Page 133 of Not That Into You

“A boy.”

I nod.

“What did the boy do?”

I shrug. “He didn’t do anything. It was me.”

She frowns. “What did you do?”

“I made the mistake of thinking it would work out. I believed him. But then... I mean, I didn’t really tell him how I felt, so maybe I should’ve expected it, but still. I shouldn’t have believed him.”

“Nica baby, you’re not making sense.”

I briefly close my eyes. “Sorry.”

I move into the family room and sit on the couch, my mother following close behind. She sits next to me and waits for me to continue.

“There’s this guy, Cameron, and we were seeing each other. We weren’t serious at first.” We weren’t real at first, but my mother doesn’t need to know that. She definitely wouldn’t approve of me pretending to be Cameron’s girlfriend. “He’s from a rich family. He’s different from me.”

“White?”

“Yes. And his family is pretty awful. They’re all snobs, and they don’t treat him well.”

“Ah.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Go on.”

“Anyway, initially I didn’t think we fit, and then, I don’t know, I thought maybe we could work. But then he had this important dinner...” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “You know, with important people. And he needed to network with them because they’re important to his career.” My chin trembles, but I take a deep breath to keep the tears at bay. “He brought another woman. He brought someone like him.”

My mom’s face falls. “Oh, Nica.”

I lift a shoulder and let it drop. “I should’ve known better. I knew I didn’t belong; that we didn’t belong together.”

The tears start up again, and my mother pulls me into a side hug.

“What did he say?”

“What?”

“What did this Cameron say when you confronted him?”

I pull back and look at her. “How do you know I confronted him?”

“Nica. You’re my daughter. Of course you confronted him.”

I give her a watery smile. “He admitted he went to the dinner with her, but he said it wasn’t a date.”

She makes a disgusted face. “That’s it?”

I shrug. “Pretty much.”

He also sent several text messages and left a voicemail last night and one this morning, but I haven’t been able to read or listen to them.

“Did he say why he didn’t ask you to go with him?”

“He did ask me.”

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