Page 88 of Space Oddities

The girl nodded, too shocked that the popular boy was talking to her to speak.

“Could you help me with my paper? You seem to be the star student here.” He winked.

The girl had never been winked at before.

Before she knew it, they were meeting after class in the quad. It was like every college romance she had ever read. And by that time, she had read a lot. Even tried penning a few herself.

The more time they spent together that summer, the more the girl lost herself in love. She’d never held hands with a boy before. Never had a boyfriend before. Never made love before.

So many nevers became firsts that summer.

The girl thought she was lucky that the boy never asked to come to her house, never asked where she worked. She could keep the shame of her double wide and pole dancing to herself. Keep the cliché hidden.

It wasn’t that she hated her job. As far as strip clubs went it was a decent place. She danced in a bikini and men threw money on the stage. She liked to dance, and she needed money. It seemed the perfect job.

But she knew. She knew it wasn’t a normal job. It wasn’t something you admitted to people. So she didn’t.

They went on dates to places she normally couldn’t afford to go. He introduced her to his friends who were home for the summer. She caught others giving her envious glances as the boy and she passed by, hand in hand.

When the boy told her his mother passed away years earlier, she told him the same, though she knew being left and dying were two different things. It was still something that they had in common, no mother.

The boy said his father was an important man, rarely ever home. She told him her father was rarely home as well, even though she knewrarelyandneverwere two different things.

And then one day the boy introduced her to his father.

The boy’s father smiled at the girl. He hugged her. He invited her for dinner.

But something about him made her nervous.

She ignored it. She was too busy living her happily ever after to worry.

Until she came to dinner and found the boy solemn and angry.

“You’re a stripper?” His expression was one she’d never seen before.

“I…”

“A stripper who lives in a trailer park.” He laughed and the sound broke the girl’s heart. “What other secrets are you hiding?”

“Nothing!”

“I can’t believe you strip. I mean, how many men have seen you naked? How many men have you given private lap dances to? How many men have you fucked, while trying to make me believe you were a virgin?”

His words stabbed at her, spearing her pride, piercing her self-worth. “It’s just a job. The best paying job I could find where I could still go to school. And I’m never fully naked.”

The boy snorted, as if that small distinction mattered. “I can’t believe I actually thought of marrying you. Thank God my father told me before I asked.” He shook his head in disgust.

“I love you.” She grabbed his hand. The hand that had once held her tightly against him at night. The hand that had played with her hair as he told her he loved her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I’msosorry. I was just embarrassed.” Her words were stuttered, broken by sobs. “I was so worried you’d be ashamed. That you wouldn’t want me.”

Slowly, as her tears continued to fall, the boy reached out with his other hand as if to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Her heart beat with hope, hope that he’d forgive her. That he’d still love her. But before he could touch her, the boy’s father came downstairs.

“It’s gone. Your mother’s ring is gone.”

Confusion over the interruption eased her sobs and the girl concentrated on calming her breath. When she recovered, she noticed both men staring at her.

The boy reached out his hand, palm up. “Give it back, Patty.”

“Give what back?” She looked between the two men, one sad, the other angry.

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