Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
CLARA
I spend the rest of the day crying alone in my bedroom. Honestly, I don’t know what else to do at this point. I’ve broken up with Luke, my mom is pissed at me, everyone thinks I’m disgusting, and I’ve been regaled to online teaching because there’s less of a chance that people will complain about me in the classroom that way.
It seems as if my life is completely in shambles. I know it’s not, not really, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I am, without a doubt, disappointed in the turn of events and in myself for not doing things differently.
I’m not sure what I would have done differently, but it would have been something other than the absolute chaos that happened. There is a knock on my bedroom door, and I throw my legs over the side of the bed, letting out a huff.
I’ve never spent so much time in my room as I have the past few days. I need to get out and get some fresh air, maybe get an iced coffee, and just breathe for a little bit. I’m tired of being alone with my thoughts and feeling sorry for myself.
“There are a few packages for you,” Sarah’s voice calls out on the other side of the door.
Frowning, I reach for the handle and open the door, knowing that I don’t have any expected deliveries. Granted, I love shopping online, especially as retail therapy, but I haven’t felt like it since the Valentine’s Day fiasco.
“What could it possibly be?” I ask as my gaze finds hers.
She rolls her eyes to the ceiling, then lets out a snort. “Girl, did you think that man was really going to walk out of your life so easily?”
Brushing past her, I gasp at the sight of the dozens of red roses on the kitchen counter. I don’t know how many are in the oversized vase, but I’ve never seen anything so stunning in my life.
I’ve also never had a man buy me roses before in my life. When I move toward the flowers, the scent becomes so strong that I have to close my eyes when I lean my head down and fully take them in.
My God.
Straightening, I know that Barbara and Sarah are watching me, but I don’t care. I can’t take my eyes off these gorgeous roses. They are such a deep red that they almost look black, and the petals appear to be velvet. I reach out and touch them just to be sure that they aren’t indeed velvet—they aren’t.
“There’s a card,” Barbara interrupts my focus on the petals.
Shifting my focus to the card, I reach for the small rectangle, then open the flap, gently slide out the heart-printed cardstock, and look down at the writing.
It’s Luke’s handwriting.
I would know it anywhere.
I sillily memorized it a while ago.
Clara,
I love you.
-Luke
Closing my eyes slowly, I let out an exhale. How am I supposed to forget him, supposed to move on when he does something like this? And it’s not just any card, either. He loves me. He freaking loves me. I know he said it the other day, but reading it in print hits so much differently.
“There are a couple of other things, too,” Barbara says and thrusts an envelope at me. There is my name and a 2 written on the envelope, which I assume means to open it second. It’s not sealed, so when I open the flap, I reach inside to find three tickets.
“They’re tickets to the game tomorrow night,” I whisper. “On the glass.”
“Shit,” Sarah whispers.
Shit is right.
“I broke up with him,” I say.
Barbara snorts. “Well, he didn’t accept that shit, and he’s making it very clear that he wants to keep you, social media judgments be damned.”
It seems as if she’s right, and as much as I want to smile and accept all of this, I know it isn’t what I should be doing. Keeping my excitement inside, I put the tickets back in the envelope and gently place them next to the flowers.
“This is the last one,” Sarah announces and hands me a box.
It’s wrapped in light-pink paper with little gold hearts printed on it. It’s super cute, and I almost hate to tear it open, but I don’t hate it that much because I’m too curious. I rip the wrapping off and place it on the counter, then stare at the contents.
It’s a box.
A jewelry box—a little one.
Holy. Shit.