#OurFriendshipEndedWhen

Inspired by a true trending topic

We'd known each other seven years when we decided to move in together. I knew it was a bad idea from the start. I cautioned about the idea. "This is going to ruin our friendship." Everyone I asked for advice about the issue said, "Girl, don't do it," and I wasn't going to, but I didn't want to let my best friend down. So I sucked it up and decided to give it a try. A year's not really that long, right? The lease would be over before I knew it and hopefully, we would still be friends.

Pssh! Whatever!

Our living arrangements started to cause problems before we even signed the lease. I thought I should get the larger room because I found the two bedroom/two bathroom house and it was my contact who decided to bring down the cost of rent because of their relationship with me. But for some reason, my BFF felt entitled to the larger room with the private bathroom...and that pissed me off. She said she deserved the room because her man would be coming to visit. I immediately shifted into ABW (Angry Black Woman) mode and took offense. (So I get the bathroom in the hallway because I'm single? Um, naw cuz!) I offered to pay more for the larger room and private amenities to be fair, but she insisted she get the room, and well since I hate conflict, I punked out. She got the room and didn't pay a penny more than I paid every month. (I know. I know.)

I thought our high school-nurtured friendship was stronger than that. I mean we were super close and almost went to college together. Fortunately, she's a year ahead of me, so we never had to cross that bridge. I doubt our friendship would have survived us sharing a campus. The first two months of our "roommateship" were the calm before the storm. I knew something was coming to overshadow our blissful memories and rain out our future plans to be each others' bridesmaids. She was the Gayle to my Oprah until we spilt like Destiny's Child with no future plans for a reunion album.

#Ourfriendshipendedwhen she dissed me on my birthday in October to hang out with her boyfriend instead. I only wanted to go to Disney World because I could get in free (and it's the happiest place on Earth). My cousin offered her apartment for us to crash. I even offered to pay her admission. Three days before my birthday I asked her if she would rather go to Sea World because she didn't seem too thrilled about Mickey Mouse and Pooh Bear. She replied, informing me that her boyfriend was coming to town and she wouldn't be able to help me celebrate my birthday.

Devastated. Shocked. Bewildered.



A whole month passed before we spoke again. Our shared laughs in the living room were replaced with cold shoulders and diverted eyes. She eventually left a card on the table apologizing for ditching me. I accepted her apology, but it wasn't enough to reconcile seven years of finishing each others' sentences, crying on each others' shoulders, recording feeble-minded videos, or constantly having to remind people we are not related.

There is no substitute for time...and although she broke my heart, I still miss her. I can't help but to wonder how those nights I spent crying alone in my room would have turned out if I would have taken two steps across the hall to knock on her door.