𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓜𝓻𝓼. 𝓘𝓷𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓜𝓮𝓽 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓸𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓽...

Chapter 52

Flashback to Carina at age 19

I've been so excited for this night for days, and now it was finally here. Tonight was the junior dance at my school and I was going with the most perfect boy in the entire school. I never thought something like this would happen to me, and I was starting to believe for the first time that my life was starting to change for the better. All my life, people made me feel like I didn't belong in my own home and it had gotten harder as the years gone by and I keep seeing the same kids who won't leave me alone. Now they'll be eating their own shit when they see me dancing with a boy who's out of my league, but asked ME of all the girls in the school to the junior prom. I never thought he would want me with him there in a million years, but it looks like I was wrong. Tonight would be the night that would change my life forever.

I got a call as I was getting ready for the dance, and I answered, "Hello?" On the other end was Justin Hayes, the star athlete of the football team and my date to the dance, "Hi, Carina." "Oh, hi Justin! I'm so close to being ready to go, and I'll see you outside." "Yeah, about that..." "What's wrong, Justin?" "Well, my dad sent my car to the shop without telling me so I'll just meet you at the dance. I'm so sorry, Carina." "No, Justin, it's fine. I'm just so excited to see you, it doesn't matter. I'll be there in half an hour. See you then." "Okay, thanks Carina. See you." I hung up, and get bad for him. The way he sounded, he must have wanted to make sure everything was perfect for me, and I thought that was sweet of him. But I wouldn't have cared even if we came by bus, I was already so happy just being with him.

When I was finally ready, I bid my parents goodbye and they told me to have fun. The school wasn't too far anyway, luckily, and I only took about 20 minutes to get there. I saw the other kids coming in as well with their dates or groups. There were a bunch of cars around parked close to the building, and I almost didn't notice Justin's car sitting right there close to the back of the school. What the hell? Did he lie to me or something? I walked quickly inside the school and went straight into the gym where the dance was. There were a lot of people crowded together, and I tried to find my date to ask what he was doing. The music was playing loudly and almost felt deafening, then I stopped in my tracks as I spotted Justin in the center of the dance floor. Dancing. With Stacy Parker, the head cheerleader. They say they were looking at each other made me feel something sting in my chest. Then that bastard caught sight of me, and smiled before crashing his lips onto Stacy's and linger into a passionate kiss with her.

I could literally feel my heart shattered into a million pieces, as I watched him kiss her in front of me, and then I ran out as fast as I could before anyone I knew saw me crying. My heart kept pounding in my chest and my body ached in places I didn't think was possible. The heels on my feet started to hurt and I had to stop for a moment to remove them and continue running back to my home. When I finally got there, I ran up into my bedroom and locked the door so my parents wouldn't come inside. I collapsed onto my bed and cried my eyes out on my pillow. How could I have been so stupid? Why did I believe that my life was going to be any different than it is now? Why am I different from everyone else, and how does that make me inferior? A hundred more questions flooded my head as I kept crying and hating myself for being so naïve.

From that night then on, I swore never to fall for another guy like Justin, and to never be foolish in my life again. The rest of my days in that school got worse as everyone teased me about the junior prom and called me a dumb, little, red riding hood. I got into a couple of fights now and then, and I barely got in trouble since I was always a star student. When I confronted Justin about what he did to me, he lied and told me he just got back with Stacy who he broke up with earlier or so I thought. I called him selfish, heartless asshole and I got shunned by all the girls for bad-mouthing him. There were times when I thought about dying my red hair a different color that's more common, but whenever I tried to, I thought about what would happen if I actually did and realized nothing would ever changed and it wouldn't make any difference in my life. So, I kept my hair color the same to show a sign of strength and changed my hairstyle from always wearing an over-the-shoulder braid to just letting it fall down naturally that felt more comfortable for me.

I made another vow that year that the first opportunity I got to leave this horrible place, I would take it without any hesitation. I promised to never fall under the influence of anybody there, no matter how charming or kind they may appear to be. I was going to be something in the future that no one could ignore and call meaningless. As much as I had given hope on people in that moment, some small part of me hoped that wherever I escaped to, I would meet individuals who accepted me for who I am and didn't judge me for whatever I did or however I looked. I wanted to win people over with kindness and generosity and show that I don't end up like the evil people I've been around for all my life. And, maybe - just maybe - I hoped to find someone who would change my mind about love and that they would love me because of who I am and that they would give me a reason to risk my heart being hurt to experience a real, genuine true love that you only read about in books.

HEEYY!!! Just thought I'd give a flashback chapter giving a little more detail about what caused Carina's heartbreak and what caused her to be so cautious about love, and it is tragic. I know it's a little sad to learn about her, but I promise to make up for it with more Remington/Carina content coming soon! Thank you again for your support!!! 😘😘😘