I thought it was another harmless weekend with my friends.
We had been so stressed because of our final year project, it was taking a toll on us—my friends and I, so we decided to take a break and enjoy that weekend. They were five of us, Princess, Caleb, Samantha, Laura and I.
It was another tiring day at school, I slumped onto the soft sofa in Caleb’s apartment. Laura was trying to switch on the television, Caleb and Samantha had gone into the kitchen to get us soft drinks and Princess was just on her phone, probably replying to chats.
"No, I could use a break now, I’m so stressed that it is beginning to cause me to break out" I said.
"Why does Lecturer Benjamin have to make everything difficult for his students? Gosh! I’m so fed up" Princess said, tossing her phone on the bed.
"Enjoy your drinks and chips" Caleb and Samantha chorused.
"Maybe we should really take a break like Caramel suggested" Samantha said as she munched on the chips and gulped down some orange juice.
"Where should we go for the break?" I asked looking perplexed.
"I know! Since Samantha’s parents own lots of apartments, why don’t we stay in one and enjoy ourselves this weekend?" Laura suggested.
"That’s true, why didn’t I think of that?" Samantha immediately called her parents to ask for permission and they approved. We were just too happy and decided to meet up again tomorrow(on a Thursday), so we could finalize what time we would be leaving on Friday.
I got to my little apartment and arranged everything I was going to need for the weekend trip, I was just too happy to focus on anything other than school. It felt like time was crawling but it finally got to Thursday, we all met up and decided to leave on Friday morning; estimating we would get to our location before noon. My friends and I were all happy with the decision but something felt off, I could certainly feel it.
It was no news in our friendship group that Laura had always had her eyes on Caleb, she once opened up about her feeling to him about which she didn’t fail to show whenever we were all together. But that day, I could see the side glances and smiles Caleb gave Samantha, it felt like he wanted to always be around her all the time even when it didn’t make sense; I had noticed this for a while but that day it felt stronger and I didn’t want to conclude so fast. I decided to confront Caleb and Samantha about it later on.
We rented a car for the weekend trip and drove out of the city, we were so desperate to breathe some "new" air, we chatted on the way, made stops to eat and stretch our legs until we got to the destination. They were people outside who took our luggage and welcomed us in, it was a sophisticated apartment with everything one could need, it was really big with rooms enough for the five of us, so everyone had their own space.
Later that evening, I called Caleb and Samantha into my room.."Is there something going on between you two that we don’t know about?" I asked.
They looked at each other and fell silent, "We are dating, but please don’t let Laura know. Everyone knows she has always liked Caleb, I will let her know later but I’ve to be careful because I don’t want our friendship to be ruined. Can you please keep it a secret?" Samantha replied.
My mouth opened, refusing to shut. "Okay I will."
"We will let Princess know about us" Caleb continued. "Okay, it’s fine. Let’s tread carefully" I replied.
Caleb’s heart had chosen Samantha even though Laura had liked him for a while now, I knew Laura would be so devastated when she eventually found out; but one can not blame the heart.
We ate all sorts and drank that night to our heart’s content while playing various games and listening to music.
"Have this drink, it has a black currant taste, I’m sure you’d love it" Caleb said as he handed me a glass. He didn’t know that it had a high percentage of alcohol in it and I had zero tolerance for it. Meanwhile Laura had excused herself to take a call.
"Hahaha, Caleb, Samantha! There’s no need to hold hands under the duvet. We know you’re dating and Laura isn’t here" I said….I was already under the influence of the alcohol.
"Dating?" Laura looked at them in shock and was heartbroken just as I had imagined.
We all turned in Laura’s direction, you could hear a pin drop in the dead silence. It was then I realized what I had done but it was too late, I already let the cat out of the bag.
"What have you done?" Samantha said in a low voice, a voice filled with disappointment.
That rest of the evening was tense, Samantha wouldn’t hear my apology, Laura was somewhere crying her eyes out while Princess tried to console her, Caleb stayed outside for hours and I sat in the kitchen….wishing I could rewind time but it wasn’t possible and the damage couldn’t be undone.
The next morning, everyone packed up. Caleb apologized to me for giving me a drink with alcohol in it, I apologized to Samantha for breaking her trust, while Laura was no where to be found; she had left already. I carried the guilt for a really long time because the friendship group splintered—Laura unfollowed Caleb and Samantha on all socials and Samantha and I never spoke again.
We all graduated with life pulling us in different directions, Laura, Princess and I found our way back to one another after a while but we lost our other friends forever.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you.