An Alien Love

Teary Night

Tosh sighed heavily as she handed Amanda yet another tissue. Amanda had spent the better part of the evening crying and snot and tears ran down her face in rivers. She and her boyfriend, Aaron, had been going through a rough patch as of late, with Aaron seemingly avoiding Amanda and becoming increasingly cold and distant. Amanda hadn’t worried though. This had happened before and the two had come out stronger from it. When he texted Amanda earlier in the day to end that relationship, saying he’d found love elsewhere but refusing to elaborate further, it had taken both her and Jenna by surprise. Even Tosh, who was usually the pessimistic type when it came to relationships, couldn’t believe that Amanda’s had come to an end. And over text of all things.

With Amanda’s relationship now ended, reducing her to a mess of tears and snot, Jenna and Tosh had come to the rescue. Jenna had set Amanda up with depressing chick flicks before leaving their shared apartment to retrieve Tosh. Tosh and Jenna had stopped at the store on their way back to the apartment and grabbed a pint of ice cream for each of them. Tosh picked up a couple of energy drinks for herself and within the hour they had piled on the fold out couch together with blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, ice cream, and tissues galore.

“I can’t believe he would do this to me!” Amanda screamed, hurling the box of tissues across the room where it bounced off the wall and lay dejected on the ground. Her sobs grew stronger as she collapsed forward into her stuffed zebra named Stripe that had been a gift from Tosh and Jenna for one of their single valentine’s days in high school.

“I know, honey, but do you really think throwing things is going to fix this?” Jenna rolled her eyes as she retrieved the abused box. “Next time you throw this you got to get it yourself.” Amanda sighed apologetically and took the box back into her lap, holding it like she held Stripe. Like it was the only thing tethering her to the Earth. Grabbing another tissue, she dabbed at the tears drying on her face.

“I know. I’m sorry guys. This is just all so sudden. I knew things were getting rough, but I just didn’t think he would leave me. And over text! He didn’t even have the decency to talk to me in person! After everything we’d been through together.” She sighed in defeat, then took another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

Jenna rubbed Amanda’s back reassuringly. “I know. We all thought he was a good man. He helped you realize you needed to move out of your parents’ house. He even offered to let you live with him.”

Tosh laughed abruptly, remembering that conversation in the college cafeteria three years back. “Yea, like we would let you move in with some guy you’d only just started dating. I am still mad you listened to him over us. We’d been trying to get you to come live with us since junior year in high school.”

Amanda smiled guiltily and dabbed her eyes. “Yea. I remember. It was after I came to school with that black eye. You and Jenna went into an uproar. Started the custody battle between my grandma and my parents.”

Jenna pushed Amanda’s shoulder playfully before taking a spoonful of ice cream into her own mouth. “It’s what friends do.”

The ice cream muffled the words and Tosh shot Jenna a disapproving look. “No talking with your mouth full.”

Jenna swallowed then smiled mischievously back at Tosh. “Yes, mom.” Amanda burst into laughter. Tosh and Jenna exchanged pleased looks; glad she had finally stopped crying, at least momentarily. There was hope that Amanda would be okay.

After finally catching her breath, Amanda looked at her two friends, her face becoming sad once more, but not desperate. “Thank you, guys, for being here with me. I still can’t believe Aaron broke up with me. But it’s nice not to be alone.”

“I can’t believe it either, honestly.” Tosh shook her head and hugged Amanda close to her.

“And he won’t even explain why.” Amanda’s face had a kicked puppy look about it and Tosh kissed her friend’s forehead hoping to chase away some of the sadness. They turned on the romantic comedies that the girls enjoyed on rough days and laughed together between bouts of tears. Finally, the dejected young woman fell asleep in between her two best friends.

“Man, this really sucks,” Jenna whispered over to Tosh, trying not to wake Amanda.

“I know. I was rooting for those two.” They had appeared to be the hallmark couple and Tosh had admired them in a way.

“I wonder who this new person he’s ‘in love with’ is.” They thought for a minute and Jenna took out her phone and began texting furiously.

“What are you doing?!” Tosh asked, getting the feeling she already knew the answer to that question.

“I’m asking him, of course.” The smile on her face became devious as her thumbs sped over the keyboard. With the message sent, the girls waited with eager anticipation to see if he would answer. After a few minutes that seemed like hours, the phone dinged, alerting the girls to Aarons' response.

Aaron: Jenna, I know you're trying to look out for your friend, but do you really think it is any of your business?

Jenna: Um yes. She is not just my friend. She’s my best friend and you broke her heart. There has to be a good reason.

Aaron: You aren’t going to give up on this, are you?

Jenna: Nope. Spill.

Aaron: I could just block you.

Jenna: Then I’ll come to your house.

Aaron: No please don’t do that.

Jenna: I am getting my keys. Better tell me before I get to my car.

Aaron: Fine! Oh my goodness, you are so annoying. If you really must know, I’ll tell you. I am in love with Jeremy. A dude. I am gay and I used Amanda as my cover because my folks were getting suspicious. I finally came out to my parents this last weekend because I just couldn’t pretend anymore. So I am out. Now leave me alone!

Jenna and Tosh stared down at the texts in utter disbelief. They looked at each other, then back at the text conversation and tried their hardest to process the new information provided to them.

“Wow.” Tosh looked over at Amanda and a sense of pity overcame her. For Amanda to have only been a cover for this man was unbelievable. His family’s background was strict and extremely homophobic. It made sense that it would be difficult to tell them that he was gay. But to use her friend as a cover story? That was unacceptable. He could have at least spoken to her about his situation. Amanda probably would have helped him willingly. She knew what it was like to come from a home where you were put under harsh scrutiny for who you were. When one wrong choice could result in disastrous outcomes.

“Should we tell her? I mean, I was thinking it was another girl, not this. This is a whole other can of worms.” Amanda would be even more devastated than she was now. But the girls couldn’t keep this from her. It was wrong to even consider doing so. They agreed they would tell her in the morning and then they both tried to get as comfortable as they could without disturbing Amanda.

Jenna could fall asleep anywhere and was out in seconds. Natasha had a harder time with it. She kept thinking back to the text conversation with Amanda’s gay ex-boyfriend. He had been using Amanda as a cover for almost two years without ever saying anything. It wasn’t completely unheard of for someone to try to hide that they were gay. Celebrities did it all the time before it became more socially acceptable. But it didn’t hurt the people involved any less. And to have broken up with Amanda over text almost seemed like adding insult to injury. ‘I hope I never fall in love with someone who would do this to me’ was the last thought Tosh had as she drifted off to sleep.