9. Never, ever again
9
NEVER, EVER AGAIN
Sarah
“Get out!” I yelled, as my brain conjured up its familiar favorite image of Hayden Raynor, pulling back the shower curtain to give me a scrub down and a good morning seeing to.
How could he be such an oaf! How could I be so STUPID?
I went to grab my body scrub and winced painfully when I saw the naked finger where my grandma’s ring used to be.
Never meet your heroes, they say. Well, I hadn’t exactly met my hero, but I had met my crush, and it had been a titanic disaster. And now, I couldn’t even enjoy my indulgent fantasies of him.
As dumb as it sounds, those fantasies were enough to keep me going. They helped me forget about the reality of my sad, lonely, and loveless life. Now, all of it was ruined. I fucking hate Hayden Raynor!
Just as I was stepping out of the shower, the doorbell echoed through the hallway and I grabbed a towel before padding through the kitchen to answer it.
“Hi Kensy.” Her face looked back at me, bright with excitement.
“Well!?” she said, unable to contain herself.
“It was… Oh, Kensy, it was awful!” I said, before my lip wobbled and the tears came.
“Oh God! Sarah, it’s okay,” her arms wrapping around me.
“No, no, it’s not!” I wailed into her dress.
When I finally stopped sobbing so hard, Kensy took my hand and led me into my bedroom.
“Let’s get you together, okay?”
I nodded, feeling like a child. As I got dressed and brushed the tears off my cheeks, Kensy asked delicately, “Did he… Do anything to you?”
I would’ve wondered the same, seeing the state I was in.
“God, no! Nothing happened. He was just the rudest, most awful person I’ve ever met. Then he left me at dinner with the bill and no way home.”
“Oh God. That’s terrible.”
All I could do was nod as I went to re-apply the makeup that now looked like an artist’s palette smeared across my face.
Kensy put her hands on my shoulders and looked at me intensely. “Okay, fuck Hayden ‘dipshit’ Raynor. You are an amazing woman, an incredible teacher, and you took a risk, and it didn’t work out. I’m so proud of you. And you’ll never have to see that man again.”