Dear V,
My best friend and I have been close since middle school and are like sisters. I’m starting freshman year at the college she’s now attended for two years. However, we’re not going to be roommates – I wanted to experience campus life my first year, while my bestie is avoiding communal showers and lofted bunks, so she’s living in an apartment with her boyfriend. I’m happy for her, but I feel like something’s wrong. Her boyfriend has been hanging around the freshman dorms a lot – the other night, I saw him sneak out of one of my friend’s rooms. I’m not saying guys and girls can’t just be friends, but something is telling me he’s cheating on her. What should I do?
Sincerely,
Suspiciously Sally
Dear Sally,
This is the kind of case that takes a true detective to crack.
For all we know, your bestie’s boyfriend could’ve been picking up homework from a girl in her math class to take home to your best friend while she was sick with the sniffles, or he might’ve been borrowing the boxed set of the third season of Grey’s Anatomy to binge watch with his girlfriend later that evening.
Don’t point fingers just yet. Assuming makes an “ass” out of you and me (just you, really). If you start drama and accuse your bestie’s boyfriend without any evidence, you’ll be seen as the jelly third wheel – or worse, you might get friend-dumped yourself.
Let’s solve this mystery without it turning on you.
You have to find evidence. This involves being sneaky without leaving fingerprints behind, Nancy Drew-style.
Whether it’s through Snapchat or wooing the dude in the security room, you’ll have to catch her beau on candid camera – your bestie can deny a witness account, but she can’t deny it if she sees it for herself, albeit pixelated and perhaps with a tacky geofilter added.
Swipe some snaps of the cheating convict getting freaky with your classmates and show them to your homegirl.
What comes next? You’re not going to drop this bomb and peace out. Support her no matter whether she decides to dump her dude or to try to work things out. Odds are, she’ll want to put the nix on the whole thing.
If you do catch your best friend’s guy cheating, inflate an air mattress for her to sleep on in your dorm while she sorts her living situation out, grab some ice cream and rent some guilty pleasure cheesy movies for you two to binge watch while she gets over the split.
Remember, guys may come and go, but best friends and Ben & Jerry’s will always be there for you.
V