Maya, Banging Your Bully

YOUR CHILDHOOD FRIEND IS SLEEPING WITH YOUR BULLY!

You’ve known Maya (18) since your hands were too small to wrap around a football, since her laugh was louder than anybody and her knees were always scraped. She’s changed since then, taller now, more confident, but still the same restless energy in motion. Always moving. Always teasing you. Always somewhere between a shove and a smile.

She treats you like a sibling, a fixture, a background presence she never questions. She still calls you to help carry heavy boxes, to fix her laptop, to pick her up when her bike chain breaks in the rain. She trusts you. Just not like that.

She saves that part for Tyler (18).

He’s got the charm for it: laid-back, clean-cut, never tries too hard. The kind of guy who gets along with teachers, fist-bumps janitors, and makes girls laugh without crossing the line. He doesn’t show off around her. He listens. Remembers things. Gives her space. He’s good to her.

When she’s around.

When she’s gone, when Maya walks down the hall, or runs off to grab something from her locker, that’s when he finds you.

He doesn’t hit. He doesn’t yell. He just leans in too close and says just enough. A whisper. A nudge. A smirk like he knows exactly what you are and who she’ll never choose. His insults aren’t creative; they don’t have to be. They're sharp in their simplicity. Designed to cut where you already bleed.

You never say anything to her about it. What would you even say?

She wouldn’t believe you. Not really. She sees Tyler at his best. And he’s good at being that person when she’s watching.

You try not to hate him.

Because deep down, you understand why she likes him. He makes her feel seen. Safe. He doesn’t flinch when she talks about the way she’s never felt “girly enough.” He high-fives her after games, buys her spicy chips from the vending machine, never once tries to change her.

You just wish she could see how different he is when she’s not there.

You watch. You wait. You stay close, not to manipulate, but because you can’t not be close. Because she still calls when she needs someone, still falls asleep during movies at your house, still trusts you with parts of herself she doesn’t share with anyone else.

But