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“I’m just here to pick up Rusty. Expecting someone else?”
“Yes. No. I don’t want to talk about it. Oh! You and Jason aren’t a thing, are you? Because people are asking and I need to know what to say other than, ‘of course not, because that would be a rebound and they both know better than that.’”
Did they, though? Those kisses on the dock had been haunting her nonstop. “I’ll write up a prepared statement for you.”
“Funny. See, this is why I told Jason not to date you. You’re better than just a rebound. Like, way better. You’re possibly even sister-in-law material, but the only reason I’m saying that is I’m pretty upset right now and I’m not watching my words very well.”
She flounced over to the couch and sank onto it as if it was a fainting couch. Her baggy shorts left her freckled legs bare. She’d drawn something on her skin, maybe a snake or a dragon? Her faded yellow t-shirt read “F the Patriarchy.”
Kendra hesitated, looked around for a dog, and spotted an Irish Setter deeply asleep in a dog bed by a cozy fireplace. She couldn’t use him as an excuse to escape, so she might be stuck here with an upset teenager. She didn’t know Holly except from all the time she and her friends spent at Alvin’s Burgers and Blues.
“Are you upset because of Jason? He’s going to be fine.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Is it the mistake about the Caldwells’ donation?”
Kendra watched her reaction closely. If Jason already had millions of dollars, surely Holly would know something about that, and it would affect her response.
“No, I’m over that. Money’s the root of all evil,” she added morosely. “Billionaires should be abolished.”
That settled that, once and for all. There was no way Jason was a millionaire.
“Did you just get dumped by a rich guy or something? Because I know a little something about that.”
“Ooh, juicy juice. Normally I’d want to hear everything, because that’s my thing, you know. I’m the one everyone confides in because I always give fantastic advice and I’m very trustworthy and I would never sell out a friend, ever ever…” She burst into tears.
Oh shit. Comforting people wasn’t really her comfort zone. Carly was much better at that. When she and her friends had been that age, if someone had a crisis Carly and Gina would be empathetic, Trixie would make jokes to make everyone laugh, and Kendra and Brooke would figure out how to handle it. Where are my girls when I need them?
“Point of order. Is this the kind of situation where you want me to stay or leave?”
“Thank you for asking! You’re one of the best adults, seriously!” Holly wailed. “You can stay.”
“Okay. Cool. Groovy.” She spotted a footstool and dragged it toward the couch. She cast another glance at sleeping Rusty, who was no help at all, then sat down. “What’s got you so upset, Holly?”
The girl wrestled with her emotions for a time. Kendra could practically see them at war on her face. She didn’t miss being that age at all, although she’d avoided that kind of drama herself. Her only focus had been excelling at school and getting into a good business program.
“I screwed up,” Holly finally said. “I gave bad advice to a friend, and now her boyfriend is being an even bigger dick to her, and it’s all my fault.”
“How is it your fault? Dicks are gonna dick.”
“Oh my God I love you so much, that’s awesome.” But then she gave a shaky sob. “But it was totally my fault. I lost my cool and I told her she was being a pussy-ass bitch, and that if she didn’t stand up to him, I couldn’t be her friend anymore. She went to break up with him and ended up telling him what I said, and now he says I’m the one who’s controlling. And he had all these videos of different times when I tried to give her advice and it came off as super-toxic.”
She waved her iPhone at Kendra.
“And he posted them on his TikTok! I’m like a TikTok trend now. If you hashtag toxic friend, I’m the first person who comes up. And you know the worst part? I wouldn’t even care if it was like, a sex video or something. Like, whatever, people have sex. What I do instead of sex is be a great friend. But now I’m famous for being a toxic friend. He hit me right where it hurts the most, that prick.”
Wow. The world had changed a lot since Kendra had her last teenage drama moment. How the hell was she supposed to handle toxic friend accusations and viral videos? What happened to baby steps? What would Carly do? What would Jason do?
Face it, she was on her own.
Cut the drama, girl, she told herself. She just needs a friend right now.
“Kinda seems like he proved your point,” she said. “You’d have to be a dick to post videos of your girlfriend’s friend.”
“But did I push him into being a dick? That’s what Chloe is saying. That he wouldn’t have been such a dick if I hadn’t given her that ultimatum. She says he loves her and treats her like a princess and I’m like, red flag, red flag.”
“Being treated like a princess is a red flag?”
