Page 93 of Surviving Lies

She looked sad. I mean, nowhere near as sad as I was, but still sad.

It was sad. Because Ty and I were good together. No, were more than good. We were perfect together.

But he fucked it up with his lies. I really didn’t know if I could come back from this, regardless of how incredible our time was together.

Lanie’s nod was slow to come, but it came.

“I get it, Bec, especially when you put it that way. I do. But maybe, one day, you’ll let him tell his story,” she said. “He loves you still.”

We both lay back down, arms around each other. The recent events in both our lives were enough to send us both packing. But we were strong women, and we had each other to fall on.

And as we cuddled in bed together and I pulled out my laptop to put on a show, I felt like we were going to fall on each other.

Hard.

A couple weeks had passed; I was trying to create a new normal. But this new normal was kinda boring. It involved going to class, doing homework, watching TV, cooking dinner. All alone.

Well, without a man in my life, alone.

I hadn’t really beenalonealone since before coming to college. Ty and I met the second week of our freshman year. We didn’t start talking immediately, but our attraction was strong. So the flirting was always happening between us right from the start. By the second month, we were hooking up, and eventually we had to tell Lanie and Logan. The four of us hung out all the time, and it was too hard to keep it from them.

Starting this year without Ty was hard – harder than I thought. But I came to school thinking I would win him back.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, I got myself mixed up with someone else. Who has also now left me alone.

And it didn’t help that Lanie had moved out and I wasn’t seeing her as much as I was used to. Ava and Macie did their best to keep me company. They tried, they really did. But I wasn’t reciprocating their efforts very well lately.

As I hopped off the bus, I pulled my bag onto my shoulder and put my sunglasses on. They didn’t disguise me so much as cover up the dark circles that were perpetually living under my eyes lately. The need to not see Gage on campus overwhelmed me. My eyes darted back and forth from behind the glasses with every step I took. Thankfully, I’d gotten to know his schedule pretty well and was able to avoid bumping into him so far.

My first stop was the Phi Betta Lambda office in the upstairs of the student union. I won the presidential position in the group and needed to pick up some important papers to work on a project. As I started down the path toward the union, however, I saw familiar golden locks up ahead. He was talking to what appeared to be some of his frat brothers. I quickly spun on my heels and went in the opposite direction. I’d been successful in avoiding him as well up to this point, and I didn’t need today to be the day I failed.

Maybe I’d head to the pond and sit there for a while until my class began. I could pick up the papers later.

I only got about five steps before I heard it.

“Becca!”

I didn’t know what to do. If I stopped, we would make a scene. If I didn’t stop, he would chase me down, and we would make a scene.

He hadn’t stopped trying to contact me. Every morning I got a “good morning” text from him. And every night I got a “good night, I love you” text from him. And then occasionally, in between, I’d get the request for us to talk. The begging request for me to listen to him and his reasons for not telling me sooner.

But I continued to ignore him.

I had to.

But it didn’t seem like I would be able to much longer.

“Becca, wait up!” he said as he got closer.

I felt cornered, even though I was out in the wide open.

Ty came up next to me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him; I didn’t trust myself.

“How are you, Bec?” he asked.

I looked out at the oval and watched the passing people.

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