"The Cut"

Chapter 13- Homewrecker

CHAPTER THIRTEEN- HOMEWRECKER

Carson tried to leave the bonfire with at least a fragment of her pride. Mostly everyone that remained was either staring or whispering under their breath. Only a few cheerleaders said an obligatory "hello" to her, but who were they to judge? 

 "Everyone has a few skeletons in the closet. Big deal." she tried to convince herself.

 She knew she was better than all of them put together. They were just jealous that she was reaping tons of attention, as usual. She could have any guy at this party, but that wasn't the plan. Her plan was to get back the only guy who interested her and already vacated the party.

 Chase .

  And Carson wasn't certain that it was possible to get him back at this point, but she had to try. She grabbed her sandals, her bag, and started for the dunes. A few random people muttered "goodbyes", but no one even bothered to try to console her.

"Well, Evan did just out me by calling me a 'lying, cheating whore'. Not one of my finer moments!" she thought. She'd have to skirt her away around that somehow. People would gossip- it would eventually get back to her parents.

That was the last thing she needed on her most recent plate of problems.

 They were fortunately leaving first thing Monday morning for a few days in Charlotte, then straight to Miami in efforts to close a deal. She wouldn't see them until Saturday after the dance, possibly even Sunday morning.

 She hoped that by then the turmoil in her life would be somewhat settled.

 But for now, she had to straighten things out with Chase and keep Jared Fullman on the back burner. It wouldn't be easy. She reached into her bag, her hands fumbling around for her keys. 

"Where the hell were they?" she thought. 

 She continued to search as her phone buzzed from her pocket. It was Jared Fullman. No surprise. She knew he didn't want her anywhere near Chase. He was green with envy.

 Jared continued to text her while she hunted for her Juicy Couture keychain on the beach. He promised to break the news to Rachel after States. She wasn't so sure it was the truth, though. Carson figured there was a chance that he was stringing her along to bide himself more time.

 After all, his son was still an infant, and everyone would think he was a total deadbeat if he left his wife with a baby just shy of his first birthday.

 Still, he promised Carson time and again that he would to follow her to college.

 She knew the whole idea seemed absurd, considering she hadn't even chosen which school she would attend. Her parents were pushing for a college up north, preferably Columbia or NYU.

 Carson had an aptitude for business like her father, but her heart wasn't in it. She was more interested in fashion design and thought of applying to Brenau University or possibly Miami International.

 She preferred the warmer climate and had grown to love Fairview, which was only a short jaunt to West Palm Beach. It was by far her favorite beach out of all the local hotspots.

 They'd moved to Florida when she was in fifth grade from upstate New York; but her life was here now. Things hadn't gone exactly as planned, however, and she wasn't sure what the future had in store for her.

 Keys, keys......

  There was one certainty- if Jared Fullman left Rachel, it meant that he really loved her. That was all Carson wanted in her life, to feel loved and taken care of. To have security. She longed to be the priority in someone's life. She wanted to be the reason they began each morning with a smile and the one they kissed goodnight.