The Convict

The Jealous Ex

Dakota and I were in it for the long haul, spending weeks building up Dani's fake life and our fake/real relationship. We went on second and third dates as Dani and Melony. Posting cute photos together and posting about how much fun we were having. Dani is quite the socialite. She likes to comment on people's posts and just post one-sentence posts a lot or just photos of scenery with no captions.

Slowly but surely we were making it believable.

Maybe too believable.

The Jealous Ex

"Don't forget to grab the sun bag!" I call to Dakota.

"On it!"

I take my bag out to the car and shove it in the trunk and before I can close it BB pulls up.

Ugh.

I knew Lesly wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut.

I pretend not to notice and open my weather app to message Dakota.

I quickly exit the app once I hear BB get out of the car.

"Hey," she walks over to me.

"Hi..." I say cautiously, slamming the car trunk close.

"Going somewhere?" She clenches her jaw.

Oh, she's pissed.

"Something like that." I glance nervously at the open front door.

"I got the sun bag babe, forget anything else?" Dani walks outside in a ball cap and sunglasses.

"Just put it in the car," I say.

"Sup," she says in passing to BB.

BB scoffs and makes a face.

"Uh BB, meet Dani. Dani, BB."

"Wait as in your ex, BB?" Dani says as if it suddenly clicked.

"We aren't broken up we are just on a break!" BB quickly says.

"What's the difference?" Dani smirks and leans against the car.

"BB what are you doing here?" I pull her off to the side.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here!?"

"I'm taking your advice, getting out of town, taking a break from it all. What's the problem?" I ask.

"What's the problem!?"

"Babe we leaving or nah?" Dani calls.

"Uh, just wait in the car!" I call. "Come here," I grab BB's arm and pull her into the house away from Dani.

"When Lesly told me you were dating some skater chick I could hardly believe it then I go on your Facebook and see, ugh. What the fuck Melony?" she blows up at me.

"I told you we are done! What don't you understand about that!?"

"So you'd rather be with that idiot out there, seriously!?"

"I can't fucking win with you can I?" I say in disbelief.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means no matter what I do, nothing is ever good enough! First, you get mad at me for Dakota, now you are mad that I actually took your advice and moved on? What the fuck? Do you want me to go back to pining over a killer?"

"I want you to pine over me!" she shouts.

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.

"We were supposed to get married! Move into this house together! Start a family! What happened to that?" BB begs me.

"I'm done living my life the way people want me to. I don't want to settle down. I want to have fun, I want to go on random adventures. Sure Dani may not be Oxford-educated but she's funny, and she's so chill, I like her. When I told her about all that Dakota stuff and you, she didn't run for the hills like anyone else would. I'm having fun, I'm happy, isn't that what you wanted?" I ask her seriously.

She sighs and turns away from me, pondering what I just said.

I hate that I have to keep doing this. I hate that she keeps putting me in this position where I have to stomp on her feelings and her heart over and over again. I don't want to be the bitch, I don't want to push her away, but she leaves me no choice.

"Ever since I got kidnapped you and my family have done nothing but shelter me and keep me as close as possible," I say. "Which I get it. I would do the same if it were you who had gotten kidnapped. But I'm not a dumb college kid anymore. I know better now, I can protect myself. I am tired of sitting around waiting for the other shoe to drop! I want to live my life Bernida! You... you were always the safe choice, the smart choice... but if all this Dakota stuff has taught me anything it's that I don't want safe, I like a little danger in my life. I like it a lot. We are just two different people BB. I'm ready to move on, you... you should do the same." I force the words out even though they feel like knives to my back.

If I am being honest with myself, I miss BB. I miss her a lot. I miss her surprising me on her lunch breaks. I miss her staying up with me when I can't sleep. I miss her holding me when I've had a hard day. I miss how easy it was for her to get me to laugh or smile. I miss her, a miss her a lot. I don't want to keep hurting her.

She sniffles and wipes her face, clearly crying.

I reach out to comfort her but she just pushes past me and walks out of the house and leaves without another word.

I sigh as I watch her drive off.

I feed Cali and text Lesly the code to my house so that she can feed her while I'm gone.

Then I lock up and get in the car.

"Everything okay?" Dakota asks me.

"Yeah..." I grip the wheel.

She grabs my thigh in her hand and rubs my leg to comfort me.

I take a calming breath before pulling out of the driveway.

I can't think about BB anymore, I'm moving on. Dakota and I are gonna go on our honeymoon and we are going to have a great time. I'm done hiding in my house, it's time to go out and live my life.