Chapter 1
I was scrolling through Reddit when I stumbled on a post in the Relationship Advice subreddit.
OP: [I'm super jealous of my bestie. How can I make her miserable?]
Everyone in the comments was throwing out suggestions for the original poster.
Commenter: [Does she have any guys crushing on her? Find one who's hot but a total jerk, and talk her into dating him.]
Commenter: [Keep borrowing small amounts so she won't feel comfortable bringing it up.]
Commenter: [Deliberately break something important to her.]
Just as I was thinking about how messed up people could be, I suddenly heard a startled cry.
My bestie Jenny Carter burst into my room, her face pale with guilt.
"I accidentally spilled Coke all over your laptop," she blurted out.
"Oh my god, what do I do? You saved your presentation, right?" she asked anxiously.
*****
"Done!" I exclaimed.
That proposal that had been driving me crazy for a whole month was finally done.
I let out a sigh of relief.
I got up, stretched, and rolled my neck and shoulders to shake off the stiffness and soreness.
Jenny was sprawled out on the couch, binge-watching her latest drama.
Hearing me, she pulled off her headphones and turned around, her eyes sparkling with envy.
"Claire, if you land this client, you're totally up for that promotion, right?" she said.
"I heard from the others that just the commission on this deal could be tens of thousands," she chimed in.
"Girl, you're about to strike it rich!"
She hung her head, looking really bummed out.
"Can you imagine we joined the company together two years ago?" Jenny asked.
"I'm still stuck as a regular employee, and you're already on track to be a department manager."
She muttered, "I feel so lame."
I walked over and pulled her into a hug, trying to lift her spirits.
"Hey, don't talk like that," I said.
"Come on, let's go feast! My treat—at The Celestial Table, that spot you've been dying to try."
Jenny's eyes went wide, and she instantly forgot all about being sad.
"But that's a Michelin-starred restaurant! Dinner for two there is like a thousand bucks. Isn't that kind of crazy?" she blurted out.
I laughed, gave her a gentle shove back toward her room, and affectionately pinched her chubby cheek.
"That's exactly why you need to doll up. We're going all out tonight. Go get changed!" I said.
Jenny was a sucker for good food.
No matter what was bothering her, a tasty meal would instantly put a smile on her face.
*****
After cheering Jenny up, I ducked into my room to use the bathroom.
Sitting on the toilet, I did what I always do. I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through the Relationship Advice subreddit.
One post instantly grabbed my attention.
OP: [I'm super jealous of my bestie. How can I make her miserable?]
What kind of person would think like that?
OP: [My bestie and I came from pretty much the same kind of families.]
OP: [But she's smarter, prettier, and way luckier than me.]
OP: [We both have an older brother, but my parents always favored my brother over me. I had to wear his hand-me-downs all through childhood.]
OP: [He got the good bedroom, which is huge and full of sunlight, while I got shoved into a tiny, cold storage room facing north.]
OP: [My brother couldn't stand me and was always picking on me. Whenever I complained to my parents, they'd just say, "That's how brothers are supposed to treat their sisters."]
OP: [Meanwhile, my bestie is the apple of her family's eye. Everyone dotes on her.]
OP: [She gets all the best stuff—clothes, food, everything. And her brother absolutely adores her and spoils her rotten.]
OP: [When she was in college, he'd visit her every week, bring her snacks, and even treat her friends to dinner.]
OP: [Compared to her, I'm just a rat scurrying in the gutter.]
OP: [I feel like the jealous supporting character in a novel, living as her foil.]
OP: [The happier she is, the more miserable I feel.]
I frowned, slowly scrolling down.
That sounded way too much like me and Jenny.
No way.
Jenny was just a simple, easygoing girl. There was no way she'd have all those complicated thoughts in her head.
Besides, Jenny didn't have an older brother. She just had a little brother, one year younger than her.
This poster was pretty strange.
If she didn't even like her friend and said just seeing her made her miserable, why not just keep her distance?