Brenda wanted a normal school year. Instead her mom died.
Salma needed space from her sister and terrible ex. Or else she'd lose her mind.
Delilah didn't think she'd have any more problems after moving far from her hometown. That was until she becam...
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❝Every woman that finally figured out her worth, Has picked up her suitcases of pride and boarded a flight to freedom, Which landed in the valley of change.❞
-Shannon L. Alder
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✋SALMA✋
One text message, two emojis, and three swift strokes against the keyboard on his screen.
That was all it took for my boyfriend to break up with me.
"i want to breakup 😕💔"
He didn't bother even capitalize the first letter of his statement. That ticked me off more than the lame emojis attached to his half-assed attempt to break things off with me. Laziness was riddled in his message, making me question if he cared about us at all.
After six months, this was how he wanted things to end? I couldn't stop my hands from shaking as I reread the message a thousandtimes, ignoring the sound of my professor in the foreground. I practically sprint out of the room when class was dismissed.
There is no way he can be serious. This is so out of the blue, my thoughts assured me as I unlocked the bedroom door. Little did I know that the world would crumble underneath my feet once I saw what was going on. The second I walked into the dorm, the moving mountains under my bed sheets startled me to death.
On previous occasions, I had walked in on Helen—my roommate—with someone before in the past, but I'd never interrupted her having sex before. Only a make out session.
Not bringing guys over to our dorm to have sex was one of our ground rules. Also, it was the dormitory's rules. If a guy was in your dorm, you had to leave the door open – for obvious reasons.
Too mortified to speak, I began to remove myself from the room and let them have some alone time. I planned on yelling at her for having sex in my bed later. This was really awkward already.
Right when I had one foot over the threshold, the name that came out of her mouth caused me to backpedal.
"Ohmigod, Ryan." Helen whimpered.
Ryan, I mouthed, shell-shocked and dumbfounded. My Ryan?
No.
....No.
There was no way.
"Ryan?" I croaked, holding back my braids to the side.
The moving mountains froze at the sound of my voice. A pair of hands pushed back the blanket they were hidden under and revealed exactly what I had feared.
Ryan flickered his gaze up at me with bright crimson cheeks. He wiped his hand across the beads of sweat on his forehead and rushed to grab his jeans from off the carpeted floor, quickly trying to compose himself. I wasn't too sure if he was blushing out of embarrassment or because he was screwing my roommate only seconds ago.
"I...I can't believe you. You're pathetic." I breathed, walking backwards out of the room. I twirled on the balls of my feet and dashed down the hallway, making sure my head was facing the ground when I walked.
Tears ran down side of my face, falling faster than I could stop them. I practically sprinted out of there. Last thing I needed was for some sympathetic student to stop me and ask me if I was okay. I hated that more. I didn't want anyone to stop me or touch me. I was done with everything.
"Salma!" Ryan shouted, catching up to me from behind. His hands trembled as they went to button up his shirt. I hated how my eyes lingered on his flex abdomen, looming my gaze on hissmooth brown skin. "Wait."
"No. I'm not waiting for you."
"Please." He grabbed my elbow. "Give me a minute."
Turning around to face him, I stopped dead in my tracks. I didn't hesitate when my hands went up to his chest, pushing him away from me, but he didn't budge.
"Hit me. I deserve it. Get your anger out."
I laughed. "You are not worth it. Get the fuck off of me." I hooted an airy laugh. Still dissatisfied with his hold on me, I began to open up. "I can't believe you, Ryan. We just celebrated our six month mark, and you want to throw that all away for what? Some quickie with my roommate?"
He shook his head, grabbing the back of his neck with his free hand and massaging it. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have seen that. That was wrong of us."
"You did it in my bed! In. My. Bed." I yelled. "Is that some kind of sick fantasy or were you only trying to piss me off even more, proving that I was so clueless to it all?"
He sighed. "It was her idea."
"You two are disgusting." I huffed. "How long has this been going on?"
"Just this morning."
"I don't believe you. Not even for a second." I barked and yanked my arm away from his grasp, finally being released. "Did you honestly thing one text message was going to cover your ass? Tell me the truth. How long have you been seeing each other?"
He paused. I watched him shift his gaze to the sky, squeezing his eyes shut as a sigh made up for the pause in our conversation. "About a month."
"A month?!" my heart sank.
My mind thought back to what I was doing a month ago. What we were doing a month ago. Like a ton of bricks, it hit me. A month ago was after we had our big fight.
It was his birthday and he wanted to take our relationship 'to the next level' –his words, not mine. I had told him that I needed more time before I got intimate with him. He, on the other hand, wanted to consummate our relationship, then and there. Ryan had gone all out, getting us a room at a five-star hotel and taking me to one of the best restaurants in Dallas. I should've known that was what he wanted as his present when he was the one showering me on his birthday.
I didn't cave to his advance. Each attempt he made, I shot it down, telling him that I wasn't ready to do that for the first time. My virginity was something he had found admirable when we started dating, but now I could tell it annoyed him.
"This is about sex." I stated bluntly. "You cheated on me because of something so simple as sex. I told you I wasn't ready. You couldn't just wait?"
Ryan rolled his eyes. "Wait how long? A whole year? Two?"
"I deserve to have as much time as I want. It's my right to say no," I proclaimed. "A year isn't even that long of a wait. I told you to at least see how I'm feeling about it in a year. You couldn't wait six more months?"
"In our generations, that's too long of a wait. The only people I know who are still virgins are nuns. And I know you're not Catholic, Salma. So, what are you waiting for?"
"I'm waiting for God to send me a better boyfriend." I pushed him against his chest, causing him to stumble back a few steps. I was hoping he would fall backwards into the pile of leaves on the ground. But unfortunately, he regained his footing and my dream wasn't fulfilled.
"I can be a better boyfriend," he promised. "But...only if we can get over this hurdle in our relationship first. And I know we can."
"Hurdle? You think my virginity is some kind of problem we need to overcome? Well, Ryan. I'm soooo sorry you see my virginity as such a burden." I laughed. I genuinely laughed in his face. "Actually, no. I'm sorry for you."
"Why?"
"In your attempt to get some action, you've just lost the best thing you'll ever have." Turning my back to him, I began my walk to the parking lot. I concentrated on every step I took. The last thing I needed was to fall during my big dramatic last line to my cheating ex.
