It’s Always the Husband. Michele Campbell

The thought of taking such drastic measures horrified Jenny. She was a friend, not a rat. She had to help Aubrey on her own, without getting the administration involved and possibly getting Aubrey in trouble.

      But maybe not entirely on her own.

      Aubrey idolized Kate, and tagged along with her everywhere. To meals, to parties, anywhere Kate would allow. She’d even bought some Nice’n Easy from the drugstore, in a shade called Palest Blonde, and dyed her mouse-brown hair a color practically identical to Kate’s. Nobody but Jenny seemed to find this odd; everyone just said how great Aubrey looked. If Jenny weren’t too busy to care, she might even feel hurt over how much Aubrey obviously preferred Kate’s company, especially given that Kate was a snobbish bitch, and made Aubrey do menial things for her, like running out to Hemingway’s for a cappuccino, or going to early lectures and taking notes when Kate didn’t feel like getting out of bed – even for classes Aubrey wasn’t enrolled in. (She claimed to enjoy it, but come on.) Jenny wasn’t petty. She wanted Aubrey to be happy, and it was time for Kate to start pulling her weight as a friend to make that happen. Jenny just needed to make Kate step up.

      On the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving break, the Quad felt silent and melancholy. A lot of kids had already left for home, and a chill rain had been falling for days. The cobblestone paths were slick with wet leaves that stuck to Jenny’s waterproof boots. She wished it would snow – at least that would be pretty. Near Whipple, the air smelled of woodsmoke, and she poked her head into the common room before heading upstairs, hoping to find a fire roaring in the fireplace, but the room was empty and the grate cold. Up in 402, the suite was dark except for a strip of light under Kate’s door. Jenny hurried to put away her coat and backpack, the quick trip to the double confirming that Aubrey was out, and that it would be the perfect time to speak to Kate about helping out their roommate.

      As she knocked on Kate’s door, Jenny heard giggling.

      “Come in,” Kate called.

      “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had company,” Jenny said, pushing the door open.

      “It’s cool. We’re not naked. Yet,” Kate said, with a naughty laugh.

      Kate was on her bed, tangled up with a dark-haired guy whose back was to Jenny. Kate’s shirt and the guy’s sweatshirt and jeans were on the floor at Jenny’s feet. The guy turned around, a goofy grin on his face. When Jenny saw who it was, she froze.

      “This is Lucas,” Kate said.

      “I – we know each other,” she managed to say.

      “Jenny,” the guy said, his grin disappearing fast. Jenny glanced down instinctively at his briefs, and saw something deflating there, too.

      “Jesus,” Lucas said, and grabbed his pants, hopping as he shoved his feet into the legs.

      “What’s the rush, Luke?” Kate said, amused. “Jenny’s seen guys pantsless in my bed before. Nothing shocks her.”

      But Jenny was shocked.

      “Sorry, gotta run,” Lucas said. He stuck his feet into his sneakers and grabbed his shirt and backpack. A second later, the girls heard the front door slam.

      “What was that about?” Kate asked.

      “I’m sorry, what?”

      “He hightailed it out of here like he saw a ghost.”

      Jenny shook her head. “I wouldn’t know.”

      Kate wore nothing but jeans and a black push-up bra. Her mouth was raw from making out. The sight of it had Jenny flashing on what it felt like to kiss Lucas when he hadn’t shaved, and how she’d savor the irritated feeling the next day – that proof that they’d been together. Jenny watched in sick fascination as Kate picked up a tube of lip balm from her nightstand and slicked shiny goo over her reddened lips. Everything about Kate radiated sex. The ruby glinting dully in her belly button, the jeans that fit just so. Yet Kate never appeared trashy. Even when she acted like a slut, there was a classiness about her. She was playing with her golden hair now, twisting it into a messy braid at the nape of her neck without the benefit of a hair elastic. Jenny kept a basket on her desk filled with scrunchies and headbands and hair clips to match every outfit, yet with all the work that went into her hair, it never looked half as good as Kate’s unwashed, unstyled locks did. Kate made it all seem effortless, like she didn’t care, and didn’t have to work for anything. No wonder Lucas was into her. Guys loved girls who didn’t give a shit. Jenny’s problem was that she cared too much.

      “You look upset,” Kate said suspiciously. “Is something wrong?”

      “I’m sorry if I interrupted,” Jenny said.

      “Don’t give it another thought. I have to pack tonight so I wasn’t up for a hookup anyway. How do you know Luke?” Kate asked, standing up to pull on her shirt.

      Lucas, Jenny thought, annoyed to no end to hear Kate call him something different than anybody else did, as if he belonged to her. Then Jenny noticed the fresh hickey on Kate’s neck, and had a momentary vision of slamming Kate’s head against the wall.

      “We went to high school together,” Jenny said, bracing for the obvious follow-up question. Is he that hockey player you say you lost your virginity to? But the question didn’t come. Kate had probably forgotten the whole conversation they had the night they went to that first frat party. They were drunk enough – thankfully. She hoped Kate would never make the connection.

      “No kidding, Luke’s a townie?” Kate said. “He’s so different from those pimply boys who work in the dining hall, I never would have guessed.”

      Jenny normally would’ve jumped all over that comment, but she had no interest in talking about Lucas with Kate for a moment longer than necessary.

      “I thought you were dating Griff,” Jenny said, to change the subject, and because it was the first thing that popped into her head. Griff from the frat party was one guy Jenny had definitely seen naked in Kate’s bed, on several occasions.

      “What are you, the dating police?” Kate said.

      “You’re right. It’s not my business.”

      Griff was none of her business. Lucas, on the other hand.

      Kate grabbed a pack of Marlboro Lights from her desk, and looked at it, hesitating. “Hmm, should I smoke a cig if we didn’t bang? Oh, what the hell. Want one?”

      Jenny had never smoked in her life. But she needed a distraction to help her deal with the bombshell, so she took a cigarette, and accepted Kate’s light. When she inhaled, she willed herself not to cough, so Kate wouldn’t notice that it was her first time and rib her about it. Though Kate was so obtuse when it came to other people’s feelings that Jenny probably didn’t need to worry.

      Not this time, however.

      “So were you close with Luke in high school?” Kate began.

      “Forget Lucas, we need to talk about Aubrey,” Jenny blurted. “It’s really important. I’m worried about her.”

      “About how skinny she’s getting?” Kate said, falling for Jenny’s change of subject.

      “You noticed.”

      “How could I not? I’ve been worrying about her, too. Do you think she’s anorexic?”

      “Maybe. Or maybe just depressed. She has problems at home.”

      “Poor thing. Money troubles?”

      The cigarette made Jenny’s head hurt, so she stubbed it out in the Carlisle mug that Kate used as an ashtray, and proceeded to explain the situation with Aubrey’s mom.

      “She never told me any of that,” Kate said, which gave Jenny some satisfaction.

      “She’s worried you won’t like her if you know she’s poor,” Jenny said.

      “You can’t