halt as she once again stared at me in sheer shock. "He fucking used me?" she muttered. "He played with my feelings all this time... that stupid shit-faced creep!"

I smiled at her words as she devised plans to bury Jacob alive and run him over with a car. No wonder she is my best friend. I mused.

"Yeah, we will tie him to a truck!" I agreed with her suggestion.

Andrea squealed and jumped in her spot. "Then we will egg on him and tp him!" she added enthusiastically.

Not being able to reign my giggling anymore, I break down in bouts of laughter. My eyes leaked with tears as Andrea huffed and crossed her arms.

"You can't be serious? You will get expelled for that," I said with amusement thrumming through me.

She lightly smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "That would be so worth it." Her voice was lit with animation too.

With that, we once again were overcome with hysterics of giggles.

Hours passed as we talked to our heart's content. Rhys dropped by in between, giving us a plate of snacks and lightly teasing and flirting with both of us.

Laying on the floor, we both stared up at the ceiling. "So, you knew about Jacob cheating the entire time?" I asked, not bothering to turn towards her face.

Adrea was silent for a few moments and hummed. "Not starting but in the last week of our relationship. I caught him sneaking out of Janitor's closet with a girl in his tow. I am sure they were not searching for cleaning supplies."

I scrunched my nose in disgust and squinted up at the ceiling. "That is nasty. Thank goodness you got rid of that possible std infested dick."

Andrea giggled. "I am thankful too. I got really worried when I got to know about it. I got tested because of it, even if we always used a condom. Thankfully, I was clean."

She paused for a second. "I mean, just imagine... me itching myself again and again because of my ex."

Once again, we were rolling on the floor with laughter squeezing our lungs.