Page 57 of Bewitch

“Most things do,” I tell her. “I’m used to it by now.”

“It doesn’t have to be this way.”

“He needs to learn to not treat his clients like this,” I say. “It’ll teach him humility.”

“And it’ll teach you what?” she asks.

I meet Brooke’s gaze. “Maybe it’ll get me to accept that I have done enough to maybe gain a guy’s attention.”

“A good guy won’t care if you’re a little overweight, if you’re obese, if you’re purple-haired, bald, whatever.” Eliza shrugs. “He will love you for you and nothing else.”

“I don’t know a good guy,” I say. “Do you?”

Eliza’s quiet then, and Kaylie makes a face. The three of us are all single. Brooke has her guy, but he’s more of a bad boy than a good guy. He’s grown on me, but Lucas…

He hated me from the moment he first saw me. He never wanted to train me, and he never should have called me Fattie, not even once, not as motivation or any other reason.

My plan will work. I’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.

And then I’ll walk away.

CHAPTER17

Friday rolls around, and after my last class, I grab my bag, ready to return to my dorm to change for the gym.

“Dawn!”

I glance up, startled.

Charlie Chloe giggles. She has bright purple hair, her head half shaved, and I love her confidence.

“You were in outer space,” she says. “Are you up for tonight?”

“What’s tonight?”

“Out in orbit,” Chloe Briggs says. “The party at my parents’ place. It’s gonna be amazing. We have a pool, two Jacuzzis, and a ton of alcohol. We deserve it.”

“And your parents are off to Europe,” Charlie says.

“There’s that too.” Chloe beams. “You’ll come, right? We’re invited just about everyone. You can bring anyone you like.”

I hesitate and then decide to go for it. Why not?

“I’ll be there.”

“Great! I’ll text you my address. People will probably start to come over around six, but you can come over whenever. Earlier. Hell, you could go over now if you want. Wear whatever. You can bring a bathing suit for the Jacuzzis… but there’s always the possibility that someone will go naked in, just a bit of warning.”

“I so hope Drew does,” Charlie says, pretending to faint with the back of her hand against her forehead.

I laugh and shake my head. “You all are crazy.”

“Being normal is boring,” Charlie says, running her hand through her hair. “If you subvert people’s expectations of you, you can do whatever you want.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

They loop arms and walk out of there after waving, and I smile to myself. They’re my closest two friends in my major. I have a few guy friends who are also journalism majors, but I’m not attracted to any of them. I still dream about Lucas, mostly of him calling me fat. I even had one dream when he was the one to make that lame horse comment to me. It was terrible.

For the most part, I’ve been doing well, and I intend to keep on going. I can and will do this. I can handle whatever life throws my way. Why can’t I have a fun night?

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