It's Not Always A Good Thing To Be The Third Wheel

A Story by mandy

Manda Tries To Help Her Best Friend, Delinda, But It Backfires

It is a late summer day in August of 1996 when Manda meets Delinda's fiancee, Edward, for the first time and her first impression of him is that he's bad news but she doesn't say anything to Delinda about it thinking that the bad feeling will go away. Delinda and Edward talk about when the want to get married but the more they talk about it the more they fight about it; Manda picks up on the tension and she asks, "Why don't you just postpone the wedding until you can agree on a date?"

Delinda says, "I think it's a good idea" but Edward says, "I don't want to wait, I've waited long enough to get married and if you think that I'm going to wait any longer then you're crazy" so Manda drops the issue until Edward can be a little more agreeable but she doesn't plan on waiting to long to bring it up again. In the meantime, she starts to develop feelings for Edward which complicates things in the long run but she doesn't say anything about it to Delinda.

Since Delinda and Edward are always together, Manda can't find the opportunity to bring up the subject of the wedding so she doesn't say anything, instead, she just let's them pick the date of the wedding which is November ninth and of course they invite her to the wedding but she graciously declines; they wonder why she would decline. Manda explains by saying, "I just don't want to come between the two of you."

Delinda asks, "Why would you think that?" Manda is about to tell her the truth but then backtracks and says, "It's just that you're getting married for the wrong reasons-you're not getting married because you love him, you're getting married because you want to move away from your parents and that's not a good enough reason to get married; there are plenty of other ways to move away from your parents without getting married."

Before they are about to part ways for the semester, Manda says to Edward, " If you don't treat Delinda right, I will be knocking on your door. Edward retorts with, "Why wouldn't I treat Delinda right?" Manda's comeback is, "I've seen your temper and if you lay one hand on Delinda, I will kick your a*s up and down this street and don't for one second that I want do because I will." She adds with, "You may not know this but I've got a temper of my own and I don't take any crap from anyone."

Delinda intervenes by saying, " I don't think you have anything to worry about, Manda, I don't think he will lay a hand on me. "He won't lay a hand on you as long as I'm around but the minute that I'm gone, he'll use you for a punching bag," says Manda. "I would never let any man treat me that way, I'd kick his a*s to the curb, and it wouldn't matter how many times he threatened me or asked me to take him back," she adds with extreme conviction.

Delinda says to Manda, "You're just alot stronger and tougher than I am I guess." Manda gives Delinda a hug and reminds her by saying, "You can be strong and tough, too, you just have to do it in your own way." Delinda's reply is, "You're right, I can be strong and tough in my own way, thanks for reminding me, Manda." Delinda asks, "Since you won't come to my wedding, will you help me plan it, instead?;" however, Manda replies with, "What about Edward? Isn't he suppose to help?"

Delinda explains by saying, "Edward just wants to be told the time, place, and what suit to wear-he's just not that interested in anything more beyond that." Manda agrees to help Delinda with the wedding under one condition and that if Edward has any complaints, he had better keep them to himself; otherwise, she won't help Delinda plan it. They plan the wedding without any complaints from Edward-Manda can't believe that Edward would go along with any of the choices.

Edward doesn't have any choice in the matter though since it's Delinda's wedding, too, and what Delinda wants Delinda gets. The last day that Manda sees Delinda for the final time is November eighth-they hug each other for the final time and they go their separate ways which is hard to do. The waterworks don't start until Manda is at home; Manda literally cries until she can't cry anymore but she isn't crying because she losing her best friend.

Instead she's crying buckets of tears because she missed her chance to tell Edward how she feels about him-she pulls herself together before her parents get home. A few months later, Manda get a phone call from Delinda-Delinda wants to know if Manda wants to come for a visit but Manda's parents are hesitant to let her go at first; it takes some convincing but they do eventually let her go visit Delinda and Edward.

Manda doesn't know how to act around Edward considering she hasn't seen him in a while but she soon finds her voice and she says to him, "It' good to see you again, Edward, I hope for you sake that you haven't laid a hand on Delinda yet." Edward retorts with, "No, I have not laid a hand on Delinda not that you would believe me considering that you have seen my temper." Manda comesback with, "Well, I will just have to keep a eye on you."

