Page 29 of The Confidant
“Oh, that’s rough,” I said when I finished reading the email.
“I know.” Scarlett nodded and set her phone down on the table. “And that teacher sounds like a jerk.”
“She probably has no idea what’s going on,” I said, trying to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt. “But I get where this guy is coming from. It’s hard to keep up with everything when it feels like your life is falling apart or you’re going through huge life trauma or grief.”
“So what do you think Eliza should tell him to do?” Scarlett looked at me with wide eyes, like she expected I’d have a good answer.
I pursed my lips and thought for a moment. “I’d probably start off by telling him to be gentle with himself and keep doing his best. And also suggest that he try talking to the teacher again and explain what has been going on. Maybe also talk to a trusted friend or therapist, if possible, since it helps to be able to talk things out sometimes.”
“That’s really good advice,” Scarlett said, looking thoughtful. “I was so young when my parents divorced that I didn’t have that understanding, but I think what you said is perfect.”
“Thanks.” Warmth radiated in my chest at her compliment.
I’d had pretty good feedback on my previous advice from the readers ofThe Confidant, but this praise felt a little different—better—since it was coming from someone I cared about.
She picked up her phone again like she was going to draft the response now. “Did you read that advice somewhere?” she asked as she typed into her phone.
“No.”
I lived it.
Trauma and grief could come from many sources, but the way our body and mind react to various types of trauma is similar. And even though my trauma came from a different source—my previous religion instead of a divorce—I’d gone through, and was still going through, the grief cycle. My grades from the first semester would definitely signal that something had been going on with me during that time.
I finished my chicken as Scarlett typed a few notes into her phone. When she was done, she pushed it over to me and said, “Think that sounds okay?”
I set my water bottle down and took her phone to see what she’d written, but just as I started reading it, a text notification popped on the top of the screen from someone I hadn’t expected her to be texting: Xander Pierce.
Her date for next week.
As my eyes scanned over the text, my heart plummeted in my chest.
Because, what the heck?
9
SCARLETT
“Um,what exactly is Xander asking to see?” Hunter asked after I took a big bite of my salad, his voice full of concern.
“Huh?” I looked up from my food, confused at what he was talking about.
He handed my phone back to me. When I looked at the screen, I saw that I’d just received a text from Xander.
Xander:I think I need a video of you showing me that.
I read the text again, my stomach jumping to my throat because it took me a moment to remember the context of our conversation from earlier.
A context that Hunter didn’t have, which was why he was currently looking at me like I had a double life going on inside my phone.
This looked so bad.
“It’s not what it looks like, I promise,” I hurried to say before he could think Xander was asking me to send an inappropriate video or something. “We were just texting earlier about something funny that happened during my dad’s sermon. When I told him I had perfected my impersonation of that expression my dad gets when he’s upset but trying to keep it together in front of the congregation, Xander said he didn’t believe that my face could look like that.”
I thought he might have been trying to flirt since his actual words had been, “You’re way too pretty to look anything like that,” but telling Hunter that part would only make things worse right now.
“So he just wants to see your face?” Hunter narrowed his green eyes, like he didn’t believe me.
“Yeah…” I cleared my throat. “Of course.” I opened up my messaging app so he could see my whole text thread with Xander if he wanted.
