I couldn’t help but think that Flora had a crush on Thomas and didn’t know what to do about it now. Flora also had a problem with understanding boundaries with other girls’ boyfriends. For example, she made-out drunk at a party with one of her friend’s boyfriends and said they wouldn’t last anyway in defence when she was confronted about it. Another example is when she quickly became best friends with her supposed best-friend from kindergarten’s first-love ex-boyfriend of 5 years and didn’t bat an eye. For the record, Thomas had really disliked Flora for about a year and a half at this point and only put up with her because of me and our friend group.

In the years to come Flora and I had many problems that began with her. One time she invited herself to a group hangout at a lounge, showed up drunk when no one else was drinking (it was a low-key place to smoke hookah and chill), made a fool of herself and expected me to take care of her when Thomas was sick as well while she had brought someone with her to take care of her. Everyone that came that night was annoyed at her and never made plans around her again that they weren’t inviting her to. Now where this became an issue between her and I is she felt that it was my duty to prioritize her above everything else that night when I didn’t even know she was going to show up drunk. And so she told our two mutual female friends who weren’t there that I ignored her (which isn’t true, I was trying to make sure she and Thomas were both okay) and stuck to Thomas all night when she needed me. Needless to say, I became the bad guy and she became the victim until much later when one of the girls that was there that night could confirm my side. Another time it was one of our mutual female friend’s birthdays and we were at her house, most of the people there were new and I was sitting next to Flora because she was one of the few people I was familiar with. We were all talking having a good time and she said something extremely embarrassing and uncalled for about me that alluded to me not being a virgin (which I still was). I felt so upset by that comment as everyone in the room paused and stared at me. I had a rude response ready however I didn’t want to start a problem in my friend’s home on her birthday. I later tried to explain how I felt to Flora by saying I was hurt and somehow I became the bad guy again because she felt victimized. Many instances like the ones I mentioned occurred including one where she stole my lunch money when she was my supervisor at an event and so I had to rely on a friend to feed me or starve.

Without replaying all these instances you should get the picture that Flora and I had many issues and every time an issue would resolve she would do or say something to make me upset and somehow she would come out being the victim.

Fast forward to now, the reason I’m telling this story. Recently her and I had squashed all of our issues and became decent friends, she had matured a lot and I genuinely cared about her.

Then this happened.

Myself, one of our mutual friends and one of Thomas’s ex girlfriends hung out one night. The Ex asked me how Thomas and I happened because she came to our school and chilled with our group of friends. Shortly after her and him broke up I told her I liked him (it wasn’t a secret). And so I told the story, including the part about Flora (only the hot chocolate part because it was funny and relevant to my emotions at the time). By the end of the story I said how Flora is good now and her and I are good now.

Now we have to give a name to our mutual friend, let’s call her Miranda.

Miranda then stated that she spoke to Flora in-depth and that dudes were so mean to Flora that any kindness she received she held onto.

A few days after this, Flora messages me a long message being upset about what I said and asking how that story is funny. Now I wasn’t coming from a negative place, it was simply a funny story to me that was part of myself and Thomas getting together (just the hot chocolate story). I called her, she ignored it. I then asked her to call me when she had 20 minutes because messaging can be misunderstood and she said she was busy with work and to message. So I explained the truth of it, that I didn’t come from a bad place and I apologized, said I cared about her and didn’t mean to hurt her. She also stated I did this behind her back which I responded to telling her that I would have still told that story if she was sitting there and I wouldn’t have told it in front of someone who I knew would tell her if I was doing it behind her back.

She wasn’t having any of it. Eventually (the next morning) she called me and I answered. It was 90% her talking at me about how upset she is, how she doesn’t like Thomas (which I already know, it’s been years), how I’m making her look bad to someone she doesn’t know (also untrue, she met and chilled with said Ex and everyone in our friend group except me and one other girl talked a lot of shit about Flora behind her back and to said Ex back then, also I have far worse stories about Flora if my goal was to make her look bad: like the time she left her drunk best friend alone with a guy she didn’t want in a hotel room in a different city all night) and how she has stories that she hasn’t said to hurt me. Like when she was “dating” this guy who I became friends with because she treated him like shit. Called him one time during the entirety of our friendship because I had to vent and it caused her to start a fight with him. I came clean about the call to her later (a few days after) even though it was completely innocent. This also doesn’t make sense to me because number one, I wouldn’t care if she did tell that story if people asked about her and that guy. Which they don’t because they’re not together anymore. She also took a completely different situation of far worse severity from my life and attempted to level it with this situation.

She also said by me telling that story I wasn’t completely over the past when she’s the one that has blown up over one of the more tame stories I could tell after I apologized multiple times and have been nothing but kind to her.