Page 73 of To Love or to Lose
“It was stupid,” I sigh. “I threw a snowball at him, and then he threw one back at me, but it wasn’t really a snowball as much as it was ice. It hit me in the face. That’s it.”
Logan and Winnie visibly struggle to hold in their laughter at the image of Jameson and I getting into a snowball fight while I hold the bag of ice to my throbbing face.
At first, it didn’t hurt much because of how cold the snow was and the amount of adrenaline pumping through my body. Now that my face is heating from embarrassment, and the reality of the situation has set in, I’m feeling the extent of my injury.
Logan notices. “Gen, sit down.” He rests a hand on my shoulder, leading me toward the bed.
I shake my head. “No, I don’t want to get blood on the sheets.”
Winnie walks into the bathroom, returning with a black towel. “Here.” She hands it to Logan and he places it over my pillow.
I lay back, making sure my bleeding nose is in line with the portion of the pillow covered with the towel.
“Don’t lay on your back if your nose is bleeding,” Logan demands, grabbing my shoulder and rolling me on my side.
“When you go back to your hotel room, tell Jameson I’m going to sock him in the face to make us even.” I sigh, my eyes shutting without my permission as I sink further into the sheets.
“Will do.” He laughs as I feel Winnie get into the bed next to me. “And Gen?” He asks, backing away from the bed.
“Yeah?” I ask, not entirely coherent.
“If you asked Jameson to be here, to take care of you in place of me, he would. There is no doubt in my mind he would do anything for you.” His sincerity shocks me. “I thought you should know.”
With that, Logan makes his way out of the hotel room, telling us he’ll see us tomorrow.
Once he’s gone, I feel Winnie roll over to say something. “This has to be the oddest chain of events to occur on a school field trip.”
We both laugh because she’s right. Tonight has been one of the strangest nights of my life, but I can’t try not to dwell on it too much.
The bizarre moments make life more interesting anyway.
Chapter Twenty
143 days until graduation
Walking around Columbia’s campus in early January is not one of the most sparkling moments of my American residency. Partially because it’s freezing cold, but also because I can’t stop my brain from constantly wandering to the events of last night.
Genevieve being on the balcony next to mine was not something I anticipated, but I also didn’t expect her to hurl snowballs at me.
The impulses I felt to treat Genevieve like an equal were too strong to ignore in that moment, making it impossible for me not to throw a snowball back at her—which turned out to be a terrible idea.
In truth, it was only supposed to be one, and even though there was a second one, it wasnevermeant to be one made of ice.
My intentions were not, even for a moment, to inflict pain on Genevieve Alderidge.
I’ve felt terrible about the incident from the moment I walked back into my hotel room. My feelings only grew worse when Logan came back and described how hurt Genevieve actually was.
Genevieve and I were both hurting and needed someone to take it out on. Her internal battle within herself was obvious, and I feel like a dick for capitalizing off that and antagonizing her to her breaking point.
It’s over now though, and there’s nothing more I can do.
“Oh, my gosh,” Genevieve sighs as we enter the main library on campus. Of course, she’s whispering, it’s proper library etiquette. “This is absolutely gorgeous.”
I barely glanced at her this morning, because the one time I did, I caught a glimpse of the black eye marking her face. It makes me feel terrible seeing the damage I caused, especially when I know she’s probably somewhat covered with makeup, and underneath, the bruise is worse.
“Did you not get to come in here when you toured over the summer?” Winnifred asks her.
“No, it was closed for a lecture.” Genevieve’s response sounds distant as she’s more focused on gawking at the library.
