"Lil, I think he's cheating on me." Kimi blurted out after when they had finally settled in her room at the end of the day.
Lil hadn't moved to the city for a full 24 hours yet and she was already being pulled into Kimi's relationship drama. This was like déjà vu from high school all over again.
They had been childhood friends, and had been together all throughout their school career up until college hit. That's when Lil and Kimi had parted ways for the first time since they'd stepped into kindergarten together, and as much as they had tried to stay in touch daily, the distance definitely got to them and they went from daily contact, to weekly check ins, to monthly promises to meet up more often. It was only during holidays when they would both come back home to their little town would they really reconnect, because their respected colleges were hours away from each other. Living on campus you get engrossed in another world, in another group of friends and another social circle. Especially when you take a girl from a small town, growing up with the exact same crowd year after year… and then throw her into a world of new people and new drama. It definitely becomes hard to keep connected with your small town friends when you become completely entrapped in a new circle of a social world.
But it wasn't until their senior year at college when Kimi got the surprising call from Lil, telling her she was transferring to her college with not much of an explanation but that she wanted her best friend back and thought it would be awesome for them to live together for the year.
Lil never told her the real reason behind her transfer, and she didn't plan on revealing that to her anytime soon. Another reason why the transfer would be good for Lil was because her twin brother Phil also attended George Brown College –the same college as Kimi.
They were adamant on going to different colleges after high school because they mutually craved independence. To be a sole entity rather than being a part of a pair all their life… they needed to go to different colleges –different worlds, where people met them as individuals.
But for Lil, transferring to this college was her only option, because at this stage in her life… she craved comfort and security. What better way to achieve that than go live with her childhood best friend and her twin brother.
Lil zoned back into Kimi's current rant of her boyfriend –someone that Lil had never met.
"Trust me Lil, it's like an intuition that I have… I don't think he's faithful to me, I just don't feel that commitment you know."
Lil nodded as she unpacked her things in the apartment that Kimi and herhad gotten together for the school year. She hung her clothes in her closet and she saw as Kimi pulled out a dress and pressed it against herself in the mirror. She had forgotten the little things that had bugged her about Kimi, like her habit of wanting to share everything.
Lil sighed, "Why don't you just break up with him then?" she questioned, if she feels so strongly that hes cheating on her, why would she want to be with him?! Obvious solution...
Kimi sat down on Lil's bed, "Cause I really do want to be with him." she admitted, "I find him so attractive, such a charmer… he's perfect. He gives me butterflies just by looking at me, and the day he asked me out I was on cloud nine, I never imagined that he would've finally done it you know. Girls throw themselves at him shamelessly, and he didn't bat an eye at them at the beginning, but as time has gone on, I'm starting feel distance. And I'm convinced he's not loyal to me anymore, but I don't want to lose him if I'm just being paranoid you know."
Lil sat behind her, taking her hand in hers, "I feel ya, Kim. But maybe you should just ask him about how he feels, and let him know how you feel this distance between you recently?"
Kimi shook her head and buried it into her hands helplessly, "I don't want to scare him off by seeming too obsessive."
Lil smiled, "Who is this guy?"
"He's actually really good friends with Phil, they're on the football team together. They've been rooming together since second year. I actually met him through Phil."
Lil winced, she could just imagine how Phil felt about uniting Kimi and her current boyfriend… he's been in love with Kimi for as long as she could remember. One of the main reasons that Phil had chosen to go to George Brown was because Kimi was going there. But Kimi has always been oblivious about his true feelings and Phil's never had the guts to admit it. When they had gone off from high school together, Lil was sure it wouldn't be long before Phil would finally confess or Kimi would finally realize… but it's obvious that's negative. Kimi is head over heels with this new character.
They headed over to the kitchen and Kimi pulled out their takeout pad thai containers and brought it to the couch as Lil grabbed two cans of coke for them, "So I'm guessing I'll be meeting this boyfriend of yours soon then, and then maybe I could get a vibe on his feelings for you." She said as she lifted her feet onto the coffee table ahead of her and leaned back into the sofa working at her pad thai.
Kimi smiled at her hesitantly, "Actually Lil, I was kind of thinking along the same lines…"
Lil froze with the fork half way toward her mouth and lowered it slowly, before turning to Kimi with a raised eyebrow, "Kimi…" She started off in a warning tone.
"Lil, I know trust me, I know, but-…"
"We aren't in middle school anymore." Lil interrupted.
