Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
"I am your friend," she says, rolling her eyes like I'm being overdramatic. "That's the problem."
"I don't understand."
"I'm always your friend," she says, hurt flashing in her eyes. "When you're around, no one cares about me. All they care about is you. It's always been you, Ivy. For the entire time I've known you, you've been the one everyone wanted to know. Half the time, people don't even remember my name."
"That's not true."
"Yes, it is. Our entire four years of college, all I heard was, 'You're Ivy's friend, right?'. It's the same way now. I meet a guy I like, but they're too busy looking at you to notice me standing there. And that isn't your fault. You're beautiful, and funny, and so amazing. But when you're around, I'm just the girl standing in your shadow. No one can compete with you."
"I…" I don't know what to say to that. I've never been in competition with her. "I never asked for attention. I never wanted any of it!"
"I know," she cries, frustrated. "That's part of the problem! You don't even notice the way people look at you, or how they want to be close to you. You're completely oblivious to it, while it's glaringly obvious to everyone else. I've been in love with Bryan Gleeson since I met him, but he only sees you. You think I'm kidding when I say he wants to sleep with you, but I'm not. I'm in love with him, and he wants you. That's so fucking frustrating!"
"You did this because of Bryan?" I ask, bile rising in my throat at the thought that she did this because of a guy. Bryan and I have never been anything more than friends.
"No, I did it because…" She huffs, her chest heaving. "I don't know what I wanted. I asked Bryan out before we went to L.A. last summer, and he shot me down. I was hurt because I knew if you had asked him, he would have said yes without hesitation, even though he's your boss. And then, when we were at Antonio's, this cute guy sat down at the table beside me. He was sweet, so I flirted with him. I thought maybe he could help me get over Bryan, but he couldn't stop talking about you. I was so frustrated and depressed. Yet again, it was all about you. I had a profile under your name. I just wanted to know what it felt like to be you, so I looked him up and we started talking."
"Oh my god," I whisper.
"I meant to flirt with him for a little bit and then toss him aside, but I couldn't do it." Regret flits across her face. "He was a nice guy, and I loved the attention he paid to me when he thought I was you. I made up Todd so you wouldn't get suspicious because I couldn't stop. When I was pretending to be you, everyone loved me. Guys were constantly asking for my number and flirting with me. I felt like a different person, and I loved that. But Rory hated it. At first, I thought the jealousy was cute. It felt good, you know? He was so sweet, and he was completely in love with me."
I want to cover my ears and block out the sound of her voice. I don't want to know any of this. But she's still talking, words flowing from her mouth in a steady stream.
"A couple of months ago, I needed to borrow some money to hold me over until one of my sales went through, so Rory sent me his credit card. You know how much I like to shop! I went overboard and he freaked out. Like…massively freaked out, Ivy. I told him I'd pay it back, but he wouldn't listen to me. His parents found out about the money and cut him off, so he couldn't even pay his tuition. He thought he was going to get kicked out of school. I couldn't deal with the melodrama anymore, so I broke up with him."
"You told him to kill himself," I mumble.
"I didn't mean it! He was getting on my nerves, constantly hounding me. I was going to pay him back as soon as my next check hit the bank, but then he showed up here. I freaked out when he told me he was in San Francisco. I didn't want him to track you down and realize that you had no clue who he was. I knew you'd hate me if you found out what I'd done, so I was mean to him, hoping he'd just go back home. I didn't know he was serious about killing himself or I never would have told him to do it." Tears pool in her eyes. "I swear, I didn't know."