I give her a playful side-eye. “We’re practically sisters anyway.”
She chuckles. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“Besides, I’m with Aaron, and I’m . . . happy.” I hope she doesn’t catch the hesitation.
I am happy . . . I think. Aaron is a great boyfriend. He takes care of me, pays for our big apartment, buys me nice things just because. He insists I don’t have to work, but I like reporting for the local paper too much not to. And yeah, occasionally we fight, and he likes to know where I am and who I’m with, but I get it. All couples fight. And wanting to know where the person you love is isn’t that unusual.
“Anyway, I have to get going,” I tell her. “I want to do some prereporting on the fair in case the chief assigns me to it. I hope he does. We’re still going to try to go together, right?”
“Yes! I can go any night, just let me know.” While Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday, I know Alyssa loves all things spooky and is ecstatic about the Carnival of Devils that’s in town for the next few weeks. They travel around the country with different rides, haunted attractions, and costumed actors who wander around scaring the guests.
“Sounds good! I’ll text you later. Love you,” I tell her as we get up to leave.
“Love you, too, Vi.”
•••
Back at my apartment that I share with Aaron, I open the front door and find him on the couch, wearing the sweatpants he slept in and playing video games.
“Hey,” I greet him, walking over and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
He grunts in response, not bothering to pause his game or even take his eyes off the screen.
No,Hey, babe, how was coffee? How’s your best friend doing?
I try not to let it bother me. Aaron has never really been the kind of boyfriend to ask about my friends.
“I was thinking about making some grilled cheese and soup for lunch. Did you want some?” I offer.
“Nope.”
“Okay, well did you want to watch a movie or something together after I eat? A nice relaxing Sunday.” I try again to get my boyfriend to give me even an ounce of his attention.
Sometimes I wonder why we’re still together. If he even likes me anymore. Are we even really together at this point, or just coexisting? It feels like Aaron only acknowledges me when he’s horny or is critiquing something I’m doing.
“I’m already relaxing, can you just fuck off?” he snaps at me.
I flinch at his harsh tone. “Okay, sorry,” I apologize and go into the kitchen to make my lunch.
As I’m eating, I pull up a show on my laptop at the kitchen table.
“Can you turn that shit off? It’s annoying to hear and it’s draining the internet. My game’s lagging.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize,” I say as I close my laptop.
“Don’t be sorry, just stop being so fucking annoying.”
I don’t try to say anything else to him. When Aaron’s in a mood like this, it’s best to just keep quiet and out of the way, otherwise he’ll start a fight over nothing.
After I finish eating, in silence, I set my dishes in the sink and retreat to the bedroom. I’ll get some reading done while he games for the rest of the day.
A few hours later, I hear a pan crash into the sink.
“Violet!” Aaron yells.
I walk out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen. “What’s up?” I ask.
“Don’t fucking ‘what’s up?’ me.” He points at the sink. “What the fuck is this?”
