Catch Me (The RLU #5)

Chapter 4

Marcela

I don’t think I’ve ever woken up happier than I did today, because it’s my final first day of school.

Senior year, at last. One day closer to being free of my stepfather, because he won’t be able to hold over my head anymore that he’s paying for my future.

I’ll be a true adult, able to go where I want, do what I want, and set boundaries with the people I couldn’t before.

A smile unfurls as I make my way across our beautiful campus. Today’s a good day. I have my favorite iced coffee, with one shot of espresso and brown sugar syrup. I’m wearing a light pink mini dress that flows at my waist, with white trim and bow shoulder straps, complete with wedge sandals. It’s girly and very me, making me feel even better.

I continue to ride that high all the way into my first class of the day, Literary Criticism.

Sitting at the end of the first row, like I’ve always done, I begin unpacking my tote bag. I take out my laptop, along with my notebook and pens.

When I finally look up, I freeze at the sight of who just walked in.

No.

It can’t be.

My eyes must be playing tricks on me, that’s all.

There’s absolutely no way that my ex-best friend, Ruby, is here right now. But I’d recognize her red hair anywhere. It’s so dark that it’s nearly purple, and her eyes are a vibrant green that pop against it.

She smiles brightly, and I turn around to see if there’s someone behind me, because there’s no way she has the audacity to engage with me. When Ruby walks toward the first row, my nerves skyrocket. What does she want? We haven’t talked since I received a video from a random number of her making out with my boyfriend.

My only friend and my boyfriend, who I had been with since high school.

She tried calling a few times, but I never answered. She eventually ceased any attempt to make amends. The only person I talked to afterward was Hunter, and even then, I broke up with him over the phone, because I couldn’t bear to hear either of them deny what happened or admit it to my face.

He tried to fight for us, but when I sent him the video I received, he immediately turned things around on me. Blaming his infidelity on the fact that I didn’t visit him enough. That I didn’t have sex with him enough. That I just wasn’t enough.

I broke up with him right then on the phone and haven’t heard from him since. Thank God.

“Marcie!” she squeals, giving me the most awkward side hug as I’m still seated.

I don’t hug her back.

The worst part is that despite how much I hate her, I can’t find it in me to be as rude as I’d like to be. If I could, I’d tell her not to call me that. That she lost that privilege when her tongue dove into my boyfriend’s mouth.

But I’ve always been too shy to voice how I really feel.

“Hi,” I say quietly.

Ruby slides into the seat next to me, and I feel myself cringe. How did I go from feeling so good today to wanting to claw someone’s eyes out?

“How are things? I haven’t heard from you in forever. I miss you!” she lays it on thick, batting her fake lashes at me. “I transferred back this year because of that.”

Ruby had switched to the University of Aspen last semester, claiming she needed a change of scenery. Which is where my ex-boyfriend goes to school. I wonder if things fell apart for them, and that’s the reason she’s back here now.

Not that I’d take her back as a friend. But I’m curious, nonetheless.

“And look,” Ruby whispers, taking her hand in mine, “I’m really sorry for what happened with Hunter. But when you know you’re meant to be with someone, you can’t let anything stand in the way of that. We’re so happy together, and we’d love it if you could accept us. We both have missed you so much. It can be like old times, the three of us always hanging out. Except I get to kiss Hunter now,” she blushes and giggles, as if it’s a joke.

Something inside of me breaks. Maybe it was the drastic change from riding high to now feeling so low that I lose it on her.

“How could you do that to me?” I hate the way my voice cracks at the end of my question, my bubbling emotions threatening to burst. “You were my only friend since we were kids. You’ve always had everything. Any guy you wanted. Why him ?”

I watch as Ruby’s demeanor changes from placating to defensive.

“Because he was the only man I couldn’t have, Marcie. I wanted him for years. Do you know how intoxicating that is?”

“No, I don’t, because friends don’t do that to friends. I would quite literally throw up if I so much as thought about wanting another girl’s boyfriend, let alone my best friend’s,” I say, incredulous at the things she’s saying to me right now. “And stop calling me that. We’re not friends and will never be again.”

A snarky grin appears on her face, her eyes lighting up like she enjoys this. “I guess if we’re having one last conversation, let’s end it with two truths and a lie, hm?”

I’m frozen, unable to move or do anything but listen as Ruby digs the knife deeper into my chest.

“Okay, first, we never did anything behind your back until you got the video. That was the first time. Second, I came back here because I missed you. Third, Hunter said I’m a better fuck than you ever were.”

I’m shoving my things into my bag as fast as I can, my vision blurring with tears. Letting her know she’s hurting me is killing me even more, but I can’t help it.

“Don’t worry about leaving, I’m not even in this class. Just thought I’d pop by to relay the information,” Ruby says, standing and running her hands over her skirt. How she knew I was in this class is startling, but then she leans down and whispers in my ear, “In case you were wondering, the lie was number two. I came back to get the satisfaction of being with him in front of you.”

In front of me? What?

Is he … does that mean … Hunter is here at RLU too?

“See you around, Marcie ,” she winks, strutting out the door.

I slump in my seat despite the tension radiating throughout my body.

Beneath the initial hurt and anger, there’s a layer of confusion as I try to figure out what I ever did to Ruby that would cause her to treat me like this.

As the lecture starts, I find myself unable to focus as my brain whirls with everything she admitted. For some reason, I believe nothing happened prior to the video, not that it changes anything. But then there’s the comment about the sex … as if I wasn’t already shy when it came to intimacy.

The fact that I’ve never felt comfortable, worshipped, or entirely turned on by Hunter speaks volumes to me now, but at the time, I thought something was wrong with me.

Now, I’m thinking it was my body telling me that he wasn’t the one.

Most concerning of all, she mentioned wanting to be here so she could rub their relationship in my face, meaning Hunter is also here.

My stomach caves in at that while my fingers twitch with the need to write, to get lost in a fantasy world where I call the shots. Where I don’t get hurt.

I’m over it happening to me in real life.

My stepdad. Hunter. Ruby.

Three people who shouldn’t have purposely hurt me, but did.

The excitement I felt this morning has vanished. Instead, it’s replaced with a tightness in my chest that I fear won’t go away until the year ends.

I can’t wait to get away from this place, where I’ll never have to run into Ruby or Hunter again. A place where the hold my stepdad has on me will no longer exist.

Until then, I’ll have to make it through each day the best I can.