"I'm so excited for tomorrow," Evelyn gushed through the phone, smiling like a little girl in a candy store.

"Me, too." Cooper yawned from the other end of the line, stretching one arm out. "Can't wait to see you, babe."

"I know." She sighed comfortably at the silence, one hand on the phone and the other toying with the small ring in her hand. She ran her thumb over the engraved words on the side: Cooper's Girl.

"Anyways, I've gotta go," He cut in. "I have a lot of sleep to catch up on before the big game and our big day."

She grinned. "Of course. Love you."

"You, too."

She heard the call end and set her phone down on the bed in front of her. "Well, finally. I thought that call would never end." Her eyes traveled up to the closet, spotting the lanky form of her best friend sitting on the squishy bean bag in front of it.

She laughed. "Parker, I know you don't like him, but the least you could do is pretend to like him."

He rolled his eyes, tossing his tennis ball up and towards the ceiling before catching it in one hand, then repeating. "Please. Dislike is an understatement. I wish he would drop off the face of the earth."

"Why do you hate him so much?"

"Because—." He scrunched up his nose as the ball flew a little too far to the left, just missing the length of his arm. He brought his hand back in, running his fingers through his brown hair instead. "I don't know. He just gives me bad vibes."

"You're weird."

"You're the one dating Cooper Langford." He practically snorted, mocking him. "The star basketball player of Remington University." Another one of the famous eye rolls. "Like that'll get you through life."

"Actually, if he makes the NBA—."

"What's that?" She groaned at the sarcasm, flopping back against the bed. She was very familiar with Parker's hatred for Cooper, and clichés, and of course, basketball.

"I'm just saying, if something bad happens, be prepared for the 'I told you so.'"

"Knock on wood," she quickly said, knuckles rapping against the wood of her bed frame.

"Knock on wood doesn't work when you've already set yourself up for failure, Evelyn." She frowned, sighing and rolling over onto her stomach. "You know I just want you to be happy, right?" She heard the squish of the bean bag and soon after felt him climb into the bed next to her, laying on his back, tennis ball in hand again.

"I know you do. And I am happy." She turned her head the other way so she could look at him, and found his blue green eyes already looking back at her.

"I love you, and I support you." He gave her a sad smile. "But I've seen you better than this."

"Oh, shush." She sighed as she moved over and rested her head on his shoulder, every part of her wanting to tell him once again that he was wrong, but one last cell knowing he was right. She did love Cooper, really, but sometimes wondered if he felt the same.

___________________________________

"Evelyn." She groaned as Parker jostled her shoulder, trying to wake her from her deep sleep. "Dude, I'm being serious. Get up."

"Let me sleep, Mother," she grumbled, reaching to yank a pillow over her ears.

"Evelyn Jeanette Reese." She peeked open an eye lazily, half glare and half curiosity. He really did sound like her mother now, and he never used that tone unless he had something important to say.

"Good." He nodded. "Now that I have your attention, I was scrolling through my Instagram, and I—."

She just about smacked him in the chest. "For the last time, Parker. I don't want to hear you talk about how attractive Margot Robbie is. If you wake me up to show me a picture you found on her account one more—."

He cut her off this time. "Look." He pressed his phone into her hands, and her eyes adjusted to the screen in the dark room. By the time they had, tears had already begun to pool in them. There on Jared Polchinski's page was the man himself, having beers with the rest of the basketball team at a club, and in the background of the photo was Cooper, some girl locked onto his lips instead of tequila.

"What the hell?" She stared at the picture again. His head was down, and it was a little blurry, but sure enough, it was her Cooper. She shoved the phone down onto the mattress and grabbed her pillow, instead of putting it over her ears, screaming into it.

"I'm so sorry," Parker whispered, as if afraid that talking too loud would make matters worse.

She shook her head, not wanting to believe it. "I mean, he was probably just drunk, Parker." She found herself making excuses for him. "You know how he gets when he drinks." She bit her lip, knowing how often he would get drunk and end up practically on top of her after every party.

"I wish I could say he was, Ev." She furrowed her eyebrows, confused and about to ask what he meant before he went to Jared's Instagram story.

"Guys, guys," his loud voice rang out, a stupid smile on his lips. "I just wanna say that I love every single last one of you. Even you, Alex." The guys laughed and the phone got bumped around a little. It was dark, but a few of the guys had their phones lit up. It was just enough to show they were in a car or some sort of van.

"I wanna say I especially love you, Cooper. You're my best friend." He flipped the camera around to show him behind the wheel in the front seat. "For everyone who doesn't know," Jared slurred. "Cooper offered to be designated driver so he could make sure that we all get home safe for our basketball game tomorrow! You deserve everything that's coming to you, bud."

Hearing this, all the guys started to cheer, screaming about their basketball game, the Bulldogs, and for Cooper, the patron saint of the Remington basketball team.

Parker clicked the off button, biting his lip and looking at his best friend worriedly. They locked eyes and the pooling tears began to pour down her cheeks. "How could he do that to me the day before our anniversary? One year, for nothing." She sobbed, pulling her pillow into her chest and hugging it tightly. "Go ahead and say it. Say you told me so."

"I'm not gonna say that." He paused for a moment. "Okay, I told you so. But still, it wasn't for nothing. At least we know you genuinely cared about him."

"I wish I didn't." She sniffled, wiping her eyes on her pillowcase, glad she'd taken off her makeup earlier.

"But this is a good thing." She glared at him, and he quickly tried to explain himself. "It's a good thing because if he hadn't cheated on you now, what if he cheated on you later?"

She frowned, furrowing her eyebrows. "Like later down the line?" He nodded. "Like if we were married with three kids and a dog named Nugget?"

He laughed. "Evelyn, I hope you'd be smarter than that and get rid of him before he even got the chance to propose." She rolled her eyes, shoving his chest back and rubbing at her tears. "Look," he continued. "Jared was right."

"What do you mean?" She smiled a little as he wrapped a comforting arm around her, pulling her into his side.

"I mean, Jared was right with what he said. Cooper really does deserve everything coming to him." Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak. "No, we're not going to murder him." He chuckled. "We're just gonna make him wish he was dead."

"Parker." She sighed. "I'm really not in the mood for ruining lives. I don't want to get back at him. I just want to let it go."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

She sighed, rolling her eyes at herself and shrugging. "No," she grumbled. "Just, if he didn't care enough to stay loyal to me in the first place, what could I possibly do that would make him feel bad now?"

"Believe me." Parker grinned mischievously, and she understood why all the girls at school were jealous that he was her best friend. "I have just the thing."