Kathy showed up at my house a couple weeks ago to talk about Lou. Over Thanksgiving weekend, she and her boyfriend were arguing while driving through Schenectady. She was mad, got out of the car near Union College, and decided to escape into Lou’s fraternity house. She says her boyfriend started to go after her, but he was in a leg cast and couldn’t keep up.

The fraternity house was virtually empty because most people went home to family for the holiday; Lou had nowhere to go and stayed in the dorm alone. She and Lou had a drink and chatted for a while. She was horrified and took off after he unexpectedly moved in for a kiss. He called her at work to find out what she planned to say about what happened and threatened that she had better not tell me at all. Obviously, that’s all it took for her to come talk to me about what a jerk he was to her. She never did like him anyway. He kept calling, even though she told him to quit bothering her.

I phoned Lou to ask him to just stop calling her, because she had already talked to me. He wanted to speak to me in person, and I agreed to meet him at the Rathskeller Pub. I ordered a beer, lit a Virginia Slims cigarette, and remarked, “Oh, by the way, I smoke.”  He replied that he didn’t mind, since his parents both smoke. I had no intention of getting back together with him, so his opinion didn’t matter. His story is that Kathy is lying, and that she had come on to him. He also said that when she came in upset, he went right outside to confront her boyfriend but there was nobody there, and no car leaving. He claims she just came over on her own, although he couldn’t explain why she would have done it. He said he only called her at work because he was pissed that she was blowing him off after leading him on. I felt calm, but noticed that during the conversation, I had taken the labels off my beer bottle and torn the papers into tiny pieces that lay in a pile in front of me along with ripped napkin bits. Frankly, neither version of the story makes a whole lot of sense, but actually I could care less either way, since we had broken up. At this point, I just don’t want my ex-boyfriend harassing my best friend.

Speaking of ex-boyfriends, Vinny called to offer me a job as a lifeguard at the Ramada Inn, where he manages the front desk and pool. I should be able to fit it in with school and my schedule at the restaurant. He’s says he felt bad about what happened with us and wanted to do something for me. I have no hard feelings, and I’m grateful for the chance to earn more money. He’s a sweet guy, and I’m happy that we can still be friends.

I’m trying to be friends with Lou as well, but it doesn’t seem to be enough for him. He called, and we made plans to hang out and talk at my house one evening when my parents were not home. He phoned again, wanting to know what it all meant, and I explained that it was just as friends; he sounded disappointed, but said, “ok.” I made some snacks, and waited and waited and waited, then finally called to see when he was leaving campus. He said he wasn’t coming at all; he changed his mind because I wasn’t willing to commit to getting back together again. I asked if he was planning to call to cancel; he simply replied, “no.” Nice. I’m just not ready to commit to anything with him. I’m not saying never; just not yet. Maybe with some more time. Maybe not at all.