One More Time

“I don’t think it’s gross, I think it’s nice,” a familiar voice chimed in.

I felt my blood freeze as I lifted my head from the lounge chair. I pushed myself upright and peeled my sunglasses from my face, taking her all in. Evelyn was standing there, with her tan skin and her bleach-blond hair and her dazzling white smile. She looked very different from that night at prom when I’d ripped the car door open and seen her between Rhett’s legs. But here she was, grinning at me as her eyes raked up and down Rhett’s body.

“The hell do you want?” Ana asked.

“Just wanted to come say hello,” Evelyn said. “You guys enjoying the cruise?”

“Oh, holy shit, is this—?” Tommy trailed off.

“Yeah,” Rhett said, looking like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Evelyn sighed and looked from Rhett to me. “Look, I think you both should know that nothing happened that night.”

Rhett’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head and I sat up and took off my sunglasses. “What do you mean?” I asked, my pulse thumping in my ears.

Evelyn looked downright embarrassed now and her hands twisted in front of her. “I know what you saw, and I know what you think, but Rhett and I didn’t have sex that night.”

Rhett flew to his feet, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. “We didn’t?”

Evelyn took a step back from Rhett’s large, looming frame. “No, we didn’t. It was a set-up. I drugged your drink right before you guys left. When I saw Chanel go into the bathroom, I took the opportunity to get in the car with you. I was just supposed to kiss you, but then the whole thing took on a life of its own. Everyone thought we slept together, and I was too scared to say anything about it.”

“Why the fuck would you do something like that?” Ana asked, her face a mask of rage.

“Because I was paid to. Listen, I wasn’t exactly popular in school, and you guys were larger than life. I just wanted to fit in, so when I was approached, I didn’t want to say no. Honestly, I swear to you that it wasn’t supposed to get so out of hand. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” Evelyn said, sounding sincere for a change.

“Who the fuck paid you to do something like that?” Rhett asked.

Before she could answer, I jumped up from my lounge chair and ran from the deck. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I ran to the elevators and frantically punched the button, but when the doors didn’t open fast enough, I ran up the stairs. I needed to get away and find a quiet place to think.

For ten years I had thought that Rhett had cheated on me that night. I had held that picture of him with that girl on his lap in my mind’s eye for ten fucking years, and it was all a lie. A lie that had cost me my relationship with Rhett, a lie that had robbed me of the ability to have a functioning adult relationship ever since. That night was the reason I had had a string of meaningless one-night stands, never allowing myself to get too close to anyone.

I knew how much it had hurt to be betrayed by the person I had loved and who I thought had loved me, and I wouldn’t let myself get close enough to be hurt that like again. Damn her, damn her and everything she took from me.

And poor Rhett! He had beaten himself up for ten years over something he didn’t even remember.

He had actually convinced himself that he had slept with her because he thought he wasn’t good enough for me. He had carried that around with him, when it wasn’t even the truth.

My blood was roaring in my ears and I felt like I wanted to punch something. I got to my room and my hands were shaking so bad that I couldn’t even put the key in the lock. I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm myself down, but I couldn’t.

“Here, let me get that before you gouge the damn door frame,” Ana’s voice came up beside me.

I stepped back so that she could unlock the door. Once it was open, I stepped into our room and flung myself on the bed. The anger and the pain of that night came rushing back and hit me like a ton of bricks. I put my face in my pillow and screamed as loud as I could before the tears choked me.

I cried for what seemed like forever as Ana sat with me and rocked me in her arms. She smoothed my hair and tried to make me laugh, but I needed to cry. I needed to get out all the emotions that were bottled up inside of me before they consumed me.

When I had cried myself dry, I sat up and took a deep, shaky breath. “Why?” I asked Ana “Why would anyone do that to me?”

Ana shook her head and wiped the tears off my face with the sleeve of her cover-up. “Because people are colossal assholes,” she said.

“I never did anything to anyone in high school. I was a nerd for fuck sake!”

“Yeah, a nerd who had the hottest guy in school tripping all over his dick for you. It was bound to make someone jealous,” Ana said.

“But that was so hurtful,” I said, still trying to comprehend why someone would stoop so low.

“Uh, hello. Teenagers are total pricks, Chanel. You were always just too nice to see it.”

I shook my head, remembering something Evelyn had said. “She said someone paid her to do it. Who? Who would pay her to ruin us like that?”