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Day one
She had been seeing James for a couple of weeks now. They met clubbing, and he’d shyly asked for her number at the end of the evening. He’d done everything right, waiting a day to text her if she’d like to see him again. He was very charming, and so her type with his tan skin and dark hair.
Yesterday, they’d gone out for dinner and a movie, and he’d slept over at her house afterwards. She had to sneak him in so her parents wouldn’t notice, but that was half the fun.
“We should do that again sometime, maybe tomorrow?” she texted him. She was lying on her stomach on her bed in her bathrobe, after taking a shower. She was practically kicking her feet. God she was pathetic.
Okay, so she’d had sex with him. For the first time. Ever.
When she moved to London a year ago, she’d told her new friends that she’d already done all that stuff . Because what cool 14 year old hadn’t already done every sexual position in the books? She wanted to impress them, and it worked. But it meant that she had no one to talk to about this new experience she just had. Which just made her want to see James again, because they shared this now.
She checked her phone to see if he’d answered yet. Nothing.
Well, it was still early.
Day two
She’d heard from Emily that James had stopped replying after one date with her, a couple of months ago. But Emily was kinda ugly, and not all that interesting, if Crystal was honest. She only really kept her around because her parents had an indoor pool. At any rate, Crystal was much better and cooler than Emily. That girl deserved to be ghosted. Crystal didn’t.
But that was not what was happening here. It couldn’t be.
Day three
Maybe she'd sounded too boring in her text, and that's why he wasn't replying? Too homely? Guys like him just wanted one thing, anyways. And it wasn't holding hands on a long walk, or whatever lame thing she was coming across as.
She took a selfie, a kissy face with a wink, and just enough shoulder and chest exposed to see she wasn't wearing anything, but not enough to show anything. This had to work.
Day four
Oh my god, why did she send that picture to a guy who wasn't even replying!? Was she stupid? Was she so desperate for attention? Had she no self respect?
She felt sick to her stomach. She was truely, actually, so pathetic.
She tried to distract herself by watching some stupid movie but the thoughts just kept coming.
Was it her? Was she not pretty enough? Not charming enough? Not cool enough? Not hot enough? Hadn't she been entertaining?
Had he noticed it had been her first time sleeping with someone? Had she done a bad job?
Oh my god, was he going to tell everyone she was bad at sex and no one would ever want to be with her again?
Day five
No, you know what? Fuck him.
Who did he think he was? Why would she even want him? He was just some airheaded fuckboy.
So what if he had big brown eyes and strong arms and yeah, maybe it had felt safe when he held her... But fuck him. She didn't need him. There would be more boys with sparkling eyes and pretty smiles to entertain her. She could get any guy she wanted!
Day six
Maybe he was sick? Or his phone got stolen? She'd been checking his Instagram every day to see if he'd posted anything. He was one of those guys that was too cool to use it a lot, but he did occasionally post things.
And there it was: a collection of group photos, sunsets over landscapes and his dad's yacht, with the caption "September, you've been great”
Something was starting to bubble up in Crystal. He was fine. And had full capability of using his phone. And he was choosing not to text her back. Fuck.
She slammed down her phone on the table so hard that the screen cracked. “FUCK!”
Day seven
Crystal awoke the next day with a mission. She was going to confront him. She was not someone to be messed with. Not someone to ignore. He had to be taught that it was not okay to ghost her. Or other girls, for that matter.
Bekka had told her she saw James jogging a couple of times in the park near her house before lunch, so that’s where she waited.
It was quite a nice day, though a bit on the cold side. Crystal had seen people picnicking in the main part of the park, but here, on the edge, near one of the smaller gates, people only passed her to enter or exit.
It wasn’t long until she saw a familiar figure jogging her way. She stood up from her bench to stand in the middle of the path with her arms crossed, blocking his way. He didn’t even notice her until he was only a couple of meters away and she spoke up.
“Hi James. Forgot about me?”
“Oh!” He stopped before her and took out his earbud. “Hi Crystal, what’s up?”
She mirrored his lighthearted tone with a smile. “What’s up is that you haven’t replied to any of my texts in the past week!”
“Oh, you know, I was busy.” He deflected. “But you know we were only having a bit of fun, right? Nothing, um,” he shifted on his feet, “serious.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Only a bit of fun? We went on multiple dates, James.”
“Ugh, come on.” He rolled his eyes.
“You can't just ghost someone after multiple dates. It's a dick move!”
“Oh c’mon, Crystal, you're being so dramatic.”
She felt her cheeks burn. She stepped towards him, finger pointed to his chest. “I'm not-” She pressed her lips firmly together, holding in a scream.
Then, something stirred in her stomach, she felt her shoulders sag and she only just managed to swallow the lump that suddenly formed in her throat.
“I gave you my virginity...” she said softly.
Because that was it, wasn't it? She had been vulnerable with him and he just discarded her like she was some piece of used trash.
He gave her a cruel smile. “Aw, I thought you were all progressive and shit, and didn't care about all that.”
A numbness spread across her chest, she squeezed her jaws shut and her tone turned ice cold.
“Fuck you. Why don’t you just walk into traffic, James.” she spat out.
“Oh sod off.” he said as he tried to walk off.
Crystal grabbed his wrist when he passed her. She felt a smile creep on her face and her eyes going white. “Walk into traffic, James.”
His eyes turned white as well. “Walk into traffic…” he repeated with a whisper.
She let him go, even gave him a little push in the direction of the park’s exit, then turned around to walk home through the park. It was a nice day, after all.
With a satisfied smile she got out her phone and blocked James’s number.
She didn’t want him anyways.