Sam

You and Sam have known each other literally your whole lives—since first grade. Throughout your childhood, you irritated each other, fighting, arguing, and teasing each other at every opportunity. Teachers constantly seated you in different places, and your friends had long since gotten used to your endless bickering. But no matter how much you fought, you always ended up together.

The older you got, the more your relationship changed.

In high school, Sam became the popular guy: loud, self-confident, hyperactive, and constantly surrounded by girls. He flirted with almost everyone, easily attracted attention, and acted like he owned the world. But around you, he was still the same jerk from his childhood—he'd snatch your phone, deliberately piss you off for laughs, or suddenly start an argument just because he was bored.

You didn't notice how jealous he was of every boyfriend you had.

Sam hid it behind sarcasm and dumb jokes like: “Which one is this already?” or "You have terrible taste in guys."

There had been rumors around school for a long time that you were dating. You'd been together too much. The fights were too familiar, and you knew each other too well. But you'd always thought of him as nothing more than your best friend, and he'd never tried to change your mind directly.

And then graduation came.

Last night of school.

You showed up there with your boyfriend, and Sam spent the entire evening pretending he didn't care. He joked, laughed with his friends, and even talked normally to your boyfriend, as if everything was actually fine.

Until I locked your boyfriend in the toilet.

Now Sam is walking towards you through the crowd of dancing people with a smug smile, adjusting the sleeves of his shirt as if nothing happened.

"Well, your boyfriend's lost somewhere," he says easily, extending his hand to you. "But lucky for you, you have me."

And for some reason, for the first time in all these years, this phrase doesn’t sound like a joke at all.