Chapter 4
Chapter Four
STELLA
The second I wake up, I blink, trying to remember where I am.
“Oh, right, I remember now. I’m in hell.
” That’s when the dinging begins. Text messages.
I don’t even need to look at my phone to figure out who’s texting.
By now, Bradley will have called either Vicky, his mom, or my mom to garner support for whatever he’s got planned.
Sure enough, when I pick up my phone, I see there are multiple messages from all three people.
That’s just terrific. There’s also one from Lily.
I should have called her last night. She would have made me feel better.
I was just too overwhelmed to talk to anyone.
Bradley’s texts are what I imagined them to be. Things like, “Stella, call me.” And “Stella, give me a chance to explain. I’ll beg if I need to.”
That one makes me snort, out loud. If I need to? “Yes, you jerk, you’d need to beg. That is if I had any inclination to take you back.” Which I don’t. My favorite one claimed, “Our parents are going to be devastated.”
“Well, whose fault is that?” I grumble aloud.
Closing out my text messages, I see the indicator on the phone icon, which means I’ve got a voice message. Clicking that, I stare at my mom’s name. Great. Dread fills me, but I want to get it over with, so I hit play.
“Stella, it’s your mother. Please call me right away.
We need to talk. What is this about you breaking up with Bradley for no reason?
Are you out of your mind? You have no idea what you’re doing.
Who else is going to date you, Stella? I mean, you’re a cute girl, but we both know you need more than a pretty face.
Bradley is ambitious and driven. He’ll be an excellent provider for you.
Call me right away so I can talk some sense into you.
Vicky is beside herself. What happened to make you do this?
Did you spend one day in college and get too big for your britches?
Well, we both know that’s possible with you, now don’t we?
Get your head together, Stella. Call me. Now!”
Jeez, did the woman take a breath during that entire message?
No. And did she call Bradley a “provider.” Who says that?
It’s not the 1950s for goodness sake. I guess if being a lying, cheating snake is the kind of guy my mom wants for me, then I’m going to have to reassess Mom’s taste in men because she is delusional.
I do my best to practice some yoga breathing exercises after that phone call. I need to calm down. So, I decide to do what I should have done last night.
Me: Hey, Lils.
Lily: Yo, Stella, what’s wrong? I feel a disturbance in the Force.
Oh, Jeez, that girl is such a nerd. She must be psychic when it comes me.
Me: It’s true! Bad things happened yesterday, but how did you know?
My phone dings right away.
Lily: Douchebag sent me a text telling me to talk some sense into you.
I don’t even need to ask. Douchebag has always been her name for Bradley, even before yesterday.
Me: Did he happen to mention why I needed “sense talked into me”?
Lily: Nah, but he probably thought you and I had already spoken.
Me: Sorry, I wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Lily: Tell me what happened. Do I need to kill me some little douchebag when I see him?
Me: Maybe.
Instead of typing it all out, I call her so I can tell her everything.
Lily is my voice of reason. When everyone else in my life is completely off their rockers, she tells me what I really need to hear.
Even though she never liked Bradley, she always understood what that relationship meant to me.
I think she hoped that he would end up being the man I deserved.
I don’t bother to tell her about my knight in shining armor, Alex.
He played a supporting role in the story, but I know she’d get fixated on him, which is a complete waste of time.
It’s not like I’m going to ever see him again.