Blurred Lines 1: CHASE novel Chapter 7

~Sofia~

Jessica’s three-minute rant finally ended. Certain she had already voiced her anger, I pressed the phone back to my ears without checking if she was still on the line.

My face contorted when my phone rang. A request for a video call.

Answering the call, Jessica’s wicked laugh coasted through the air. I glared at her face; the crinkles in her eyes told me I was already forgiven for bailing out on her without a word.

“Bitch,” I mumbled under my breath.

Her laughter died down. “Traitor.”

I glared at her. She glared back.

“I love you,” I said.

She snorted, falling into a fit of laughter. I laughed with her, and just like that, her anger wilted away.

“Sorry for leaving without a word.” I rolled onto my back, holding the phone up.

Jessica shook her head. “I get it.”

“You do?” I turned onto my stomach, pressing my chin on my folded arm.

She hummed, stepping away from her cell phone. She was in her kitchen, dressed in a fitted top and yoga pants. Her blond hair was pulled up in a messy bun. With her back on me, the gentle purr of the juicer echoed from her end. She returned with a glass of green smoothie, her secret recipe.

Jessica and I went to the same school since elementary, but we only got together in our sophomore year. It was at a school dance. Someone accidentally spilled grape juice on my white dress. I went into the bathroom and found Jessica there. She offered to help remove the stain with a wet cloth, which spread the purple further. To say the dress didn’t see the light of day again would be an understatement, but I found my best friend that night.

I refused to go back out into the dance and shame myself. Jessica stayed with me in the bathroom, locked the door, and magically pulled a joint from her bag. It was my first time trying that shit, but it was also hers. She stole it from her cousin, and to kill time, we both experimented on it and said, ‘never again.’

“Georgia told you?” Although Georgia promised not to tell anyone, I wouldn’t hold it against her if Jessica squeezed the information out of her. Jessica can be really persistent when she wants to be.

Jessica’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Georgia knew? I am your best friend; she is the evil witch, and you told her?”

“Shit,” I murmured under my breath.

I love Jessica, but she is such a jealous prick, even on small things like gossip about my life. She wants to know everything first. I should’ve remembered that and kept my mouth shut.

She set the glass on the counter, the thick green liquid swirling inside. Parking her hands on her hips, she paced the kitchen, breathing like a dragon ready to burn everything in her path. “I can’t believe this. We’ve been best friends for what, ten, eleven years? And you chose Georgia over me?”

I sighed and sat crossed legs on the bed; the bed was so soft. It didn’t even make an irking noise beneath my weight.

“It’s nothing like that, Jess.” I unfurl my palm on the covers, wondering how much this bed cost. This was much more comfortable than Kyle’s bed. Pushing thoughts of that man aside, I continued. “Georgia was my ticket out of Boston. I would never choose her over you, you know that.”

Jessica pouted, regarding me with scrutinizing green eyes. She plonked back on her stool and sipped her green poison. She made me drink one like that before, and I swear never to fall into her trap again. “Fine, tell me what happened.”

I took a deep breath. “Dinner was fine, and you know, the usual: we ended up in Kyle’s mansion… in his bed.” My face scrunched, the memory of our last night together knocking the air out of my lungs.