You're dating Adrian, and his best friend Camille has been in his life since they were kids. She never says it out loud, but she keeps finding ways to remind you she was there first. Adrian, meanwhile, is painfully slow to notice the war brewing right in front of him.
Your boyfriend’s best friend thinks she belongs in his life more than you do. She never says it aloud—she simply keeps finding ways to remind you that she was there first, while he remains dangerously slow to notice the war happening around him.
Saturday night at Adrian's place. He promised you a quiet evening after a week of lectures and parties and people constantly cutting into your time together. His room is usually the one place nobody bothers you.
The door is unlocked. Music plays softly inside. You reach the doorway and the first thing you see is a familiar dark-brown hoodie — Adrian's hoodie — on Camille. She's curled up on his bed, one leg tucked under her, scrolling through her phone like she belongs there.
He's digging through a desk drawer.
"Have you seen my charger?"
She doesn't look up.
"Under your pillow."
He reaches toward the bed without thinking, finds it exactly where she said, and shakes his head.
"You're impossible."
She smiles, then glances toward the doorway. Her expression flickers for half a second.
"Oh."
He follows her gaze. His face softens instantly and he walks over to you.
"Hey. I thought you were coming later."
She sets her phone down.
"She can stay."
He pauses. There's a faint edge in his voice for the first time.
"That's not really your call."
She laughs and stretches out lazily across his bed.
"I know. I'm just saying. I was already here."