The class bell rang and an eruption of shuffling papers and scraping chairs followed. The cacophony of teenagers exploded out of the English classroom and into the hallways of Middlebook High School. Lining the hallways were students of all kinds in their own cliques. The jocks and cheerleaders off to one end, while the goths and nerds remained stationed at the other. Everyone else mingled in between.
Stacy was scanning the hallways for her boyfriend who was absent from their usual meeting spot by her locker. She looked a bit ragged today after celebrating her 18th birthday party the night before. Things had gotten slightly too celebratory while she didn't quite remember everything that happened, she had a great time nonetheless. As she waited she did a quick look over herself in her locker mirror. Her straight dark brown hair parted down the center framing her face nicely. She reapplied some lip gloss and touched up her eyelashes quickly before standing in her tiptoes to peer over her locker in hopes of seeing Charlie. Off in the distance she spotted his golden locks coming her way.
She ducked back down and straightened her clothes, pulling her short skirt down and adjusting her shirt and bra. She leaned back against her locker, trying to look as cool and carefree as possible as he rounded the corner to her locker.
"Hey babe!" She said excitedly, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
His response was cold and muted.
"Everything okay?"
He still did not respond, just looked at the ground in front of her. Finally he slowly looked up at her.
"Uh, hey."
"What's up, Chuck?" She giggled lightly and nervously.
"Listen, umm." She could tell he was holding onto something big. Eventually it just burst out.
"Look, I have to tell you something. I made a mistake."
Her heart sank. For two years they had been together. Two blissful years of teenage love and patient desire. They had planned to be each other's first once summer started. They talked about it at length to ensure consent and safety.
"Listen, last night at the party you got pretty drunk okay? For a bit I couldn't find you. Well, Olivia and I started talking during that time and, ummm, well I couldn't help it."
"What the fuck do you mean Charlie?" She was already livid before knowing everything. Rightfully so.
"Well, we sorta had sex. It just sort of happened."
"Fucking how? How does it just sort of happen?!"
"Shhhh, shh, quiet we don't need everyone to know."
She didn't care. Her world had just collapsed around her unexpectedly and she wanted to be anywhere but here. Her head darted around the commons area ahead of her. A gaggle of skater boys laughed at something on their phone, a group of preppy girls was gossiping about who knows what this time, and off in the distance she made out a blonde head she recognized all too well. Olivia was standing there watching them as they talked.
Stacy aggressively marched over towards her.
"Babe, wait."
"Don't you fucking babe me asshole."
Her eyes were locked on Olivia who stood there grinning at them. A little devil in black yoga pants and a red halter top. Stacy was seething as she approached Olivia.
"Fuck you, bitch!!" She screamed at Olivia who sidestepped a shove and laughed as Stacy missed and tumbled to the floor instead.
"Yeah, I'd say that's what he did, but you already know now don't you, bitch," Olivia remarked coldly.
Stacy began sobbing and collected herself as well as she could before running off towards the double doors to the parking lot. As she approached her white sedan she fumbled with her keys and dropped them.
"I'm so fucking stupid!" She cried out to no one.
She eventually got herself in her car and the tires squealed as she drove off from the scene of her heartbreak.
She sped home as fast as she could, barely remembering the commute. Pulling into the driveway she slammed on the brakes and threw open her car door. She marched up the wooden porch steps and thrust open the front door.
"Well, someone's excited to be home," her father called out, neither aware of what happened nor the mascara running down her face. His tune quickly changed as soon as he looked at her.
"Oh my god, Stacy what's wrong? What happened?"
"It's Charlie! He fucking cheated on me!"
He was completely caught off guard and taken aback by this outburst and news.
"Language there little-"
"I don't fucking care right now, Dad," she said so pointedly it almost hurt him.
He took a moment to gather himself and tried again.
"No, you're right. I'm sorry. This is hardly the time to worry about that. Want to tell your old man what happened?"
Stacy, who had been stomping around and hitting at the walls, paused and looked at her father. A sudden wave of emotion hit her and she began to sob, while dropping to the floor.
Her dad rushed over to her to brace her. He caught her under his arms before she fully slumped to the floor.
"Come over the couch and let's talk," he suggested.
She wiped away tears and snot with her hands.
"See, we had my party last night. It was over at Owen's place because his parents were out of town. Apparently, Charlie couldn't find me, so his next best option was to have sex with Olivia."
This was so much new information at once it sent her father into a quick tailspin. A party he didn't know about, was his daughter having sex he was unaware of, was she safe about it? He didn't know where to begin and sat there silently for a bit.
"Well?!" She exclaimed.
"Uh, well, yes honey. You see, um."
He was feeling out of sorts here and didn't know where to begin. He wanted to be a responsible dad, but he also knew this heartbreak all too well. It was a large part of why it was just the two of them.
"Okay, I'm not mad about the party, just tell me next time, okay?"
"I'm an adult now, dad," she quickly reminded him.
"Yes, so you are. This sounds horrible Stacy. I thought you two loved each other so much."
"Yeah, so did I," her sarcasm did not go unnoticed here.
"Were you and Charlie..."
"What, having sex?! No, we were saving ourselves. We had a promise."
"Ok honey. I'm sorry," he offered reassuringly.
"Yeah, well it is what it is, right? That's what he always said about things. God I'm so stupid to not have seen it. He's just like all the other boys. Just wants the skinny anorexic girls that put out, huh? He's such a dick!"
"I know it hurts honey, but you've done nothing wrong here, and you don't deserve this. You're right, he is a dick, and an idiot. Is there anything I can do for now?"
"No," she slumped further into the couch and crossed her arms. She lowered her head and cried.
"Want some ice cream?" He offered after a bit.
She smiled thinly.
