man, Trey. You haven’t heard anything about that?”
“Me and your man?” I pointed as though it was news to me. “Actually I’m single, Chandler, so whoever brought me into that
rumor must have confused me with someone else.”
“I don’t think so because, see, I only know of one Tyler Blake, and that’s yo ass.” Chandler walked toward me with vengeance
in her eyes. “Listen, you high-yellow heifer. I don’t know what type of game you’re trying to play, but you’re playing it
with thewrong bitch. Trey is my man, and if you know what is good for you, keep your young ass away from him.”
My denial fell on deaf ears, and Chandler would hear none of it. After one last interrogation, she flashed her long red nails
across my face as if she was going to scratch me. She left the bathroom with these departing words: “I got my eyes on you,
bitch, so watch your back.” On that note I decided to skip sixth period and take my ass home.
Later on that night while I was doing a pedicure, the phone rang. “Hello.”
“Can I speak to Tyler?” The female voice sounded familiar.
“This is she,” I responded, wishing I had never taken the call.
“This is Chandler.”
“How did you get my number, and what do you want?”
“I called you, so I’m asking all the questions, and don’t even think about hanging up,” she blurted out, as if she was reading
my mind. “Listen, Tyler, I’m not trying to cause you any problems, but I want to get to the bottom of this shit regarding
Trey. I want to take a ride to his apartment and confront him about the rumors of him fucking with you.”
“That’s not necessary, Chandler. There is nothing going on between Trey and me.”
“Well, I don’t believe you.”
“That sounds like a personal problem that I can’t help you with. Now please leave me the fuck alone about this bullshit.”
I slammed the phone down, and after Chandler called back for the fifth time I took the phone off the hook. Before I went to
bed I hung the phone up, and it rang less than a minute later. I let it ring three times while debating whether I wanted to
take the chance of having Chandler on the other end. Something told me it wasn’t her, so I picked up.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Tyler, are you asleep?” the familiar voice asked.
“No, I’m still up, Chad. How are you?” When Chad and I first broke up, he would call me once a day to see if we could work
things out. Then it became once a week. Finally the calls stopped altogether, so it was surprising to hear his voice.
“I’m doing good. I was calling to make sure you were doing okay.”
“I’m fine; why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, I spoke to Chandler today, and she told me she heard you were seeing her boyfriend.” My mouth dropped. When I broke
up with Chad he knew I was seeing someone else, but I never told him who he was. For Chandler to go running to my ex was beyond
pathetic.
“Why in the hell would Chandler call and tell you that?”
“Tyler, Chandler and I are still friends, and she wanted to know if you and I were still seeing each other.”
“What did you tell her?”.
“The truth—that it was over between us, although I wish it wasn’t. Tyler, you don’t need to be with a guy who already has
a girlfriend. You deserve so much more than that. I still love you, and I know you must still care about me, too.”
“Chad, I do care about you, I always will, but not in a romantic way. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the
truth. I hope you understand.”
“I do. But, Tyler, be careful. Whoever this guy is, he seems like bad news.”
“I will. Thanks for your concern, Chad.”
I couldn’t believe that Chandler called Chad, getting him involved in my personal business. What was more mind-boggling was
that someone as beautiful as Chandler Thompson wassweating a sophomore about her socalled man. Although I loved spending time with Trey, this was becoming way too
Sylvia Selfman, N. Selfman