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Chapter 2 The Post

Author: Rich Cabbage
That night, I lay alone in my hospital bed and scrolled through Elara's latest post.

It had been posted two hours earlier, right around the time I was in the ER.

The video showed me flailing around in the pool that afternoon, my hair plastered across my face and my face twisted into a grimace.

The caption was a long string of painfully cheerful words.

"Another day of helping my best friend overcome her fear of water. Tessa made progress again today! She's still scared, but she finally dared to get in the water. Sometimes, being there for someone is the best way to show you care."

Three encouraging emojis followed, along with hashtags like #BestFriend, #ExposureTherapy, and #BraveForLove.

The comments section was buzzing. The older swimmers on the team kept leaving comments.

"Elara, you're such an amazing friend."

"Tessa's so lucky to have you."

Someone tagged Everett. "Everett, your girl's swimming is hilarious. LOL."

Everett replied with a laughing facepalm emoji.

I stared at the post for a long time, my finger hovering over the screen.

I wanted to comment, "Take it down."

In the end, I only sent her a private message. "Elara, could you please not share that video? I think it's kind of embarrassing."

Elara never replied.

Three minutes later, she posted again.

She said a friend had pointed out that the video might make me uncomfortable, so she wanted to explain.

"I didn't post it to make fun of Tessa. I just wanted to document her progress. One day, when she learns to swim and looks back on this, she'll be grateful she went through it." Her final line read, "Tessa, I'll always be right there behind you."

The comments were filled with praise.

"Tessa's so lucky to have a friend like you."

"Ignore all those overly sensitive people."

Everett commented too, "Thanks for putting in the effort."

I closed the app and called Elara directly. She picked up after three rings.

"Elara, I don't want other people seeing that video."

Elara's voice took on an innocent tone as she deflected, "Tessa, how could you think that about me? I'm doing this because I care about you. I just want everyone to see how much progress you've made."

Before she could finish, Everett's voice came through the phone, filled with irritation.

"Tessa, can you stop being so ungrateful? Elara's been spending all this time helping you train, and you can't even say thank you. And now you're calling to chew her out? Since when did you get so sensitive?"

I had not expected the two of them to be together in the middle of the night.

After two seconds of silence, I let out a bitter laugh. "Fine. Then, I'll thank her. Thank you, Elara."

I hung up.

I held my phone against my chest as a sharp ache pulsed through me.

…

At two in the morning, Elara posted again. This time, it was a picture of her and Everett together. She was wearing one of Everett's T-shirts as a nightshirt, and the two of them were drinking on the balcony.

Comments from mutual friends flooded in.

"Are you two seriously not going to get together? You act more like a couple than most actual couples."

Everett replied with a smiling emoji.

I stared at the picture, a fresh ache stabbing through my chest.

I wanted to call Everett and demand an explanation, but in the end, I decided there was no point.
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