Page 39 of Perfectly Imperfect Us
All the crap came rushing back, giving me an instant headache. I pushed my hair back from my face and sat up, blinking away the sleep that wanted to pull me back into oblivion where there was no heartache or humiliation. But I’d never been one to go down without a fight and I wasn’t going to start now.
I always thought having my vitiligo exposed would be the worst thing that could happen to me. But this cluster had shown me that skin was just skin. So what if mine had a pattern to it or looked different than most? Nope, true pain was giving your heart to someone and having him trample all over it like it meant nothing. I’d bared my soul to Ryder and he’d tossed me aside like last year’s fashion the first chance he got.
My phone dinged and I frowned. It sounded like it was here somewhere. I fumbled around in the blankets covering me and finally found it. A voicemail from Ryder. My hands started to tremble and my eyes welled up.
“Nope. Not going there,” I muttered to myself. I shoved the phone back in the blankets and stood.
Yesterday had been a full day of pain. Like I’d been a walking, talking raw nerve that had been tampered with repeatedly. Today, I felt the beginnings of anger. And with it came energy. Ryder and his new girlfriend had tried to humiliate me, but only I could give them the power to do that. And today’s Ava wasn’t going to let that happen.
That settled, I marched into the kitchen and snagged a pancake fresh off the griddle. “Morning,” I trilled, firming up a smile and straightening my spine.
Skylar whipped her head over, a hesitant smile as she scanned my face. “Someone’s chipper this morning. How are you, honey?”
I forced the smile wider. “Good. I have a plan and I’m angry enough to stick to it.”
Skylar poured more batter onto the sizzling griddle. “That’s better than defeated, I suppose. Want to tell me the new plan?”
“Please tell me we get to beat the snot out of lover boy,” Lacey said, coming into the kitchen with more dirty glasses and setting them in the sink.
I handed her my plate and grabbed another. “Actually, my plan has more to do with me and less to do with he-who-shall-not-be-named. I’m not giving him any more of my time.”
Skylar flipped the pancake and tilted her head. “I like it already. Tell me more.”
I tossed my hair over my shoulder and reveled in the rush of vitality that flooded my body as the ideas built. “I can only be humiliated if I allow it, right? So screw that! I refuse to be made to feel bad. Kyly may have made the first announcement, but it’s up to me if I want to live exposed or not. And I choose exposed. On my own terms.”
Lacey frowned. “What do you mean?”
I smiled deviously, an idea hitting me so hard I got chills. “I’m going to shower, put on my prettiest dress, maybe play with some eye makeup, and then head all over town without a single solitary drop of cover-up, powder, or foundation on my skin for all my friends, family, and townsfolk to see. I’m not ashamed of my skin and today I’ll prove it.”
Skylar put a pancake on my plate and put her spatula down to face me. “I love that, Ava. Truly, I do. You’re beautiful inside and out and if stupid Ry—I mean—that guy and Kyly doing this to you is what made you realize it? Well, I say it was worth it in the end. I’m so proud of you.”
Lacey put her arm around me, and with my friends by my side supporting me, I felt my eyes tearing up again. Who needed a man when you had besties?
“Now let’s eat and get this show on the road before I lose my nerve okay?” I whispered.
We all sat down and dug into the delicious breakfast. Only when half of the pancakes were gone did Skylar pipe up.
“I have a confession. I went to that guy’s house this morning before you woke up.” She fiddled with the pancake left on her plate, not meeting my eyes.
I put my fork down. “You went to Ryder’s?”
Skylar glanced up at me and rushed to explain. “I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but when I got there, the dude was clueless.”
My heart raced. “What do you mean?”
Skylar threw her hands up as she talked. “The guy had no idea what Kyly had posted last night. So, he goes up to the guest room, and I followed of course, and he yelled at Kyly. He threw her out of the house, Ava.”
She stopped talking, like that confession fixed everything.
I frowned. “So? Just proves he picked a really bad girlfriend. Doesn’t change the fact he dumped me without telling me and then showed up with a famous woman on his arm to shove it in my face. The guy’s a jerk, whether he knew about the picture or not.”
Which was true, but the idea that he hadn’t knowingly humiliated me about my vitiligo was somewhat comforting. I dismissed it and held on to my anger though, needing it to prop me up as I tried to move on with my life.
Skylar laid her hand on my arm. “I’m always completely on your side, Ava, but I have to admit. He looked pretty upset this morning. Almost desperate to talk to you and explain everything. It might be worth at least listening to him.”
I shook off her hand, shoving my chair back and standing. “No! Absolutely not. Actions speak louder than words and I’m going to start paying more attention to actions. Including my own. Excuse me, ladies, I have to get home and shower. I have some revealing to do.”
The girls hopped up and walked me out, agreeing to meet me for lunch at Two Nickels. I needed to exorcize that place of Kyly’s presence and the shock and humiliation I’d experienced there, replacing it with empowering memories. I’d been going to that diner since I was a baby and Kyly Stone would not be stealing that nostalgia. After lunch, we’d go shopping and I’d get used to my natural face out in public. Skylar dropped the subject of Ryder and my heart limped along, willing to fake it until we made it.
