“Please let me explain.” He held out his hands, asking me to just stay for a moment. “We're meant to be together.”
I wanted to hit him so bad. I wanted to wind up and just clock him in his square jaw or break his handsome nose. I had thought I was so special because Chad Malin, the old high school quarterback and popular kid, liked me. Dated me. Had talked about going to look at wedding rings so he would know what style I liked. I had wondered how someone like him, someone who could have any girl in town, had picked me.
Now I knew. He hadn't picked me.
“Explain? You want to explain why you're wearing your new girlfriend's jeans?”
He looked down at his new skinny jeans with pink stitching and cursed. I turned to leave, but he caught my hand. Again, I nearly slugged him. The last person in the entire world I wanted touching me was that slime-ball. I wrenched my wrist out of his grasp, leaving him grasping at thin air.
“Ava, baby...” He flashed me his trademark smile, the one that had made me weak in the knees just yesterday. Now I saw how fake it was. How fake he was. “Baby, we have plans. We're going places...”
“Yup,” I interrupted. “I'm going away from you.”
With that, I turned and stormed out of the house.
He didn't try and follow me.
***
Please, baby. You're never going to do better than me.
You're just mad. You never respond well when I do something you don't like. Don't be this way.
Come on Ava, what are your friends going to say?
Delete text message, delete text message, delete text message. I thought about calling my phone company and asking them to block his number, but that seemed like effort and I just didn't have the energy right now.
I sat on the floor and stared at the blank spot on my wall where a picture of Chad and I used to hang. The only sign that something had ever been there was the small hole where the tack had been to hold the frame. Other than that, it was as if the two of us had never existed.
The frame now lay empty on my desk, the picture torn to tiny shreds in the bottom of my waste basket. It had felt good to destroy something, but ruining the picture had only taken moments and then the desolation set back in. I had destroyed as many pictures as I could get my hands on.
He cheated.
I couldn't understand how it had happened. Two days ago, we were planning a trip down to the city to look for rings. Now, I was picking up everything he had ever given me, which was actually surprisingly little, and putting it out on the curb. I couldn't believe that he had betrayed me. With Charity.
“Ava? You in there?” Dad asked, knocking gently on my bedroom door. I sighed and wiped fresh tears off my cheeks.
“Yeah, come on in.”
The door slowly opened and my dad peeked his head inside. He was a big man, but the way he chewed his lip made him look like a small boy. I knew he had heard me crying and had come to inv
estigate. The downside to still living with my father instead of having my own place.
“What's wrong, sweetie?” he asked, sitting down at my desk. He ran a big hand through his graying hair and studied me. “Who do I need to go kill for my baby girl?”
I almost smiled. “Chad.”
“Done. He's a dead man,” Dad announced. When I didn't respond, he leaned forward, his glasses catching the last of the day's light. “What happened? You two have a fight?”
“I caught him cheating.” The words were fire in my mouth. Each one burned just a little bit more.
Dad stayed silent for a moment before leaving the chair to join me on the floor. “I'm sorry, Ava. I really am.” I could tell he was fighting the impulse to go bury Chad.
“It was with Charity.”
“The waitress?” He frowned, tightening his fists and looking dangerous. Then he just looked tired. “That explains why he always insisted we eat there. I hate that restaurant. They never put enough salt on the fries.”
“I can't believe I was so stupid...”