Friday
Melissa and I blew out the candles on our cake. The house was full of people. I barely knew any of them but they all cheered for us.
“Best. Birthday. Ever!” Melissa yelled as she cut us each a slice of cake.
“Yeah.” I smiled over at Tyler.
He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He still had sex hair. A few buttons at the top of his shirt had been left undone. He looked sexy and he was staring back at me. He nodded his head to the side, gesturing for me to come over. I grabbed two slices of cake and wound my way through the other people. I handed him a plate.
“Thanks for all this,” I said.
“Josh and Melissa planned most of it. And of course, there was Melissa’s dad, James.” He laughed as he took a bite of cake.
My lies had spilled over so quickly about Professor Hunter. “I told you that I was sorry.” I lightly nudged his shoulder.
“I know, I’m just messing with you.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. I really do have a present for you. Let me go get it.”
I grabbed the back of his neck, stood up on my tiptoes, and kissed him. It was tempting to go with him back to his room. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come up and try to convince you again that I want to be your girlfriend?” I whispered in his ear.
Tyler laughed. “Your offer is very tempting. I need a few minutes to recover, though. I’ll be right back.” He kissed my cheek and disappeared into the crowd on the dance floor. I leaned back against the wall. I spotted Melissa and Josh dancing. She looked happy. She had been right, as usual. This party had been a lot of fun. And getting under someone else had helped too. I cringed at myself for thinking it.
“Have a great life?”
My blood turned cold. Oh God. I’d know his voice anywhere. I turned and saw Professor Hunter leaning casually on the wall beside me. He was dressed in a plaid button up shirt with a white t-shirt peeping out from underneath. He was wearing slightly baggy jeans, pushed into dirty brown boots. His sleeves were rolled up and he was wearing a knit hat. It looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days. He was carrying an axe. Fake. Hopefully. My heart was beating out of my chest. God he looked good as a lumberjack. And young. He blended in perfectly with college students even though he wasn’t wearing a mask.
It seemed like I was imagining him. He hadn’t looked at me, let alone talk to me, in weeks. I closed my eyes for a second and opened them again. He was still standing there, staring at me intently. It took me a second to register his words. Have a great life. I had said that to him in the text from my birthday. I took a deep breath. All the happiness I had felt tonight seemed to get sucked out of me. I thought whenever he decided to talk to me again I’d be happy. But I wasn’t. I had been so sad for so long that I hadn’t realized how angry I was with him. I had never been so angry with someone in my life. How dare he just show up here? “Yeah. Have a great life.” I turned my attention back to the dance floor. I wanted him to walk away. I wanted him to let me have this one good night after so many bad ones. But he remained where he was.
“Are you done?” His voice sounded cold.
I looked back at him. I wanted to slap his stupid, beautiful face. “Done what?”
“Done here? Let’s go.”
He reached out and brushed his fingers along my wrist. His touch still gave me that warm tingly feeling. I hated that it gave me that feeling. I took a step back from him. “No, I’m not done. This is my birthday party. I’m not leaving. And I’m definitely not leaving with you.”
“You’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk!” Shit. I always had a hard time controlling my temper. It was probably even worse since I had been drinking. But I wasn’t drunk. I took a deep breath.
“Penny, we need to talk. And I don’t want to do it here.”
“You’ve had weeks to talk to me. You don’t just get to show up tonight and ruin my birthday party. Why tonight of all nights?”
“I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
The way he said it made my throat catch. He sounded like he genuinely thought that was true. As if this surprise appearance suddenly erased all the pain. “I’m not. Please just go.”
“I’m not leaving here unless it’s with you.”
“You forgot my birthday.” I bit my lip. I wish this still didn’t hurt so much.
“I didn’t forget.”
I shook my head. What an asshole. “Fine. You ignored my birthday then. I feel like that’s even worse.”
“Please just let me explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain. You’re my boyfriend, you should have at least wished me a happy birthday. Sorry, ex boyfriend.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
“Well that explains a lot.”
I looked up at him. “What are you talking about?”
“You and Mr. Stevens don’t seem to be acting like just friends anymore.”
I glared at him. “That’s really none of your business.”
“Everything you do is my business.”
“Nothing I do is your business. We’re done. You’ve made that very clear.”
“We are not done.”
“Yes we are. You ignored me for weeks. And now you finally show up. Apparently just to make me feel like shit because I don’t hear you offering an apology.”
“I told you that I wanted to talk.”
“Then talk. Tell me why you acted like I didn’t exist. Do you have any idea how hard it was to go to class and feel invisible?” The room felt stifling.
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t.” I looked down at the ground. I didn’t want to cry. “It’s too late to talk. You waited too long. I can’t. I don’t want to. Not anymore.”
“Penny, come on, let’s go.” He reached out for my hand.
“Stop.” I pulled away. I didn’t want him to touch me. I didn’t want him here. I could feel tears beginning to well in my eyes. Why is he here? Just to torture me?
“Penny.” He put his hand on my elbow.