My Pick Me Friend Constantly Puts Me Down In Front Of My Boyfriend While Pretending

She said “the whole party felt so couple focused.”

She said “she felt left out and unwelcome.”

Heather was standing nearby getting ice and she turned around with a big smile.

Heather said “that was literally the whole point of a couples and singles party.”

Several people standing around the kitchen laughed and agreed with Heather. Zoe’s face turned red and she took a big drink from her cup.

Alex walked over to our group and asked “if I wanted to help him make his drink since I knew the good mixers.”

I started to say sure when Zoe jumped in.

She said “she was great at making drinks.”

She reached for the bottles and started explaining some complicated recipe. Alex looked uncomfortable.

He said “he’d specifically asked me because I’d mentioned a good combination last week.”

The rejection showed clearly on Zoe’s face and she stepped back from the table. I helped Alex mix his drink and we talked about the music playing while Zoe stood there watching us.

Nathan stayed close to me the whole time with his hand on my lower back. The next hour felt like watching Zoe slowly realize her usual tricks weren’t working anymore.

The Final Straw

She followed Nathan around trying to get him alone, but every time she suggested they go somewhere or do something he redirected the conversation back to the group. When she tried to pull him away to show him something on her phone, he glanced at it while staying next to me.

She attempted to start a debate about some video game, but Nathan just agreed with her point and moved on instead of engaging in the competitive banter she wanted. I watched her get more and more frustrated.

Her smile got tighter and her laugh got louder and more forced. She kept touching Nathan’s arm or shoulder, but he’d shift away naturally without making it obvious.

At one point she suggested we all play beer pong.

Nathan said “he and I were actually having fun just talking to people.”

Her eyes got hard when he said that and I saw her jaw clench. Julian suggested we play couples trivia instead where partners answered questions about each other.

Nathan liked that idea and asked how well everyone thought they knew their partners. Zoe’s voice cut through the room.

She announced “that she probably knew Nathan better than I did.”

She said “she actually paid attention to his interests instead of just pretending to care.”

The whole room went quiet and I felt Nathan’s body go stiff next to me. Nathan’s face changed into an expression I’d never seen before.

His eyes went cold and his mouth sat in a hard line. He looked directly at Zoe and told her she didn’t know him as well as she thought.

His voice was calm but firm when he said “her constant disrespect toward me and our relationship wasn’t cute or funny anymore.”

He said “he was done pretending it was okay.”

Zoe tried to laugh and wave her hand dismissively. She started to say she was just joking around like always, but Nathan cut her off mid-sentence.

He said “Real friends don’t constantly put down their friend’s girlfriend.”

He added “that her pick me act was transparent and exhausting.”

He told her “if she couldn’t treat me with basic respect then she wasn’t welcome around us anymore.”

His words hung in the air and nobody moved or spoke. Zoe’s eyes filled with tears and she looked around the room like she was searching for someone to back her up.

Everyone either looked away or stared at their drinks. A few people near Julian actually nodded in agreement with what Nathan had said.

Zoe’s face crumpled and she grabbed her jacket off the couch. She rushed toward the door and I heard her crying as her footsteps went down the stairs.

The front door slammed and the party stayed quiet for another few seconds. I felt this rush of satisfaction flood through my chest.

The Weight of Revenge

She’d finally faced consequences for all those months of making me feel small. But right behind that feeling came this uncomfortable twisting in my stomach that I didn’t expect.

People started coming up to me saying it was about time someone called her out. A few friends congratulated me, but I noticed some people looking concerned and whispering to each other.

Two girls from my psychology class had worried expressions and one of them kept glancing at the door like she was thinking about going after Zoe. The party slowly started up again.

Nathan pulled me aside into Julian’s hallway and asked if I was okay. I admitted I felt weird about what just happened even though Zoe deserved to be called out.

He nodded and said he’d been wanting to say something for weeks. He explained he kept hoping she’d get the hint on her own and he wouldn’t have to make it so public.

His hand squeezed mine and he said “he was sorry for not speaking up sooner.”

I leaned against the wall and tried to sort through the mix of emotions. Part of me felt vindicated, but another part of me felt sick about watching Zoe cry and leave while everyone stared.

I thought about how I deliberately planned this whole thing to humiliate her publicly. Nathan asked if I wanted to leave and I shook my head.

We went back to the party, but I couldn’t fully shake the uncomfortable feeling that had settled over everything. Julian walked over and pulled out his phone.

He showed me a text from Zoe asking if everyone hated her now. His face looked torn between concern and frustration.

He said “he didn’t know what to tell her because yeah her behavior had been really bad for months but watching her leave crying made him feel weird about the whole thing.”

I stared at the message on his screen and felt my stomach twist harder. Part of me wanted to say she deserved it, but another part of me kept seeing her face crumple right before she ran out.

Julian put his phone away and squeezed my shoulder before walking back. I realized this whole situation wasn’t as simple as good guy versus bad guy like I’d been telling myself.

The party kept going around me, but everything felt different now. Some friends kept glancing at me like they wanted to say something, while others avoided looking at me completely.

I tried to join conversations, but I couldn’t focus. My brain kept replaying Zoe’s tears and the way everyone had just watched her leave.

Alex found me standing alone near the kitchen counter about an hour later. He leaned against the wall next to me and said quietly “that he hoped I wasn’t feeling bad about what happened.”

He told me “Zoe’s behavior really had been out of line for a long time.”

His voice was gentle, but I could hear the discomfort underneath it. I thanked him and tried to smile, but it felt forced.

Even Alex seemed uneasy about how everything went down. He mentioned he was going to head out soon and asked if I was okay. I nodded and told him I was fine.