Page 129 of His Virgin Romance Series

“You need to eat something before taking your pills,” she said gently.

“I will eat,” I promised her. “But I need to say something to you first.”

“Oh.” Rachel nodded, and I could see from her face that she knew what I was about to bring up.

I could also tell from her expression that she was nervous…or scared…or maybe even both. A part of me was nervous, too. I had never experienced this kind of emotion before and copping to it would also be exposing myself to pain somewhere down the road, assuming things didn’t have a happy ending.

I was about to speak when Rachel interrupted me. “I’m starting my courses soon,” she said, in a loud voice.

“Oh…um…that’s great,” I said, taken aback.

“Yeah.” Rachel nodded. “And also, I’m moving.”

“What?” I asked, unaware that she was moving.

I felt my heart drop and I wondered if I had brought about this change. Maybe she was leaving because she was running away from me.

“Yeah.” She nodded, as she looked down. “I need a fresh start somewhere new.”

I was so in shock that I didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t be leaving… She was my best friend. What would I do without her?

“A fresh start?” I repeated. “You don’t need a fresh start.”

“I really do.” She nodded. “If I stay, I’ll be reminded of Brent all the time and I just… I don’t think I could do that.”

“Fuck him,” I said vehemently. “Don’t let him run you out of town; don’t let him win. He messed up his life, don’t give him the power to mess up yours.”

“Whoa… Wait,” Rachel said. “He’s not running me out of town.”

“What?”

“When I meant I was moving, I just meant that I was moving apartments,” she explained. “I didn’t want to continue living in Brent’s old place.”

“Oh,” I said, finally understanding. “Thank God.”

“Thank God?” she repeated, with raised eyebrows.

“Uh, yeah…”

“Does that mean you would miss me if I left town?”

“I think you know the answer to that,” I said.

She smiled. “That’s good to know.”

“So just to be clear, you’re not moving from Jaredly, are you?” I asked.

“No,” Rachel confirmed, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “No, I’m not moving out of Jaredly. I’m just going to be moving into an apartment ten minutes away from Brent’s place. I’ll have a new roommate, but the rent is affordable, and the apartment is small, but decent. I can manage there for a few years until I save enough to be able to afford something on my own.”

I nodded silently.

“Like I said, I’m taking some courses, and I’ve resolved to finish my degree in some way. That way I can climb up the ranks and can get to a managerial position someday. It’s a long way off, but it’s a start.”

“Right…”

“And, I don’t know…you hear stories every day. People from bad neighborhoods who rise above their circumstances, work hard, keep their heads down, and they achieve great things. Maybe one day I may even start a company of my own. I mean, I don’t even know if I can run a company on my own, but I figure, the world is my oyster, right? I’ll give it my best shot, and if it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out. At least I tried… At least I—”

I stared at Rachel as she rambled on. I tried to interrupt her a couple of times, but she just kept talking over me as though she were scared to let me speak. In the end, I decided to let her talk and see how long she could keep this up.

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