Resisting the Grump Novel – Raelyn Age 18 The day had been eatenup by the endless ceremonial tasks of graduation, leaving me with crumbs of twilight and little time to prepare for what might actually be the most pivotal moment of my life. Did people really have to practice how to walk across a stage and where to sit? It was still alphabetical, like always, and these had been the same people we’d been with since grade school. But all the meetings, rehearsals, picnics, and breakfasts for graduating seniors were worth it, because it all led me to this moment. I put the finishing touches on my lashes and shoved the mascara into my small makeup bag. “Nora!” My best friend popped her head into my doorway, frizzy curls framing her heart-shaped face. “You rang?” “I need an outfit assessment.”
Scrunching her dark brows together, she stood tall, filling my doorway. “Your makeup is perfect. Hair…” She put both thumbs up. “I love that you straightened it.” Frowning at her, I slid my hands down my chocolate tresses. “Does it normally look bad, when it’s curly?” “No, of course not,” she said easily, her eyes still moving along my low-cut mustard tank and dark leggings. “I think you’re ready.” I felt ready. Deep down in my bones, I knew I was. Nora crowded my bed as I sat down to pull on my sandals. “Let’s see the letter again.” Excitement thrummed in me from head to toe as I pulled open my bedside drawer and handed her the carefully folded piece of white paper. “Rae, meet me at the library Friday, nine p.m. I have something I need to tell you. Davis.” Hearing Nora read it out loud made me flash back to the moment two days ago when Carl, my father’s best friend, handed it to me at my graduation party. It was better than any gift I could have received.
“I still can’t believe he knows who you are—like actually knows who you are—after all these years of you crushing on him and secretly—” I put my hand up to stop her. “We don’t need to go into what all I did; I think we’re both on the line for what was done in the name of getting his attention.” Her eyes sparkled as she gripped the letter. “Yeah, but it actually worked! The love of your life knows you exist and now he wants to meet you!” We squealed in tandem, and my heart soared. “I just knew it was the fact that I was in high school that had held him back all these years. I just knew it.” I sighed, shaking my head while staring at the small spot on my carpet from a permanent marker that leaked through a poster board. I was fairly certain it was from that time I tried to reserve Davis a parking spot in front of the diner. That particular incident hadn’t gone over well. “Okay, so it’s almost time… Are you driving there?” Nora adjusted her legs until she was facing me.
I mimicked her pose, nodding. “I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m ready.” My best friend smiled at me, gripping my hand. “I know you are—you’ve been waiting for this for so long. I’m so excited for you.” We hugged and then she helped me finish getting ready. Little flyaways were sprayed, perfume was spritzed, and necklaces were traded in and out until I found the right one. Then it was time. It was inventory night, so my parents were at the diner working, as was Carl, who was their shift manager. I assumed he’d read the note, seeing as it was from the crush he told me I shouldn’t have. So he likely knew where I was headed tonight, but just like all the other Davis-related conversations he’d had with me over the past three years, I knew he’d keep it a secret. “Call me as soon as you’re on your way back home.” Nora walked with me to my car. “I will,” I vowed, pulling open my door. “If he goes too fast, remember that move I showed you.”
She thrust her wrist out, indicating the one we’d practiced. Assuring her I would, I secured my seatbelt and started toward the library, hoping my heart would relax before it burst through my tight chest. I couldn’t exactly tell you when I started loving Davis Brenton. In my head, all the moments were made up of little fragments of time, smiles, and laughter. Things that wouldn’t have mattered to a regular person. To me, they were everything. Hewas everything. The town thought he was a grumpy recluse—a nobody who lived up on Mount Macon, only coming down a few times a month to gather supplies or get gas—but in my eyes he was a forgotten king, hiding away in his fortress. Deep down, there was rusted armor that just needed someone to help him unearth, so he could be brave again. I recognized the sadness, the heaviness that he carried, which he likely assumed no one saw. But I did. I heard his silent words, and they were loud enough to drown out everything else. Through the years, I’d watch him, and I’d fall a little further. A little harder.
I had always hoped he’d see me and fall, too, and while I had made several attempts, I was beginning to give up hope. And then Carl handed me that letter. The drive to the library went by in a blink, and before I knew it, I was pulling into the empty lot. No lights were on, but Davis had planned for us to meet here, so I assumed the front door would be unlocked. Swallowing the thick lump of panic and anticipation rising in my throat, I exited my car and walked toward the entrance. My palms were sweaty as I tugged on the brass handle, but it eased open on silent hinges, just like always, which proved that the note was real. Davis really had asked to meet me here tonight. A new wave of excitement hit me in the chest, making my breath hitch in my lungs. I couldn’t see much, given most of the lights were off, but making my way near the center of the building, I could see back by the illuminated study tables. The silence in the space was nearly overwhelming, but it added to the gravitas of the moment.
I walked up the small ramp leading to the young adult section and bypassed the lounge chairs and computer stations. My pace quickened as I moved along, my heart hammering with every step. I had tried to interact with Davis multiple times over the years, but he’d never really looked at me. He looked through me, over me, or past me, but never directly at me. He never once said my name, and honestly, I didn’t even think he knew who I was until that letter appeared, so that note felt like winning the lottery. Would he hold my hand? Touch my hair, maybe kis me tonight? I smiled, watching the familiar, worn carpet at my feet. That’s when I heard it. The giggle. I paused, frozen for a second, because the lilt of laughter sounded feminine…but that couldn’t be right.
I powered on, cautiously. Peering through the stacks, trying to catch a visual of Davis, I tiptoed around a study carrel, and that giggle erupted again. I held my breath as I curved the last row of books and edged close to the open study area, staying in the shadows as much as possible. There in the back was Davis, hovered over a woman lying flat on her back on one of the battered wooden study tables, her hair splayed out behind her. I couldn’t really process what I was seeing, my brain whirling into overdrive to make sense of it all. That was until his lips landed against hers in a hungry way, a way that I had dreamed about a thousand times. His navy blue eyes were closed as he devoured her mouth, making a groaning sound deep in his chest that nearly sent me to my knees. I watched, hand pressed over my mouth to hold back a sob, as he pushed up her shirt and peeled down her bra.
My eyes filled with tears when he sucked on herbreast, slowly moving down her frame until she was underneath him. My cheeks were flaming, but my hands were cold as ice, in disbelief that he would tell me to meet him here, knowing he’d be with someone else. I was still firmly in denial that this was real until his hands moved to his own pants, lowering them enough to show a flash of skin, and then the woman on the table was crying out as he plunged forward. I was still a virgin, but my brain was putting the pieces into place, and it all coalesced as Davis and this woman started moving in unison, his head dipped against hers while her hips rocked forward, her sultry cries hitting me in the chest like a sledgehammer. He was screwing her in front of me. He’d asked me here, to witness this—to see him give another woman the one thing I had so desperately wanted. There was something shifting inside of me, slowly breaking and shriveling.
Shock. Hurt. I had loved him for so long, and I had believed in him…his existence made mine make sense. It wasn’t until Davis looked up and locked eyes with me that my instincts kicked in. It was fight or flight. I heard a low curse, and the woman asking something, as though confused. What he did after that, I had no idea. Because I ran from the bonfire of my hopes and dreams like a rabbit flushed out by a predator. Once safely inside my car, I pulled out of the lot at a reckless speed, careening around the corner and heading for the edge of town. I had to get out; I had to get away. I had been in love with Davis for as long as I could remember, and the fact that he’d invited me there, only to destroy me… It left me shattered beyond repair. For the first time in my life, I had no idea what the future held for me, but I knew with chilling certainty that Davis Brenton would never be a part of it.