Gary

Gary put his phone back in his pocket in disgust. It was bad enough to have been dumped by Nancy, but to have her post pictures of her and Tim together on Instagram only rubbed salt in his wound. Never having been noticed by a girl before, Gary wished that Nancy hadn't given him the time of day. At least it wouldn't have gotten his hopes up.

It was hard having Tim as a best friend, especially for Gary. Whatever it was that Tim had, Gary had none of it. Nobody from the opposite sex would even look twice at him. They never had. Even as a child he remembered his aunts coming to visit, commenting to his mother about how unattractive he was. He got it. He could see in the mirror. His square jaw, his broad shoulders, his steely grey eyes, he didn't blame women for rejecting him. But Tim? Slight frame, smooth hairless body, and always dressed so fashionably, how could anyone compete?

It played with his mind, being close to Tim so much. They'd be hanging out in public and Gary would feel awkward, ugly, and frankly less of a man that Tim was. Of course women would be practically throwing themselves at Tim, they always did. And he would encourage it! Dressing so provocatively, being a tease, a flirt. Despite towering over Tim, it made Gary feel so small.

When Nancy had told Gary that she would go out with him, at first he had thought it was a prank. Like, why would a girl like Nancy go out with a loser like Gary? He could see the expression on her face when she looked at him. She was gracious, trying to hide it, but she was disgusted. It didn't bother him that much. All women looked at him the same way. So when she didn't shame him with an online video, dump him publicly to score points with her friends, Gary had begun to hope that it was real. But now he saw it for what it really was. Nancy had just been using him to get to Tim.

Gary would be lying if he didn't admit that once or twice while he was with Nancy that the though of introducing her to Tim had crossed his mind. How could it not? The two most attractive people he knew? Add to that how strong and authoritative Tim was, something in Gary's brain kept reminding him that Tim deserved someone like Nancy, that he should put them together. Maybe that was what had motivated him to offer Tim rides when they passed him in front of his house. The fateful conversation that had ended his relationship with someone so far out of his league that he wasn't even playing the same sport.

Flopping on his bed and pulling his phone out again, punishing himself by opening Instagram again, he 'liked' the picture that Nancy posted of herself and Tim. Arguably it was a good picture, and they were good together. Nancy was in a pair of jean shorts and a flannel shirt, while Tim was in a tight spaghetti strapped dress, looking like the perfect couple. Why fight it? Things had worked out how they should have worked out. Tim would be happy, Nancy would be happy. Gary would be the same as always, alone, adjacent. He stared at the picture and slipped his hand into his jeans, rubbing his semi-erect penis. The image filled him with envy and arousal. It made him feel things he didn't understand, but didn't care. If he was going to be miserable, he might as well enjoy it.