Best of Friends 41 - Allison

Mel sat at an outdoor table adjacent to the Commons patio area. The sun was bright and the morning air was cool. She wore a white skirt and a black top with gold chains around her neck. She’d come early to get some reading done and to prepare herself mentally for her conversation with Allison, who now slowly walked towards her with a phone in hand. Mel didn't know what to think of her at first. She was gorgeous, yes. Apparently, Noah was able to attract women like that. Her hair was long, shimmering, and chocolate brown. She had it pulled back behind her ears, revealing two gold hoop earrings. Her long nails were freshly manicured, and her wrists were adorned with gold bracelets and a smart watch. She was taller than most women, but it fit her frame perfectly.

And perfect was the only way to describe her.

Everything was in exact ratio, and Allison seemed to know it. Her crop top did a fantastic job of showing off her full cleavage and abs, while her short shorts accentuated her long legs and plump ass.

Full lips. Blue eyes. Olive Skin.

And a bright, white smile.

Mel wondered if it was veneers.

To top it off, she moved as if there was a camera on her at all times. Everything was too practiced and perfect.

Of course, that was most women at Godfrey; Allison really wasn’t the exception there. But what she couldn't figure out, at least at a first glance, is why Noah would like her. She was hot, yes, but Noah didn't seem like the superficial type. So, what else was there? At least Rachel had that ‘quirky sweetness’ everyone clamored over, even though it was fake as fuck. But Allison didn’t. If anything, she felt like a walking red flag.

As she neared Mel's table, Allison waved excitedly, removing her designer glasses and pushing them into her silky smooth hair.

"Hey theeere!" she said with a long, LA vocal fry. Opening her arms for a hug.

Ok, weird, they didn't know each other like that, but that was fine. Mel played along, standing from her table and tiptoing over to Allison with arms open.

"Heeeey!" She said, hugging her back. God, she even smelled gorgeous.

"Oh my god, such a beautiful day out, right?" Allison said, fixing her hair before sitting down and tapping her French nails on the table's glass top.

"Oh my god, I know! It's just so amazing this time of year, isn't it?" Mel hated the fact that she was slipping into Allison's LA mannerisms, but she couldn't help herself. It was an old survival tactic she hadn't fully unlearned.

"Oh my god, stop! And the amount of sun you guys get out here? Unbelievable."

"Right?!"

Allison's lips pricked up into a perfect smile that made Mel's skin crawl.

"Ok, so don't fucking hate me, but I've been trying to place where we met and I just CANNOT do it. How do we know each other again?" Allison asked.

"Oh," Mel waved her hand nonchalantly. "Please, you're totally fine."

"I feeeeel like a piece of shiiiit!" Allison spoke with prolonged, whiny inflections. Her tone was so fake that it made Mel want to shake her angrily.

"No, no, trust me, it's not you. We've never met at all. A few of my girlfriends had spoken about you, said you were wonderful, and when I saw your story, I was like, 'Oh my god, this woman is too fucking gorgeous and fun!' So I had to meet you."

Of course, all of that was a lie. But Allison didn't need to know that. She also didn't need to know that Mel was only interested in finding out more about Noah. And now, the more she talked to Allison, the more Mel hoped that she wasn’t aware Noah was on campus.

Mel would play this smart. She’d get her answers and then never talk to Allison again.

"Oh my god, I fucking looooove that for us!" Allison said, snapping her fingers. "I'm always about growing my circle, babe!"

"Me tooooo." Mel wanted to blow her brains out right there.

"So what are you majoring in?"

"Business," Mel said. Allison nodded slowly.

"Cuuute, and are you doing socials outside of that?"

Mel bristled at Allison's testing droll.

"I don't know, maybe?"

"Oh, babe, you NEED to be doing socials. It's like the best pathway to success. If nothing else, it will get you a good job somewhere."

Mel raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

"Uuuuh… yes?" Allison said with a playfully demeaning tone. Mel was beginning to think she was worse than Rachel.

"I guess I never really thought about it that way," Mel said, doing her best to hide her annoyance.

"Babe, listen. All it takes is one horny, young, stupid CEO living off daddy's money to give you the keys to the kingdom. You just have to play into the fantasy and give them what they want."

"Which is?"

"A hot secretary. A hot marketing director. A hot whatever. As long as you boost their ego and make them think they have a chance at fucking you, you'll get the fattest salary of your life."

"I see…" Mel had to hand it to her; Allison was incredibly crafty. Even if it was a little gross.

"Your hotness is a commodity, babe, and it runs out before you're thirty. So use it now."

"No, totally, I get it." Mel took a sip of her drink, examining Allison for a moment as she decided how to steer their conversation towards Noah. "So… where did you grow up?"

