The Friend

“I wouldn’t change this for all the money in the world,” Jess said as she leaned back in the rocking chair.  It took quite a bit of self-control not to say anything to her about the fact I lived paycheck to paycheck and that we were sitting on the front porch so I wouldn’t have to run the air conditioner.  She, on the other hand, had never worked a day in her life and never had to sacrifice just to make sure the bills were paid. 

But at the end of the day, usually Jess was a good friend.  Usually.  She never talked about her inheritance, but also never invited me to her house or to any of the lavish parties she threw.  She never asked me how I was doing and I often wondered if she actually cared about me or if I was just a side show for her.  I had tried to tell her several times what life was like without a trust fund but she still had yet to grasp what my life was like.   

But as we sat quietly on the front porch, I started to come up with a plan.  A plan to make sure she knew what real life was like.  A plan to where we would slowly become one and I would take over her life.  And I would not return to my own.