"I thought Michael happened in high school,"
"No, it was the summer of grade eight, right before high school." Lil clarified, before realizing they were getting off track here, "That's beside the point, Kimi that was years ago, we were young and dumb."
"Hey it was effective though, it worked like a charm." Kimi pointed out.
Lil rolled her eyes, "Kim."
"C'mon Lil, I just want to see how he reacts when a new good looking girl kind of makes a play at him. Will he respond like a committed boyfriend, or will he be a douche bag." Kimi insisted.
Lil sat back in annoyance.
Michael was a guy that Kimi was obsessed with in middle school. And when he finally flirted with her after school one day, her trust issues kicked in and she needed reassurance that this guy was for real and not just being a playboy. So to prove this notion she wanted to see how he would react if a girl flirted with him, and of course since she couldn't keep her eyes on her 24/7, she decided it would be more efficient if Lil were the one to throw herself at him to see if he would reject her and his feelings for Kimi were real. And Lil still thought Michael was a dumbass because everyone knew Lil and Kimi were best friends so it made no sense for Lil to flirt with him a few days after he had started showing interest in Kimi, but the idiot fell for it and low and behold, when Lil leaned over to kiss him behind school one day during the summer, he didn't stop her. And the rest as they say was history. Case closed, Kimi canned his ass.
Kimi had almost made that the solution to her trust issues, and even a few incidences later in highschool would be resolved by Lil having to flirt with the guy of interest or throw herself at him at a party to see how he would respond. Guys were dogs, so most often when she threw herself at them they would accept her.
But Lil looked back at those times in embarrassment. That wasn't a normal way of dealing with insecurities for Kimi and perhaps that's why Kimi hadn't had a stable relationship throughout high school. And plus, Lil really came across looking pretty slutty throughout high school, when half of those situations was actually her playing the part of a decoy. But nonetheless it was not a good look.
"Kimi you've grown up since then, there is better ways to deal with your relationship problems." Lil informed, "How did you deal with your trust issues for the last three years while I wasn't here to do your dirty work?"
"I've dealt with a lot of insecurities because I didn't have my trusted formula," she half joked with a wink, "But seriously Lil, some of the happiest relationships I've had were only because I was able to trust them once I could actually see their commitment when they would turn you down."
"Do you realize how messed up that sounds? If any third person was sitting in this room right now they would think you had some serious problems." Lil said in exasperation.
Kimi frowned, "Okay whoa miss new bitchy girl, where is my best friend and what have you done to her? She understood me and wasn't so judgemental."
Lil sighed, she realized that she was coming across pretty bitchy, and this wasn't a side that Kimi was used to. The girl that Kimi knew was very different. She lived in the moment and would do anything for her loved ones –even if it was weird and embarrassing tasks such as Kimi's.
But Kimi doesn't know what Lil has gone through in the last 3 years that they've been apart. Maybe if she did she would understand this new change in personality. But that wasn't something Lil wanted to dig up, and it was better to leave the past where it belongs. There is a reason why she's moved here and that reason is to move on.
"I'm sorry Kimi," Lil apologized, "I will only do this ridiculous maneuver one last time if you promise that you will never ask of this again. I'm surprised that this is my first night here and you already need me to be a decoy for you again."
Kimi swore –as she always did- that this would be the last time that she would ask of this from Lil.
"So what's the game plan?"
"I want to see how he reacts when you give him attention. He doesn't know about how close we are and wouldn't expect us to tell each other everything."
Lil found it funny that she talked about how close they were as if it was a present thing, they were close, they used to tell each other everything… that was three years ago. At this current state, they don't really know much of each other's lives. But they'll always be childhood best friends, and perhaps during the year of living together, they'll regain that connection once again.
Lil nodded, "But won't Phil find it weird that I'm flirting with your man?"
"Don't do it in front of Phil, duh!"
"Speaking of Phil, I should head over to see him soon."
"Perfect, you'll also meet my boyfriend that way and we could see how it goes!"
Lil nodded before yawning and standing up to stretch her body, "I'm beat from this day, I should really get some sleep."
Kimi nodded, standing up as well, "I'm really happy to have you here Lil, I'm glad we'll be roommates this year, I've missed you." She said sincerely.
Lil felt her heart melt as she wrapped her arms around her old friend, "I've missed you too Kimi, and this year will be awesome!"
Kimi nodded as they parted ways, and headed to their respected rooms on the opposite sides of the kitchen.
"Oh and Kimi," Lil said as an afterthought, "Does your boyfriend have a name besides 'boyfriend'"
Kimi laughed.
"His name is Tommy."