Friend by Lori Cramer

Carly was the kind of friend who’d compliment you on your hand-me-down sneakers, rave over the natural highlights in your dull brown hair, and cackle at your lame jokes as if you were the funniest comedian ever. But she was also the kind of friend you didn’t want to introduce to your boyfriend because you knew—from the top of your lackluster locks to the bottom of your vintage kicks—that it was only a matter of time until you discovered them together at a party, huddled in a corner, his expression apologetic, her eyes colder than the Rockies.

Lori Cramer‘s short fiction has appeared in the 11th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection, Pudding Magazine, Postcard Shorts, and Boston Literary Magazine.