All the while Manda is keeping an eye on Edward, she secretly hopes that Delinda and Edward will break up so Manda can have him for herself despite his temper. During one particular visit, things get heated between Delinda and Edward and he thinks that she's leaving him but she's only going to take Manda home but Edward storms out behind Delinda anyway and he gets into his father's truck and rams the truck into the truck that Delinda is driving and Manda is a passenger of.

Things get heated again and Delinda shouts, "If you try to hurt me again, I will go to the sheriff's office and file a complaint against you for abuse." Edward fires back with, "I dare you to file a complaint against me you b***h and they won't believe you if you do so you would be wasting your time, also, there's another incentive for you not to do it." Delinda retorts, " What do you mean by that exactly?" Edward snarls, "It means that your little friend will be in big trouble."

Delinda gasps, "You won't hurt her will you?" "I won't hurt her if you don't go to the police" says Edward and I want you to remember that the next time you threaten to file a complaint against me you w***e" he adds. Manda hears every word that is said but she doesn't let on that she does; she has a worried look on her face when Delinda gets back into the truck-Delinda tells her not to worry about it but not to say anything about to anyone.

Manda asks, "Not even to my parents?" Delinda replies with, "Not even to your parents; otherwise they won't let you visit me anymore if it's too dangerous." "I promise I won't say anything to my parents," Manda says before leaving the truck and Delinda makes Manda promise not to confront Edward-Manda obliges with some reservations of course. The next time and the last time Manda sees Delinda and Edward, there is no confrontation between Manda and Edward only joking around.

The next time that Manda hears from Delinda is in February of 1998-Manda gets a phone call from Delinda; it takes Manda by surprise when Delinda says that she's four and half months pregnant-also, Delinda asks, "Why I haven't you come to see me again?" but Manda doesn't have the heart to tell Delinda the truth as to why there's been no visit in awhile then in July of the same year, Manda gets a baby announcement from Delinda.

The baby announcement brings up old feelings that Manda thought that she had gotten rid of but she didnt and then when Manda here's from her mother the Delinda is being abused, Manda gets worried so sends a letter to Delinda to ask her if she's okay but there is no response and Manda sends another letter then another but there's no response from either one so really starts to get worried but there isn't anything that she can do about it.

She decides to write about Delinda's abuse as to a way to cope with not being to help Delinda. When Manda's mother tells her that Delinda and Edward have separated for the first time, Manda sees her chance to tell Edward how she really feels without Delinda reading the letter but by the time Manda decides to write the letter to Edward and send it, Delinda and Edward have already reconciled, Delinda reads the letter anyway, and she's none to thrilled by what she reads.

Delinda confronts Manda by phone and she doesn't let Manda get a word in edgewise, but somehow Manda finds her voice by saying, "How dare you accuse me of harassing and stalking you, you b***h; I show concern for your safety and this is the thanks I get. You are no friend of mine if you are going to treat me this way and don't forget that my life was in danger, too.

Taken aback, Delinda asks, "That still doesn't explain why you sent that letter to my husband." Manda explains that she never would have sent that letter if she had known but somehow Manda finds her voice by saying, "How dare you accuse me of harassing and stalking you, you b***h; I show concern for your safety and this is the thanks I get. You are no friend of mine if you are going to treat me this way and don't forget that my life was in danger, too.

Taken aback, Delinda asks, "That still doesn't explain why you sent that letter to my husband." Manda explains that she never would have sent that letter if she had known that Delinda had taken her husband back. Delinda says, "Ignorance is no excuse, you could have called and asked if I had taken my husband back." Manda replies with, "What you do in your marriage is none of my business."

Manda continues with, "I could have told you a long time ago that you should have never married Edward but it wasn't my place to say anything. "Delinda replies with, "You are right, it wasn't your place to say anything, I would have told you that you didn't what the hell you were talking about and that if you wanted to stay my friend that would be wise not to say anything."

Delinda's and Manda's friendship is still nonexistent if only they hadn't let a guy come between them but Delinda and Edward did break up eventually after she cheated on him. They also are fighting over custody of their daughters and Manda's secret is out in the open now but she'll still never have Edward because if she has any hope of being friends with Delinda again, it wouldn't be wise for her to go after Edward.