Inevitable

New Information

The next morning I got up and dove right into my school work. I had a paper due in a few days and a big test on Wednesday. My mind kept drifting to last night. It felt so surreal. I only knew Henry for a couple of days but it felt like longer than that. He called me around noon and we talked for a little while. It would be hard to see each other during the week. I had to work and he practiced with his band on most week nights. We decided to meet up for lunch on Monday. I was kind of sad that I had to wait so long to see him but I didn't want to seem clingy. Plus I had to get my school work done.
     A few hours later, I was in the middle of typing my paper when my phone buzzed. It was a text from Liam. Honestly I had forgotten about him. I guess that said a lot about where my feelings for him stood. He wanted to know if we could hang out one night this week. I didn't know what to say. He was too late. I met someone else. But I didn't want to lose his friendship. I decided that it would be better to tell him how I felt face to face. I made plans to get dinner with him on Tuesday. At least that would give me time to think about what I should say to him without hurting his feelings. I still wanted him in my life.
By dinner time my brain was completely fried. I closed my laptop and texted Jess about meeting up for dinner in the dining hall. It was a tradition for Jane, Jess, Melissa, and myself to have dinner together on Sunday nights. We all were so busy with our own lives but our standing dinner date kept us connected. Jane and I headed out together. This weekend was so crazy! We definitely had a lot to talk about.
Jess and Melissa were waiting for us outside the dining hall. I gave Melissa a big hug since she had been out of town all weekend. While we waited in line to grab our dinner, she told us all about her mom's birthday party and her older brother's hot friend who she of course fooled around with. Melissa was the biggest flirt I had ever met. I always admired how she wasn't afraid to go after what she wanted.
Dinner was some sort of chicken casserole that tasted better than it looked. I kept thinking about the fantastic dinner I had the night before. I would have to convince Henry to take me there again. Those tacos were addicting. It was really nice to think about doing things with Henry. I had been single for so long. Now I had someone. We weren't at the stage of calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend yet but he said he wanted a relationship with me.
About halfway through the meal, Jess turned to me with a nervous look on her face. "Em, we need to talk about Henry." Great, here we go again.

"I know I said I would stay out of it but I think there's some things you need to know. After seeing you with him last night I can tell you have serious feelings for him. I've never seen you like this. Not even with Liam."

I panicked when she brought up Liam. I never told Jane or Melissa how much I liked him. By the look on their faces, I could tell this piece of information was not surprising to them. Crap! How obvious was it?! I guess it didn't matter anymore. O well!

"Henry has done some pretty crappy things. He's just not a nice guy. When Nick first started dating me, Henry told him that he shouldn't be wasting his time in college on one girl. Nick almost broke up with me because of all the things Henry was putting into his head. They actually got into a huge fight over it. Henry ended up giving Nick a black eye."

It felt like my dinner was going to come back up. My biggest fear with Henry was that he was only into something casual. To know that he hurt my best friend and punched out her boyfriend did not sit well with me either. I didn't know what to say. The Henry that I had spent the past two days with wasn't anything like the person Jess was describing.

Melissa turned to me with a solemn look on her face. "Em, there's more. Do you remember at the end of February when you were sick and we didn't see you for 2 weeks?"

I did remember. I had had the flu and barely left my room for 2 weeks. I also remembered Melissa telling me about a guy she really liked and she hooked up with him but then he stopped returning her calls and texts. She was really upset about it because he made her think he was into her as much as she was into him. A terrible feeling came over me as I put the pieces together. O no! It couldn't be!

"So that guy that ghosted me was Henry. I didn't even tell Jess who it was because I was embarrassed. This happened right when her and Nick started going out. When I heard that you were spending time with him, I knew I had to let you know what he did to me. He's a liar Em. Whatever he's told you, it's all so he can screw you and then move on to the next. I'm really sorry to tell you this but I don't want him to hurt you like he hurt me."

I felt dizzy. It can't be true. It can't be Henry they are talking about. Everything he did for me. The way he treated me. I just couldn't believe it was all fake. And if it was, what did that say about me? Was I that gullible and stupid? I didn't know what to think.

"It just doesn't make sense. He told me he wanted a relationship with me. He said that I was different." I know I sounded foolish. I was grasping at straws. There is no way Melissa and Jess would lie to me.

"He said the same thing to me. He'll say whatever you want to hear just to get in your pants. I'm so so sorry Em. I wish I had been around this weekend to tell you everything sooner."

I had completely lost my appetite and I felt like I was going to break down right there in the middle of the dining hall. I told my friends that I didn't feel good and that I wanted to be alone. They didn't stop me when I hurriedly got up with my tray and practically ran out of there.