Two Sides of a Story...or Three (Text Messages)

Alex: "Hey, how's life?"

Diane: "Fine."

Alex: "Rlly?"

Diane: "Fine. No. It's not fine."

Alex: "Lol. How come?"

Diane: "Because it's boring. I'm home all day. I'm starting to get sick of my family..."

Alex: "You okay there?"

Diane: "Haha, very funny. I think the real question is, "Have I ever been okay?""

Alex: "Lol. What have u been doing lately?"

Diane: "Nothing. I'm bored to death. Actually."

Alex: "Srsly? U have gotta be kidding me. No way ur bored. Ur never bored!"

Diane: "Cut the sarcasm, will u? Wanna FT? I need some company rn..."

Alex: "No, not rn. The rest of my family is still asleep... Also, I'm technically not allowed to be on my phone in the morning..."

Diane: "Right..."

Alex is typing...

Diane: "What abt u?"

Alex: "What?"

Diane: "How's ur life?"

Alex: "Life is ok for me. It is kinda boring... But at least I actually get time 2 talk 2 Katherine. It's been a while since we've actually had time 2 spend together - just the two of us."

Diane: "Who's Katherine?"

Alex is typing...

Read today 8:34 am

Diane: "Alex?"

Diane: "Why'd you leave me on read?"

Diane: "ALEX!?"

Diane: "Is she ur girlfriend?"

Diane: "What are u doing with another girlfriend!?"

Diane: "Alex, I can't believe you've been cheating on Denise!"

Diane: "I am going to tell her abt this. She is my friend and nothing is going to stop me!"

Alex is typing...

Diane: "No excuses. Just admit it, and talk to her about it b4 I do..."

Alex: "First of all, I had to get water. Second of all, KATHERINE IS MY LITTLE SISTER!!!"

Diane: "Oh... oops"

Alex: "Sigh"

Diane: "What? You've never told me abt her!"

Alex: "I haven't?"

Diane: "NO, you haven't. Why haven't you had time to spend w/ her?"

Alex: "Because I'm in high school... and it's not easy"

Diane: "I get that..."

Alex: "This is reminding me an awful lot of my cousins"

Diane: "Why?"

Alex: "They absolutely hated each other all over a misunderstanding. It was all so stupid"

Diane: "What happened?"

Alex: "I don't know Diane, it's pretty complicated..."

Diane: "Tell me."

Alex: "Fine. It's a long story though."

Diane: "I can live with that."

Alex: "Their names are Alan and Alice. They started off really close. They were closer to each other than I am to you. You're my cousin, and they were siblings, so that makes sense."

Diane: "Get to the point already."

Alex: "Stop interrupting. Anyways, they loved each other and they were so close that people sometimes confused them with being a couple. They didn't hold hands or kiss anything crazy like that. They just hung out really often."

Diane: "I can see how that can end up being a really big misunderstanding."

Alex: "Haha. Anyways, Alan soon got a girlfriend. He was around our age, and he really liked her. He liked her so much that he confessed. The girl, Bethany, liked him back... So they became a couple."

Diane is typing...

Alex: "Do NOT interrupt, Diane."

Alex: "Anyways, they were a really cute couple. They rarely argued, and Bethany always came to the family gatherings whenever Alan was invited. But the one thing I always noticed was that whenever Alice showed up, Bethany gave her a dirty glare. I was confused but decided not to say anything. Until that one party, when Alice tugged Alan's arm and pulled him into my room."

Diane: "Stop it, the suspense is killing me! Also... I like how you've suddenly gained the ability to type with proper grammar and spelling..."

Alex: "Diane, shut up. Let me continue. So, that night, I decided to ignore them because they were probably in one of those small arguments no siblings could avoid. The only strange thing I noticed was that Bethany was at the door, listening. She seemed really upset. I got so curious that I went to the other door to my room and pressed my ear against it. "Please, don't do this to me, Alice. I love you so much. But I love Bethany too. This is a stupid reason for me to break up with her." Alice's voice screamed, "NO! I cannot do this anymore. How is this a stupid reason? What if I had an emergency? What if I really needed to see you? I know you love me, and I love you too, but I cannot stand Bethany! I've tolerated enough!" Alice then burst out the door Bethany was listening, and I ran to that side of the room to see what was happening. Alice was face to face with a stunned Bethany, both full of tears streaming down their faces."

Diane: "Oh my..."

Alex: "Alice glared at her, "So you're Alex's girlfriend?" Alan then burst out the door, "Bethany!?". Bethany screamed at Alan, "You dirty liar!! You cheated on me!" Bethany let loose a long string of colorful language before storming out of the house and slamming the door behind her."

Alex: "Alan hated Alice for an entire year - only after a year, Alan figured out what had happened and he apologized to both of them. They all made up, but... Alan and Alice weren't ever as close as they were before. Only later have they all realized that Bethany saw a text from Alice to Alan, assuming Alice was Alan's girlfriend - That day, she logged into Alan's phone, blocking Alice after texting, "Leave my boyfriend alone." Alice knew it was Bethany, so she hated her, assuming Bethany knew Alice was Alan's sister. Confused and hurt, she confronted Alan, which Bethany took as... you know. Alan was caught in the middle of this, because he obviously forgot to tell Bethany that he had a sister, and didn't notice that Alice was blocked."

Diane: "That was... quite the story."

Alex: "Yeah, I felt rlly bad."

Diane: "I don't get it. If Alan loved Alice so much and they were close, how did he not notice that she was blocked?"

Alex is typing...

Alex: "At first, I didn't understand either. But then I realized that immediately after, Bethany could have made an account and posed as Alice until Alice told Alan that she was blocked that night. I'll never know though... It's just a guess."

Diane: "How r they doing now?"

Alex is typing...

Alex: "Alan is back w/ Bethany. But Alan's relationship w/ Alice hasn't ever fully mended. Nowadays, this is something Alan and Bethany can look back at and laugh about. But I'll never forget what happened that night. I have to admit, I was rlly scared and confused."

Diane: "I get that..."

Alex: "Yea... Okay, I gtg for dinner..."

Diane: "I'll c u later?"

Alex: "Yea, sure... Cya!"

Diane: "Bye!"