Allison's eyes narrowed, as if suspicious of the question. It would make sense. Mel got the impression that Allison cared a lot about social status. And any girl from Herferd, no matter how hot, was going to have an uphill battle to climb here at Godfrey.

"Small town, way too small for me," she said flatly. "I was destined to make it big. It was between New York, LA, and this place. I chose here since my dad knew the Dean."

Ok, so her dad got her in here, and she was embarrassed about her past. That all made sense. It also didn't matter. What mattered was figuring out why Noah fell for her. Normally, Mel would have done this all over several meetings. She would have slowly worked her way into Allison’s life, gained her trust, and finally gone in for the kill. In fact, that was the original plan. But now, she wasn't sure she could even stomach twenty more minutes with Allison. She would need to make this quick.

"I love that for you," Mel said. She glanced Allison up and down and opted for the sycophant route. "And you are soooo right. There is no way a girl like you could ever stay caged up in a small town like that."

Allison perked up at that.

"Tell me about it. Was it the same for you?"

"No, I actually grew up around this area," Mel said. That was only half-true, but she needed Allison to see her as someone who could boost her social value.

"Stop! In the city?!" Allison said.

"The suburbs, actually," Mel said. "Near the north side."

Allison leaned back with a scoff.

"God, I would die to live out there! The downtown area is so cute."

"That's where I grew up."

Allison's eyes brightened.

"Wow, so this is all pretty familiar to you then," Allison spoke with a surprising amount of vulnerability. Mel might have even been sympathetic towards her if it weren't for the hidden envy in her words. Still, she had captured Allison’s attention. Now she just needed her opportunity.

"Kind of, but it's not like it matters. It's all about perception at the end of the day, right?"

"I completely agree," Allison said excitedly. "Like, oh my god, don't get me wrong. But Herferd? There was nothing in that stupid little town. Nothing. And what's worse? It was like everyone who knew I was from there saw ME as nothing. ME! Can you believe it?"

Mel could completely believe it.

"I can't," she said.

Allison sighed. "Well, now I'm where I deserve to be. And like, don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful and all that. But I'm also grateful to be done with that place. Exes and all."

And there it was. Mel's opportunity.

"Exes?" she said playfully. Allison smirked and rolled her eyes.

"I meeeaan… I had to have a little fun in the cornfields, right?"

Mel lifted her coffee cup to her lips and smiled.

"Are the guys cute in Herferd?" She already knew the answer to that.

"Ugh, no. Look, it's the bottom of the barrel out there, you know? It's not the best and brightest that stay in places like that."

Ok, it was official, Allison was worse than Rachel.

"You didn't like any of them?" Mel asked.

"I mean, there was this one guy… Brian." Allison bit her lip. "He was baaaad, babe."

Mel had no idea who Brian was, and frankly, didn't really care. But if it got her to the bottom of things, she would follow the thread.

"Oh yeah? Tell me about him."

"Well, he was the captain of the football team. And that dumbass really thought he had a chance with me," Allison threw her head back and laughed. "Anywaaaays, I started fucking him before I left. He was so hot. Stupid, but hot. I do feel bad though…"

"And why's that?" Mel asked. She saw the devil appear in Allison's eyes. It gave Mel the chills.

"I feel scared to say!" she said.

"Girl, trust me, your secret is safe with me."

Allison looked around. "You promise?"

"I promise."

"Babe, I was so bad, I feel so terrible."

It was obvious she didn't. Allison was dying to tell her whatever it was she felt ‘ashamed’ about. It looked like she might burst at any second if she didn't. She just needed to get through the formality of seeming like a decent person first.

"Girl, don't even worry, tell me!" Mel said excitedly, playing into the gossip as best she could.

"Fuck… ok… don't judge me! Buuuuut…" Allison paused for effect. "I fucking cheated on my boyfriend with Brian."

Oh. Shit.

Shock didn't even begin to describe what Mel felt. She stared, mouth open, as Allison placed her index finger between her teeth and bit it playfully.

"Shit! You think I'm a bitch don't you?!" Allison said. She feigned distress, but Mel could see right through it.

"What? Nooooo," Mel said, forcing a laugh. "But I need details, girl! What was your boyfriend's name?"

"Noah," Allison said bashfully.

Well, there it was. This is what Noah experienced before Rachel.

Mel forced herself to concentrate. She took a deep breath and let out another laugh while she gathered her thoughts.

"But why?!" The question was more heartfelt than Mel intended. She genuinely couldn’t understand why anyone would do that to Noah.

Allison scoffed. "I couldn't help myself! And also, it wasn't all my fault, okay? Noah was like, so sweet, right? But he was SUCH a fucking pushover. And like, he never really cared about me. You know? Like I'd tell him how to be a good boyfriend ALL the time, and it was like he didn't get it!"

