Free Rites of Spring by Diana Peterfreund Page B

relationship going and all of a sudden you have no sympathy for those of us on the outside. Wonder what the T.A.’s girlfriend would have said back when it was Lydia infringing upon her turf.
    “Someone here has to be. Don’t get me wrong: If you did want to steal some guy from his girlfriend, and I liked the guy and not the girl, I’d say go for it, as a friend. Ends and means and all’s fair in love and war and a thousand other aphorisms.” She shrugged. “But that’s not what we’re dealing with here. You’re not, apparently, trying for him, and he’s not, apparently, letting go of her. If you’re in a relationship, you have to be in it. If you’re unsure, then you have to be fair and end it. Really end it, Amy, not play two people off each other. Brandon, of all people, should know this behavior is unacceptable.” And she fixed me with a look that was impossible to mistake:
    Because it hurt him so much when you did it.
    “It’s not like what happened with us, Lyds.”
    “You’re right. It’s worse. Because Brandon and Felicity had a real relationship that you’re messing with. Amy, you’re the other woman . Things never end well for the other woman.”
    “I’m not! I told you, we’re not doing anything.” Not really.
    Lydia was just shaking her head at me, disbelief rolling off of her in waves. “Right. All those hours in there, bedroom door closed, lights off, no sounds. Bet you’re studying, huh? Bet whatever it is you’re doing, you’d do it in front of your mother, in front of his girlfriend, in front of anyone who cared to watch, and you wouldn’t think twice about it, it’s so aboveboard.”
    I swallowed. How had this turned from I’m worried about you to an indictment of my behavior? “There are a lot of things I wouldn’t do in front of my mother that are perfectly aboveboard.”
    But Lydia was on a roll. “Come on, Miss Digger. You of all people should know that the things you do in secret are private for a reason.”
    That was it. I stood, turned, and marched toward my bedroom.
    Lydia called after me. “Amy, come back!”
    I turned around on the threshold. “Please, Lydia. You of all people, with your well-researched secret society factoids, should know what happens when you drop the D-bomb in front of me.” Lydia knew everything about societies, enough to have convinced me all last semester that she was in one. And when you used the name of a society in front of a member, they had to leave the room.
    “Only when you feel like obeying that rule,” she replied. “You usually just thumb your nose at all of them.”
    Oh, now we were getting down to it. Not only was she appalled by my current romance, but she was also going to get all bitter about the way I chose to handle my society membership. Couldn’t I do anything right in Lydia’s eyes? Was I not so perfect as her darling Josh? He may have buffed up his relationship outlook for her benefit, but he wasn’t a better Digger than I was, yellow sneakers aside.
    “I really think that you should pick one thing at a time to be mad at me about.”
    “I’m not mad,” she practically shouted. “I’m concerned .”
    “You’re butting in is what you are,” I practically shouted back. How dare she say such awful things about Brandon? Of course he was going to break up with Felicity! She clearly didn’t know him at all.
    “Weren’t you storming out of the room in your little society huff?” my best friend said with a sneer. “Or should I help you along? Rose—”
    “You’ve made your point.”
    “Don’t think that this conversation is over. I’m not the only one who’s concerned about what’s been going on here.”
    “I really wish your boyfriend would stay out of my love life.”
    “Funny. I bet Felicity wishes her boyfriend would stay out of it, too.”
    I slammed the door between us.

 

 

    5.
    Parley
----
     
    The next morning, there was an e-mail from Lydia in my in-box. (You know you and your