CHAPTER THREE

It had been three weeks since Angela had last seen Matt. It had been three weeks since she had seen much of anyone, as a matter of fact, except for her co-workers, and Derrick, of course, who still hounded her on a regular basis. She wished she could just move away. She wished she and Derrick didn’t have a lot of the same acquaintances so that she wouldn’t be forced to be in his presence in public. She spent a lot of time indoors when she was not at work, exercising, spending time online talking with random boys that wanted to chat with her on a regular basis.

Angela spent a lot of time going to shows, as well. Derrick was “dating” a new girl now, Miranda, who was a year older than she was, and quite sophisticated looking. She would see the two of them together and it would make her wonder what Miranda saw in him. She looked and carried herself as though she were quite intelligent. She pitied her, and almost wanted to take her aside and give her a warning about what kind of person Derrick really is. After all, when she had first met Derrick, he had been one of the nicest boys she had ever met. It was only after a few months that he had turned into the complete jerk that he was.

She had also seen Derrick with Christie, so she knew that he and Miranda were not exclusive. This did not surprise her, as she knew that he was completely incapable of making a commitment to anything or anyone, except for himself.

She spent a little time talking with her longtime friend, Seth, who always had a lot of insight into her relationship with Derrick. It was nice to have a male friend that she could talk to who didn’t have a biased opinion, as she and Seth had been friends for several years and he had never once made any indication of interest in her, even though at times she had dropped a few hints at wanting to date him. She was also glad to have him to talk to, because he knew Derrick and knew that he was unhealthy for her. He had counseled her through their first break up, and then when they got back together, he counseled her through all the times that she felt like she was being mistreated. Just as Matt had, he had ultimately helped her to make the decision to walk away.

She didn’t feel what she felt for Seth anymore, though, it had just been a passing feeling. She still felt as though she could never open herself up to loving anyone. She didn’t have the desire to, either, as she was still picking up the pieces, and learning to love herself. If anything, she would have to be able to do that before she could love someone else.

She also called her best friend, Laura, who lived in south central Florida. She and Laura had been friends for six years, and, despite the distance, they still managed to keep in touch with each other and coach each other through the hard times in their life. Laura had just given up on a long-distance relationship with a boy named Keith, with whom she lived with in Georgia for a short time. She was now back in Florida and they were both single at the same time. They had been through so much together, she was more than happy to hear her opinion, and the constant repetition of “You’re better off alone, and you know it! I’m so proud of you!” Laura had hated Derrick, even though she had never met him.

Coupled with her support group and her own newly found strength, she was feeling a whole lot better about everything. She had been shaky on whether or not she had made the right decision before, but now she was certain that she had done the right thing.

Her other best friend, Alex, had come home from University of Florida for spring break. She was excited that he was back and wanted to get together to hang out. He had been like a brother to her for seven years, and they had made an attempt at a relationship when she and Derrick had broken up the first time, three months before. It failed, miserably, but they had vowed to remain friends, and they had been successful, up until this point.

One afternoon, the first week in March, she and Alex made plans to go out to dinner and watch a movie together. She was ecstatic, as she hadn’t seen him in a long time, and of course, missed him, and wanted the company of someone close to her to help pull her out of this deep pit of loneliness that she was in. She did stress to Alex that it was to be a friends-only type of get together, and he promised that he would be on his best behavior.

She drove to pick up Alex at his house, and they went to a sub shop to sit and talk. They drove around for a good long time before finally deciding to go back to his parent’s house to watch a movie. Alex had been a perfect gentleman up until this point, and so she was unconcerned that there might be some lingering feelings remaining. But, as the night progressed, Alex began to make advances on her.

“I promise we can just go hide for a little while, and I promise it’ll be quiet…no one will hear…” He pleaded with her, trying to get her alone in his room. He pulled her tight in his ultra-strong grip, and she winced and struggled.

“I already explained this to you once, Alex, and I’m not going to say it again.” She responded.

He continued to beg and plead with her until finally, she inched her way toward the front door. He tried to hold on to her, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She said goodbye to him, promised to call him later on in the week, ran off to her car, and drove home.

She never called Alex again. He never called her.

Angela was now thoroughly filled with angst toward men. If her own trusted best friend could turn into a complete lunatic on her, then who could she trust? She relinquished herself to being devoted to school and work, and she had just found a new job that started in two weeks. She was thrilled about the new job, and she was so devoted to school that her grades reflected it. She was looking forward to a graduation in two months. Life was really starting to look up, and she was glad to be experiencing it on her own, being single.

That’s when it happened. Just when she was glad to be alone, finally comfortable with her life, finally starting to respect herself again, just when she was ready to get on with her life and was truly starting to feel happiness again…just when she was truly feeling glad to be single, and when she had just made the decision that she didn’t want to be tied down to anyone or to get close to anyone again…just when she was experiencing the mix of emotions that in some ways complicated and in some ways simplified her life, that’s when it happened.