The Boyfriend Blog

His lips press in a firm line. “I don’t care how you finagle this. It’s wrong.”

“How is it wrong if she left her laptop sitting out. Maybe you should scold her for being irresponsible.”

“The only irresponsible thing she’s done is trusting you and failing to put a password on her wake screen. She probably doesn’t think you’d stoop to this level of snooping.”

“Would you quit using that word?” I say, pulling out a kitchen chair. “I’m not snooping, I’m looking. She left her laptop on the table, I happened to walk by—”

“You’re sitting down,” he points out.

“You’re such a buzzkill.” I roll my eyes and scoot my chair forward. “I walked by, my legs were tired from carrying her laundry, so I sat down. I can’t help it that her laptop is sitting out in the open.”

“I carried her laundry.” Calvin shakes his head. “This is wrong.”

“Stop pacing. When did you become such a pussy? Never mind, I already know it was the day you met Millie, whom I love dearly,” I add.

“I’ll tell her you said that,” he says dryly.

“Please do. Would you also tell her to give me my best friend back? Come on, Cal, you used to live for this stuff.”

“No, I lived for having fun. Drinking beer, chasing girls, driving fast cars. I was never one for prying into someone’s personal life, which I’m pretty sure is illegal.”

“You’re telling me that you’ve never once wanted to look through Millie’s emails? Or scroll through her texts just to see who she’s talking to?”

Calvin shakes his head. “Absolutely not. I trust her.”

“And I trust Lizzie.”

“Then what’s this about?”

“Nothing, really. I’m just curious.”

“I don’t believe that for a second. I haven’t seen you go through this much trouble since you seduced the teacher’s aide our freshman year of college.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve only ever had eyes for Lizzie.”

“Right. And I’m the Pope. Now, why don’t you cut the shit and tell me why you’re really doing this?”

“Fine,” I concede. “The other night, she slammed her laptop shut when I walked into the room, and when I asked about what she was doing, she pretended it was nothing. The trouble with that is that I’ve known Lizzie since Jesus was a baby.”

“And?”

“And her right eye twitches when she lies. Whatever she was doing wasn’t nothing.”

“Maybe she’s sending nude pics to some dude and doesn’t want you to see.”

I glare at Calvin, wondering which body part of his I should break first. “Not funny, man.”

“Damnit.” Calvin pushes his fingers through his hair. “If you hadn’t been such a tool in college, Lizzie probably wouldn’t be playing hard to get, and this wouldn’t be an issue.”

“I prefer ladies’ man. And it was a rite of passage or some shit, I think. The important part is that I’ve changed. I’ve grown and matured.”

“Says the man sneaking a peek at his best friend’s private computer.”

“If you’re uncomfortable with me glancing at a laptop that was left out in the open, then leave.”

Calvin huffs, grabs the abandoned laundry basket, and walks away.

My heart races as I turn to look at Lizzie’s computer. I know that what I’m doing is wrong, but I’m desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, I’m not going to touch her computer. I’m going to look at whatever is on the screen.