Beginnings and Endings [complete]

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

I'm no playboy.

The words echoed through my head, turned me heels over head, hit me square in the gut and bitchslapped me across the face twice.

I was so shocked for a moment I just sat there silently staring at him. He stared back, our eyes locked. Feeling something stirring in me, I turned away and breathed deeply. "Oh..." was all I managed.

He nodded. "Yeah," he said softly. "I swear, it's the truth."

"No, no, I believe you, it's just..." I was still speechless. Shaking for an unknown reason, I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "But how...how could everyone be saying you are...I don't understand..."

"Long story..." he said, chuckling dryly like he'd just told the funniest lame joke. "You okay?"

Taking a deep breath, I crossed my legs again and nodded in his direction.

He seemed to take a huge breath that paralleled mine, and nodded. "My first love was this girl in church, the one you saw on my phone, Avril. I fell, hard, and I thought she did too, so we got together at a church camp. But she played me," he admitted quietly. "After about one and a half months I found out she was cheating on me. When she realized her secret was blown, she broke it off with me - no apology, no remorse, no nothing." He sighed and looked at me. "You know what that feels like, don't you."

I nodded, and urged him to continue.

"One year later," he continued, "she came back asking for a second chance. And the whole thing was repeated. This was when I got that reputation. I was close to a lot of girls, they just wanted my help and listening ear or shit like that, only a few flirted. Your bitch class teacher, Johnson? She's the one who started it." Some anger crept into his voice. "I hate her. My advice? Don't trust her - ever. She may seem motherly on the outside but she'll break you the minute you let her in."

This shocked me too. Never had I imagined that Johnson would be like that.

He saw my shocked expression and nodded seriously. "So after Avril, Carrie came in. She liked me, I didn't. But she wouldn't stop asking for a chance, you see. And when we got close, I developed some feelings - majority of it pity, by the way - and we got together at this year's Monitors' Camp. I guess you could say I have a thing for camps."

I pictured Dominic holding hands with Carrie. Ugh.

He grinned at my expression. "We broke up because she was getting so much shit for being with me, a playboy," he said in disgust. "When I told her, she kept a poker face, but when she ran up to the top floor, I heard a scream two seconds later. Guess what her answer was when I asked her about it."

"Oh, no, I'm just upset the boy I gave me heart to broke it carelessly?" I tried - I could imagine her saying that sarcastically with that bitch face she does so fantastically well.

He barked a short laugh. "No, though I can picture that," he said grinning. "Nah, she said she saw a cockroach."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, yeah, I see a cockroach in the girls' bathroom two seconds after I'm officially single again. Sure..."

His white teeth caught the light off the projector as he grinned widely. "You're sarcasm is almost as good as mine," he commented, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Pfft, try me," I said, enunciating every word.

He laughed again, and I liked the sound of it. I grinned in return and opened my mouth to say something when he continued. "You know, even after we broke up, she tried staking her claim on me. You saw how she was in the audi the other day. That was just the start. At Monitors' meetings, she'd book her place next to me and when she thought no one was looking, hold my hand."