She Didn’t Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away. Chapter 27

She Didn’t Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away. Chapter 27

After the concert, he walked me back to my dorm.

“I had a really wonderful time tonight,” he said at the door.

“Me too.”

“So… maybe next weekend… we could go for a hike? In the Columbia River Gorge?” He looked at me, his eyes full of a hopeful, gentle light.

I nodded.

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled.

So this is what it felt like to be cherished.

It was quiet, and sincere, and easy.

You didn’t have to dissect every word, searching for hidden meanings.

You didn’t have to worry that at any moment, you might be traded for something better.

You didn’t have to be perfect.

You just had to be yourself.

Edith, of course, found out immediately.

“Oh? Our future Rhodes Scholar has started dating?” she asked with a teasing smile when I stopped by her office to drop off a paper.

My face grew warm.

“It’s not… We’re just friends right now.”

“Julian is a good man,” she said, her tone shifting from teasing to serious. “He’s smart, and more importantly, he’s kind. He sees you, Claire. Not a name, not a legacy.”

Yes.

He saw me.

And a voice in my heart, clearer than ever before, told me:

Never go back.

Never again stand in someone’s shadow, waiting for them to be in a good mood, mistaking the crumbs they throw you for a feast.

I deserved better.