A Gentle Discussion Between Friends

“Hey, Vicky, can we talk for a minute?” Ashley called to her tall, blonde best friend before she could leave.

“Huh? Oh, sure,” Victoria tore her eyes away from following Kurt and turned to face Ashley, the two blondes standing opposite in the living room. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to check in after last night,” Ashley said casually, and then with a bite of her lip, added, “and this morning.”

“Didn’t I already say that everything is fine?” Victoria clicked her tongue. “I’m good.”

“Well, after what happened, or didn’t happen, last night, you haven’t really seemed like yourself. You dress differently, you snap at people and openly allow the guys to ogle you. And then this morning, I walked in on you with Kurt,” Ashley listed, concerned and frowning.

“I already told you that nothing happened with Shawn,” Victoria insisted, a small smile forming on her lips as she said his name.

“Then why did you just smile?”

“What?”

Ashley balked. “You just smiled when you said his name.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did!”

Victoria growled and shook her head. “No, I’m smiling because I’m happy, an emotion that you’re, quite frankly, making me feel guilty for feeling. I already told you what happened, and honestly, I’m insulted that my best friend doesn’t believe me. When you came to me, upset because you were cheating on Brandon, I didn’t judge. I helped, I advised. What I didn’t do was tell you that you were the good, dutiful girlfriend who doesn’t cheat. Don’t act like I’m the first one around here to change.”

“Vicky, I’m not judging, I’m just…worried,” Ashley replied, taking a step back. “To go from Gavin to Kurt so quickly, it just seems like a rebound. Like you’re just latching on to the nearest guy around.”

“Well, shit, it’s not like there’s a lot of choice, unless you want me to fuck Zack again. And did you ever consider that maybe a rebound is exactly what I need? Gavin turned out to be an asshole, Dustin turned out to be an asshole, and Kurt, surprisingly enough, turned out not to be an asshole,” Victoria retorted, almost snarling at her best friend. “So, guess which one I want to fuck? Or is that the problem? Do you want every man in this cabin to be falling over themselves for you?”

“What?” Ashley look her head and grimaced. “I don’t want anything like that. I don’t care what Kurt does. I just care about you, Vicky. Getting into bed with a guy this quick…it’s not like you.”

“Until this week, I’d never had sex, so actually any sex I have isn’t normal behaviour for me. But maybe, now that I’ve had it, I like it, think about that?” Victoria asked rhetorically, turning and pacing away from Ashley, then turning back and snapping, “And if that makes me a slut, well, then I’m a slut.”

“Vicky, you’re not a slut for liking sex. You’re meant to like sex. We had this discussion back at the newspaper office,” Ashley reminded her, confused how this conversation could have gone so badly. “But I didn’t mean jump on the first available cock. You’ve always wanted the romance and the passion and love. That doesn’t have to change just because you’re having sex, but it has changed, and I’m just trying to understand why.”

“Where has that gotten me? I loved Gavin and he refused to have sex with me. The one guy I wanted to have sex with wouldn’t. Am I supposed to just hold out until he’s ready? Even as he goes on a grand tour of every willing and offering cunt around?” Victoria snapped, her face contorted in anger. “I mean, shit, no one batted an eye lid at that. Gavin, the shy ex-virgin, having threeways and playing sex games. No one even said a thing to you when you cheated on your boyfriend with his best friend and took him to a hotel. No one was bothered about you hooking up Lisa and Zack as some sort of tit for tat reconciliation for fucking Kurt. No one said anything when you encouraged me to sit on my boyfriend’s face while you jacked him off into your panties. No one said anything to Chloe when she started fucking Kurt after Zack cheated on her. But no, I’m the one out of line for dressing a little sexy and fucking a single guy.”

“Vicky, no one is saying you’re out of line,” Ashley interjected desperately. “Would you please just calm down and listen?”

“Why should I? You’re all such hypocrites and no one is willing to tell anyone the truth, which is simply that the reason everyone around here acts the way we do is because sex feels good. That’s why you cheat. Not because you’re addicted to the thrill or you need the drama. It just feels good, so why the hell not?” Victoria threw her arms up in the air. “It’s not like I’m going off the cliff with it or anything. I’m just fucking Kurt. What’s the problem?”

“It’s not a problem. If he’s making you happy and not taking advantage, then I’ll gladly support it, but-”

“I don’t need your permission or blessing, Ash. Fuck me, the hubris of that,” Victoria cut in, bewildered. “I can fuck whoever I want, whether you approve or not. You’re my friend but this is my life, and my body. I’m going to do what I think is best, not what you think is best for me. If this conversation alone has proven that you don’t have my best interests at heart.”

“See, it’s things like that which make me worried, because you’re very defensive suddenly, and I don’t know why. Once upon a time, my best friend would have come and told me herself and now she’s putting up walls and fucking some random dude and rubbing her ex-boyfriend’s nose in it, and that’s not her,” Ashley growled back, on the verge of tears. “I just want my best friend back.”

“Of course, I’m defensive when you attack me for simply fucking a guy…” Victoria paused, her eyebrows furrowed in thought as Ashley’s words sunk in. “Wait, how did you know that I rubbed Gavin’s nose in it?”

“That’s not really as important as the fact that you did it,” Ashley countered nervously.

Victoria’s manner eased as she broke into a laugh, sneering, “The dweeb had to get you to come fight his battles for him, I see. I’m still insulted that you’re taking his side over mine. He did cheat on me, Ash, and with you, as well.”

“I’m not fighting anyone’s battles,” Ashley assured her, coolly. “I offered, because I was concerned about your recent behaviour, and this conversation has done nothing to calm my fears.”

“That’s because I wasn’t trying to. Your fears are exactly that, yours. Me fucking Kurt shouldn’t make you afraid, but if it does, that’s your problem,” Victoria argued, as her laughter dissipated. “As for Gavin, I didn’t go seeking him out. He found me, and I simply made it clear that I was moving on. After everything he’s done, I’m not going to apologise for that.”

“Fine, but be that as it may, this behaviour still isn’t….h-hey, where are you going?” Ashley demanded as Victoria breezed past her.

“I’m done talking,” Victoria replied as she walked away towards the kitchen. “I don’t feel like explaining myself again. As I said, if you have a problem, it’s yours, not mine.”

Ashley stood, dumbstruck as she watched her best friend, if she could even call her that anymore, disappear through the doorway. The petite blonde was distraught, trying to figure out what had happened to make the conversation explode like it had and why Victoria seemed to be pushing her away. Maybe Victoria was right, and she was just being out of line, but…it felt like there was something else going on that Ashley just couldn’t see. She could sense it there, just outside her periphery, just beyond her grasp and she was unable to do a damn thing about it, except watch as her best friend changed in to someone she didn’t know at all.

And while she was considering all of this, Kurt walked in from the hallway.