Over the next few days she thought of all her friends and wondered who she would be willing to hurt, because that would eventually be the outcome. Making a best friend your scapegoat is a common enough occurrence but she couldn't treat those that had always been there for her with such disrespect.
But there was one, her very best friend, Bella, whom knew everything else about her. They'd known each other for 20 years and if she could trust anyone it was this friend. She called Bella and suggested lunch, not unusual but when she arrived she knew something was up. She knew what Bella was thinking so she shook her head, pity disgusted her.
"Everything's fine, girl, just sit down." Their chatter returned to normal, filling each other in on the random events that had filled their recent days.
After placing their order, she took a deep breath, gathered her courage and blurted "Bella, I need a favor." before she could stop herself.
"Sure, sweetie, anything."
"Well, don't be so willing until you hear what I have to say." Another deep breath "You remember when I got my first home computer and I spent every waking hour on the internet?"
"Uh-huh" this was, so not what she was expecting, Bella held her breath.
"Well" she felt the blood rushing to her face.
"Yeah..." Bella said as she leaned in.
"I met someone online and used to spend that time talking to that person." The words rushed from her lips quietly "We never met in person and I've never done anything like that since." Her cheeks and neck became hotter and redder.
"And..." Bella urged.
"Please don't hate me, but we used to talk on the phone, too." God, she couldn't believe she said it out loud.
"You what?" Almost breathless
"We never met in person, B, I swear to God!" She squeaked as she felt the tears welling she wanted to run but Bella grabbed her hand before she stood.
"If you stop there I swear to God I will kill you!" Bella said.
