The Game Changer

Excerpt

I pressed the small white button on the side of the large wooden door. Everything about her house was spectacular. The large wooden doors, with the stained glass windows, and the fancy four cars in the driveway. Everything about her house was spectacular, except for the small white button on the side of the door, where the paint was chipping, and there was a dent from it being pressed so much. The doorbell matched the one on the side of house, and while my house was larger than the average house, it wasn’t in the running for the most beautiful house, or even the largest, if her house was entered in the competition. That small doorbell didn’t belong, almost as much as I didn’t. I looked back to the cars in the driveway. My car certainly didn’t belong there either, as it was surrounded with cars that were much fancier than it was.

I turned my attention back to the door, waiting for it to open. It opened slowly, a familiar face appearing before me. I smiled out of habit, as I always did when I saw her, but she looked different. Her hair was only half curled, one side a beautiful mixture of the strands of hair, the other, flat and frizzy. Her makeup was half applied, and yet she had black streaks running down the length of her face. She had been crying, I noticed. Her eyes were red, as she sniffled. Her eyes met mine, and for a moment, neither of us said a word.

 “Are you okay?” I reached out, using my thumb to wipe the streak from her cheek. While she didn’t pull away, her body tensed. I raised an eyebrow, my eyes watching hers.

“Am I okay?” She blinked, her voice escalating, “Am I okay? Do I look okay?”

My mouth opened and closed, finding no words that could possibly make what I had said any less stupid. I looked down at my attire, finding myself dressed neatly in a tuxedo, a light pink bow tie attached to my neck. She wasn’t in her dress, and she had been crying. She wasn’t okay, that was so obvious.

“I mean, what’s wrong?” I tried to find the words, but I don’t think that was necessarily the right thing to say either. I was so good at getting any girl I wanted for a night, but I had never met someone I actually wanted to spend the rest of my life with. She stared straight forward, as if I was invisible, and she could easily see through me

“Carson,” She spoke softly, her fingers curling around the handle of the door. She stepped forward, pulling the door closed as she joined me on her front step. She shook her head, her eyes raking over me. “We’re not going tonight.”

“I kind of figured,” I smiled, hoping my joke would lighten the mood. My eyes scanned over her, as she stood barefoot in an oversized t-shirt and sweats. While she looked like an absolute mess, I still found her to be incredibly stunning.

“Carson,” She crossed her arms over her chest slowly, taking in a deep breath, “I think you should leave.”

“Mags, I don’t understand,” I hesitated.

“Carson, you don’t want to be here. Why don’t you go back to Jackson’s and find a girl to fuck?”

I blinked, watching her. “Maggie, I—” I hesitated, not having a clue what to say next. I had never heard her swear, in all the time I’d spent with her. I took me by surprise.

“You’re leaving for college in a few months, and I’m sure you’ll find plenty of sluts to satisfy your needs there. Why are we dragging this on longer than we should be? This whole thing was a mistake. I’d be better if we just,” She hesitated, her eyes meeting mine, “ended things now.”

I swear, in that moment, my heart dropped straight into my stomach. I had no clue how to respond, but I wish I would have said something. Instead, I watched the best thing that’s ever happened to me slid open the front door and vanish behind it, leaving me standing in a tuxedo on her front porch alone. I watched her walk out of my life, literally, and I swear I could feel my heart breaking.