"Uh-huh…" Mel didn't say a word. She just let Allison keep talking.

"So anyways… I knew I was going to dump him. We were basically over."

"Like you guys had talked about breaking up?"

"Well, no, but like, it was OBVIOUS. You know? Plus, he was like, I don't know, he would just let guys talk to me and like, was SO FUCKING PASSIVE. It was a major ick, babe."

"Right…"

"So, anyway, along came Brian, and like I just KNEW we weren't going to be a thing. But he was hot and… well… one day after practice, we started talking, and… he fucked me behind the bleachers." Allison stared at Mel for a moment, seemingly proud of what she'd just said.

Mel's face went red with rage.

"And then did you and Noah break up?" she asked.

Allison laughed. "Noooooo. Okay, so this is the bad part…”

Jesus, that wasn’t the bad part?

“I kept seeing them both.” Allison continued. “But like, don't worry. Noah and I weren't fucking. In fact, up to that point, we hadn’t even fucked yet. He was a virgin! Another ick, right? So anyway, I told him we were going to wait. Actually…"

Allison leaned forward and covered her mouth as she laughed harder, like this whole thing was a fucking joke. It took everything Mel had not to slap her across the face.

"Yeah?" Mel said behind gritted teeth.

"Okay… soooo Brian was actually like 'don't let him fuck you!' And I'm like, what the fuck? Like ew, no, right? Buuut Brian kept insisting, and I wasn’t going to stay with Noah. So eventually I was like, okay, sure. So I told Noah we'd wait and make it special. We decided on prom night, right? And oh my fucking god… the night we were supposed to finally do it? Noah walked in on me and Brian fucking in the locker room!" Allison covered her face with her hands and began stamping her feet as she laughed.

Mel was grateful she did. There was no way she could have hidden her contempt in that moment.

“And then…” Allison continued. “And then… oh my god, this is SOOOO bad! Then Noah started recording it when Brian told him to! Like, who DOES THAT?! And I was like, ‘We shouldn’t, we shouldn’t,’ but he was fucking into it! So yeah, my ick ex recorded me getting fucked by my boy toy.”

"Woooow." What else could Mel say?

This woman was pure evil. She had enjoyed every second of what she’d done to Noah.

And this was a mistake.

Mel had unwittingly opened Pandora’s box, and she needed to close it as soon as possible.

"Not my proudest moment, I'll admit!” Allison continued, carefully wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “Buuuut, like I said. It wasn't meant to be anyway. What happens in Herferd stays in Herferd."

Mel was speechless, and truthfully, she didn't need to hear any more. It all made perfect sense now. Allison made Rachel look like a saint. It explained why Noah tolerated her behavior. He'd never known what real love could actually be. He probably thought Rachel was as good as he could get. It made Mel sad for him, and it made her hate Rachel even more.

And in that moment, Mel became determined to make sure something like that never happened to Noah again.

"Anywaaays," Allison said. "You have any crazy stories to share?"

"Well, none that crazy!" Mel said with a laugh. Allison joined in with a cackle of her own. But before Mel could spin up some bullshit story, she glanced over at the Commons entry doors as they opened.

Her heart stopped when she saw Noah and Rachel walking through them.

Mel prayed to whatever god might exist that he wouldn't see her.

But he did. He looked right at her as if she were under a spotlight. And with a bright smile, he waved at her.

Why? Of all days, why did this have to be the day Noah stumbled into her and decide not to ignore her? Rachel followed behind him, a grimace on her face when their eyes met.

For once, Mel found herself sympathizing with her. Rachel had no idea they were both walking towards a ticking time bomb.

"UUUUH Hello?! I'm talking to you, Mel?" Allison said bitterly.

"O-oh, I'm sorry I–" Mel stumbled over her words as Allison interrupted her.

"Who the fuck are you looking at anyway?!" Allison turned, and her eyes found Noah's.

"Well… Well…" Allison quickly turned before Noah recognized her. She smiled wickedly at Mel. "Now this is veeeery interesting."

She stared at Mel like a tiger stares at prey.

“You know each other?” she asked.

Mel stammered.

“Hey, Mel!” Noah shouted.

Allison smiled. “Guess that answers that question.”

Things could not have gone worse. Mel had just served Noah and Rachel on a silver platter to the most vile woman she’d ever met. Part of her hoped that Allison would be kind, that she would leave them be, and go on with her life.

But instead, Mel watched in horror as Allison stood and waved playfully at Noah.

She watched as his eyes went wide with shock.

As Allison turned to her one last time and gave a wink.

“So nice talking with you, Mel.”

--

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