Girlfriend

It's been a long time since you've seen your childhood bully, Arlo, and you were full of dread when he messaged you that he was in town. He invited you to join him for a night out to catch up. You were kind of curious to see him again but still a bit leery. You thought to yourself, ‘Maybe he has changed.’

You put your worries aside, however, as he greeted you enthusiastically, “Oh fuck, Davey, good to see you man!" Arlo gave you a crushing bear-hug, his pearly white teeth flashing in a wide grin. "How have you been, bud?"

“I’ve been great, Arlo ... I just graduated from NMU, I start my new job tomorrow, and my girlfriend and I plan to marry next month, so things seem to be going really well!" You loved bragging about your success, especially to this guy who use to bully you so mercilessly. “How about you, Arlo, what are you up to these days?”

"Congrats, man. That's awesome!” Arlo clapped me on the back, his grin never faltering. "I'm doing great too, just keeping busy with my own little projects. So, you're with someone now?” He took a sip of his drink, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. "I'm always interested in the ladies that get my friends all hot and bothered … like your old girlfriend in high school, you know, that cute little cheerleader that got so angry with me when I pranked you a bit in front of the cheer squad. Hmmm … Sindie I think her name was. I wonder what happened to her?” He tilted his head feigning concern. Then chuckled, “I heard she had a complete make over. Ahh … never mind that! Tell me about your new girlfriend, Davey, what's she like?”

Sindie had been your childhood sweetheart back in school until she broke your heart. You suddenly felt to tell Arlo anything as you thought back on those painful days of being, not pranked, but bullied by Arlo and his buddies. You even began to wonder if Arlo had something to do with Sindie breaking up with you after all the years that she was your friend, often your only friend who cared for you and even stood up to Arlo that awful day that he decided to de-pants you in front of the cheerleaders.

But maybe you were just being too suspicious of Arlo, after all he seemed to be genuinely interested now about your good fortune, “Well”, you said, “she is cute ... a bit shy and innocent, but a nerd like me. That's why we get along so well, I guess!” Sadly you added, “She does, sometimes … remind me of Sindie … so she's definitely not your type!”