Strangers in a Second

"Neither of us guessed the exact date Colin would notice his college choices had been changed, but I was the closest."

My buddy, Caleb Sterling, smugly patted Amelia Blackwood on the shoulder. "So, you still lost. You have to be my servant for two months. Hurry up and feed me some beef."

Amelia gritted her teeth. "The rules clearly said you had to guess the exact date to win. You're cheating. I won't argue with a sore loser like you, though. I'll let you win this time."

She looked thoroughly indignant, yet she obediently cut the steak into small pieces and held one of them up to Caleb's mouth. Then, she turned to me and explained, "I'm just honoring the bet. Don't read too much into it. Do you want some? I'll cut some for you, too."

Amelia hated it when anyone broke the rules, no exceptions.

Before the SATs, she'd set a study goal for me—two hours of tutoring every day.

Once, I had such bad stomach pain that I couldn't even get out of bed and asked for ten minutes off.

Her expression darkened immediately.

"Don't start backing down every time something minor happens. How are you supposed to get into the same college as me if you're like this? Endure the pain. Otherwise, I'm never tutoring you again."

I'd been hurt by that for a long time. I thought she simply didn't care about me.

Now, I was seeing with my own eyes that she'd make an exception for Caleb.

A fine, persistent ache spread through my chest. I tightened my grip on the barbecue skewer and shook my head. "No, thanks. I don't like beef."

"You used to love beef, didn't you? Why are you—"

I cut her off. "Caleb is the one who likes it."

The atmosphere fell silent for two seconds.

Amelia opened her mouth awkwardly as if she wanted to say something, then closed it again.

…

After we finished eating, Caleb suggested going for a walk together.

Halfway there, I crouched down to tie my shoelace. When I looked up again, Amelia and Caleb were already ten yards ahead.

They chatted and laughed as they walked, without either of them looking back to make sure I was following.

The knot of frustration in my chest tightened.

Ever since I was little, my mind had a tendency to wander, making it hard for me to stay focused on anything.

Walking was no different. I was always a step or two slower than everyone else.

Amelia used to deliberately slow down for me, glancing back every so often to make sure I was still beside her.

Sometimes, when my shoelaces came undone, she'd even kneel down and tie them for me herself.

Whenever someone called me her burden, she'd always defend me. "Colin isn't a burden. He's just curious, and other things tend to catch his attention."

But somewhere along the way, whenever she and Caleb got together, they would talk nonstop, arguing and bickering.

They'd get so engrossed that they often forgot about me.

Watching them disappear farther and farther ahead, for the first time, I chose not to follow. Instead, I pulled out my phone and opened WhatsApp.

Amelia had created a small group chat for our tutoring sessions, but after the SATs, I accidentally lost access to my account and couldn't log in.

I only got it back three days ago.

They hadn't kicked my old account out of the group, but they hadn't added my new account either.

For the past three days, I watched them chat from morning until night.

Most of it was just them bantering and trading barbs, but something about it had always felt off to me.

…

Ten minutes ago, Caleb had sent a message in the group.

"Let's pretend we left Colin behind and not respond to him. Let's see if he gets so worked up he cries."

"No. He's terrified of walking alone at night. We can't leave him behind." Amelia refused.

He sounded impatient. "You're my servant right now. Whatever I tell you to do, you do it."

She replied with nothing but a string of ellipses, but she didn't stop him again.

I'd grown used to bets like this.

Every time, they revolved around me, turning my pain into their entertainment.

I knew they were hiding somewhere, waiting to watch me make a fool of myself. But I wasn't going to play along anymore.

I didn't send them a single message.

Instead, I hailed a cab and went straight home.