Kissing Is the Easy Part

Chapter 14 The lie

"I think I do," he said quietly. "And I'm really going to be very nervous the night before. I'm so sorry."

Ever seen the movie Carrie? No, not Carrie Bradshaw, but Stephen King's Carrie. She was standing on stage being crowned prom queen when someone pulled a cruel prank on her. One second she was smiling, the next she was drenched from head to toe with pig blood. That was how I felt at the moment. "Are you seriously turning down sex for studying?" I hissed.

"Maybe we can meet Sunday afternoon?"

"It's so not the same if we meet on Sunday afternoon!" I was too enraged to bother about volume control. "I can't believe you're turning me down for something as lame as USAPhO. I don't even know what that stands for!"

All of my bottled frustration and hurt rolled out like a knocked-over can of marbles. I was so sick of Sean rejecting me despite all my efforts. He should know better. There are some offers in life you just don't refuse, and that was definitely one of them!

Sean continued to try to explain but I was too angry to listen. We left the restaurant in a foul mood, and on the way back I could tell he was beginning to lose his patience. "Flora, I can keep apologizing if you want me to, but you're not listening to me anymore, so maybe we should just call it a night?"

Naturally that just made me madder. He was saying sorry but he didn't think he was wrong at all, and now he wouldn't even try to comfort me. No one treats me like this, I thought bitterly, fighting back angry tears. There was a sea of eligible bachelors out there yet I had to choose the only one who didn't give a damn when I was upset.

I was honestly burning with rage. Heat dashed through my body like a wild dragon, and if I opened my mouth I could probably spit fire, but I was afraid if I made a scene he would get mad too. Sean wasn't like all the other boys I dated who let me have my way all the time.

"Please just take me home," I said with the most civilized tone I could muster. I was half hoping he would just pull over and kiss me until I forgave him, but knowing Sean, I had better luck wishing for his stupid test to be canceled due to alien attack.

He pulled up in front of my building and I turned to face him, hoping he would come up with something nice to say.

"I'll speak with you when you're calmed down," he said, like I was a wounded, unreasonable child who wasn't able to communicate.

I threw open the door and got out. "I'll do you a favor. Don't call me until your damn test is over!" With that I slammed the door for theatrical effect.

I was so angry at him for not trying harder to console me, and I was angry at myself for not yelling all the things I wanted to.

***

On Saturday Sean called me once, but when I didn't pick up, he gave up. I figured just as well. I was still upset about the whole thing and if we talked we would've got into a huge fight, and I really didn't want to be held responsible if his test fell flat. I was weak and pathetic for caring about him so much.

I imagined what Sandra would do in this kind of situation. Obviously she would feed the guy to the lions if he didn't obey her every command. If I had a tenth of her guts I wouldn't just be sitting here sulking. I didn't know if I could take any more of this nonsense. I was crazy about Sean, but not being able to spend more time together and not being able to go out with other guys to distract me was beyond frustrating.

In the evening, Raymond Corbett called. He had been calling me often lately, mainly for aimless chats.

Now Raymond was a pretty interesting character. He had been my friend for a long time and I sincerely enjoyed his company. He was Mr. Nice Guy on the outside, friendly towards everyone, always throwing the best crazy parties where everyone was invited, and he was involved in all the important stuffs like student council.