Come Back to Me Novel – Several photos of my boyfriend Gavin having fun with three hookers revealed his brutal betrayal. As I walked into the school, I felt weird, as if everyone spoke in a whisper as soon as I’d gotten close. An ominous feeling came over me, I looked around and saw my locker was papered with copies of the same photograph. The moment I saw it clearly, my blood ran cold. In the photo, my boyfriend Gavin was undressed, and three hot hookers were surrounding him, one was smooching him, one was sucking his shaft, and one was stroking him. Tears dropped to the floor and shattered into pieces, just like my heart. I turned and ran, never looking back.
Ten Years Ago The worst day of my life started out on such a high note. I couldn’t stop grinning as I waited for my boyfriend to pick me up for school. I was on top of the world, and with good reason. A new world was right around the corner. High school graduation, freedom, and moving to the city. Best of all, I’d be with the love of my life. Little did I know, he was about to break my heart. “Looking good, babe!” Gavin shouted through the open window of his truck. He pulled his old Ford Bronco to the curb in front of my house, just as he did every morning. His blue eyes locked on mine, and my heart did a flip. I waved goodbye to my mom, who watched from the doorway. “What are you all dressed up for?” he asked as I hopped in the passenger side.
Our friends Anna and Ryan were in the backseats. As always, the seat next to Gavin was reserved for me. I shrugged. “It’s our last week of high school. I guess I’m just excited.” I was wearing the dress he’d given me for my eighteenth birthday. It was a peach floral print that reached to my mid-calf. It was just my style, even if it was fancier than what I usually wore to school. I leaned toward Gavin and gave him a quick smooch. “Good morning!” I said brightly. Gavin smiled. “Good morning yourself, gorgeous. Got another of those for me?” “For you, baby? I happen to have an unlimited supply,” I said.
Ryan made a gagging sound from the backseat. I ignored it. Leaning toward Gavin, I smooched him longer this time. I told him. “Soon, we’ll be off to college together, and we’ll be able to put this whole place behind us and start our actual lives.” “right,” he said, giving me a smile. “Can’t wait.” God, he was so handsome and loving and amazing. Sometimes I had a hard time believing that he was my boyfriend. How could I have been so lucky to find someone like Gavin? He’d never done anything to shake my faith in our relationship over the course of three years. I’d found the perfect guy. The previous month, when I had given him my chastity, he had been so gentle, so tender, so concerned with making sure I was really ready.
It had been a little fumbling and awkward like most first times probably were, but it had still been amazing because it was with him. And we had so much more of that ahead of us! I leaned close, whispering in his ear playfully, “Soon, we won’t have to sneak around after my mom goes to sleep. We can just go to each other’s dorm rooms to have intercourse, like normal people.” He grinned from ear to ear. “I’ll have to come up with some way to let my roommate know when you’re there so he doesn’t walk in on us.” “There’s the old hang a sock on the doorknob trick,” Anna suggested helpfully. “Yeah,” Ryan snickered, “or the old hang up a sign that says We’re Boning In Here, Come Back In Two Minutes trick.” “You’re such a prick.” Gavin laughed. I loved his smile. I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life doing everything I could to make sure he did it as often as possible.
First Roanoke University, I thought happily, and then the world! He pulled into the parking lot of North Haven High, and I jumped out of the truck. “I’ve got to run on ahead. I did this extra credit assignment for Ms. Maxwell, and I have to get it in to her before the bell.” “Cool, I’ll catch up with you later!” Gavin called after me. “See you soon,” I said as I hurried off. As I bounded up the front steps of the school, I started to feel weird, like everyone spoke in a whisper as soon as I’d gotten close. I looked around. Everyone was staring at me. Some of them appeared to be horrified, a few of them were trying to stifle laughter, but all of their eyes were on me.
They all knew something I didn’t. Dread filled my chest. I didn’t know what was waiting for me on the other side of that door, but something inside me was too afraid to take another step. It wanted me to turn and run away as fast as I could, to make up any excuse—that I was suddenly sick or that I had a family emergency. Anything to get away from that awful sea of eyes blinking at me. Instead, I summoned all my courage, put my hand on the metal bar of the door, and pulled it open. The walls and lockers were all heavily papered with copies of the same black and white photograph. Several faculty members were yanking them down by the fistful as quickly as possible, while the students just stared at them. And at me. “Jolie!” Ms. Maxwell hurried down the hall toward me, dropping an armload of the photos into a nearby trash can.
She had a worried expression on her face. “Jolie, no, don’t come in yet! Wait outside, please! Everything’s all right, but just wait.” I looked at the photo on those pages. The picture was so surreal to me, so unbelievable, that it took my mind a few seconds to process it. When I finally did—when I understood what I was looking at—I felt my entire world shatter, like a crystal ornament dropped on the floor. Then, I did turn and run. As fast as my legs could carry me. In some ways, I wasn’t sure I ever stopped. Present “Come on,” I muttered, patting the steering wheel of my old Toyota encouragingly. “Just a few more miles to go. Don’t you dare give up on me yet, okay? You’ve got this. I believe in you.” As my battered sedan made its way through the mountains, something under the dashboard began to rattle loudly. I had stopped trying to pinpoint the sources of the various clanks and thumps that plagued my car every other day. Instead, I begged it to keep it running.
That usually seemed to do the trick. The rattling stopped, as though the car was reassured by my tone. The sheer gray sides of the Blue Ridge mountains seem to part like curtains as I turned a sharp corner. There it was, after all those years. North Haven. Coming back made me feel uneasy. It would have been ridiculous to hope that somehow, I wouldn’t run into anyone from my high school days. In a town that small, it was inevitable. I took a deep breath, trying to prepare for it. You can handle that when it happens. As long as it was anyone but Gavin. I pulled into the driveway and found my mother waiting for me on the porch. She stood up, waving, and I shut off the engine and got out. But then, she’s been through so much since then, I reminded myself. I hugged her. “How are you?” “I’ve been better,” she answered.
“Come on in. I’ll fix you some lunch.” “Hey, why don’t you rest and let me handle that, okay?” She must have heard the concern in my voice because she raised her eyebrows. “Jolie, I’m very happy to see you, and I’ll gladly take any moral support you feel like giving me. But you are not going to start treating me like an invalid, understand?” “All right, Mom,” I gave in with a smile. I followed her inside and plopped into a chair at the kitchen table. She slid a plate in front of me, along with a bottle of Cheerwine, my favorite soda since I was a kid. “Have they scheduled the mastectomy yet?” “They’re supposed to let me know soon,” she said. “And after that? Chemo? Radiation?” “I honestly don’t know yet, honey.”
She sounded exhausted. I put my hand over hers. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. While I’m here, I’m going to get a job to try to help out with the expenses.” I’d work whatever job I could find in town to ease her financial burden. I’d drive her to doctor’s appointments and keep her well fed and the house spotless. I’d minimize her stress and worries. I’d be Super Daughter, if that’s what it took to get her well. Even when that meant coming back to my old hometown and having to face everyone who hurt me. One thing I did know: Gavin still lived here. It wasn’t a secret. Cole Enterprises was now his baby. And the town of North Haven was all a part of it. Coming back to my hometown meant I was back on his turf. And that’s why I was going to hide out as much as I could. The last thing I needed was to see Gavin Cole ever again.