I Walked Out of Her Shadow

My childhood best friend, Jake, and my brother, Ryan, both fell for my roommate Chloe. When it came out that she'd been stringing along half a dozen guys at once, they came running back, red-eyed, swearing they'd been bewitched. I forgave them. Clumsily, quietly. I even felt lucky. Chloe had never missed a chance to flaunt their attention, to watch me squirm. But now they were back—which meant I hadn't truly been abandoned. Until a stream of bullet comments drifted across my vision. 【Poor Sarah. She still thinks they actually care about her.】 【They're just using her. Being nice to her is their way of making Chloe jealous enough to give in.】 【After half a year of this, once they've made her so dependent she can't imagine life without them, they'll drop her together.】 【Only then will she realize she was just bait in their revenge game from the very beginning.】 I froze. My phone buzzed—I'd been added to a group chat. Jake, who'd just walked me to my dorm with that familiar, tender warmth, now typed like a stranger, She's got too much pride. Won't be long now. The nicer I am to Sarah, the more it'll cut her. And when I go back to her later, call it a lesson learned. The others in the group piled on. 【So this is you teaching Chloe a lesson? Sounds more like you're taking advantage of Sarah being a pushover.】 【Exactly. You just want Chloe jealous but won't admit it.】 Jake's reply floated up, careless, So what? Sarah clings to me. And it's convenient she happens to share a room with Chloe. My thumb hovered over the screen. My chest tightened. Then I saw the group name—and it hit like a slap. 【Operation Make Chloe Jealous】 A second later, someone must have realized. I was kicked out. The red notification vanished without a trace. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the grocery box Jake had carried up for me. He'd been out of breath after four flights of stairs. Before he left, he'd turned back and said, "Make sure you actually use them, dummy." Back then, that had made me feel warm all over. The comments flickered again, 【Tonight, Jake's going to fake a confession to Sarah. Big scene—the whole building will see.】 【But the second Chloe shows a hint of jealousy, he'll panic and clarify it was all a joke. Sarah will be laughed at by the entire school.】 My phone lit up. Jake, as if nothing had happened, Oops, accidentally added you to our class group. Sorry if that bothered you. There's a new movie out. Wanna go with me? I typed and deleted, typed and deleted. I didn't say yes like I always did. Finally, I sent, "No bother. Can't go." "Why?" "Paper." "Since when are you the studious type?" He followed with a laughing emoji. I didn't answer. I shoved the phone under my pillow and pulled the blanket over my head. If not for those comments, I'd have believed every bit of it was real. We'd known each other for over a decade. I never once thought he'd use me as a prop to make someone else jealous. The phone stayed quiet. I thought he'd given up. But less than ten minutes later, his voice erupted from below, "Sarah!" "Sarah! Get down here!" "If you don't come, I'll keep yelling!" Across the room, Chloe turned over, her face unreadable. "Your friend's calling." Another roommate stuck her head out, annoyed. "Sarah! Someone's shouting for you—it's so loud!" I threw off the covers, shoved my feet into shoes, and ran downstairs. The comments said he was planning a fake confession tonight. If I didn't show, he'd actually go through with it. I pushed open the apartment door. He was leaning against a lamppost, grinning, just turning off his phone. The last thing on the screen, before it went dark—Chloe's photo. "What?" I asked. He walked over, laying on that familiar wounded tone. "You talked to me for two hours last night, and now you're acting like a stranger?" The comments rose up, 【That two-hour call? He spent the whole time scrolling through Chloe's Instagram.】 【Didn't hear a single word Sarah said.】 Last night, I'd told him my grandmother was getting worse. I wanted to go home and see her. My voice had cracked. He'd just hummed "uh-huh" the whole way through. I'd thought he was listening. "So... what do you think about what I told you?" Jake blinked, scratching his head. "Huh... you said a lot. Which part?" "My grandma." "Oh... that." He laughed. "Right. Yeah. That's good." My grandmother was in the hospital, and he said that's good. I gripped my sleeve and said nothing. "Sarah." Another voice came from my right. Ryan stepped out of a black SUV and crossed the pavement, planting himself between me and Jake. "What are you shouting about outside the dorms this late?" He glared at Jake. "You scared her." Then he turned to me, voice dropping. "You okay? If he pulls this again, tell me. I'll handle it." The comments scrolled, 【Sigh. Even her brother isn't here for her.】 【He actually resents Sarah. She's too soft—he thinks she's just a burden.】 【He only showed up today because he heard Chloe's dance club is performing this weekend.】 Jake snorted. "You following me?" "Following you? I don't need your permission to check on my sister." They faced off over me—neither one actually looking at me. I knew what they were really doing, watching each other, making sure the other didn't slip away to find Chloe. "I've got things to do. I'm leaving."