Page 88 of Finding My Charming

His deep laugh nearly broke me. Why can’t he be in a bad mood? Why do I have to ruin his day?

“Well, you can either tell me quickly, or I can come over after practice.”

I debated the pros and cons of each option as fast as I could. “I don’t know.”

“Is something wrong, Elle?” His voice went from cheerful to concerned with just four words. “Look, I’ve got to head in. My trainer is waiting for me. I’ll just come by around seven.”

“Okay.” My voice came out as a squeak.

“Bye.” He hung up without waiting for me to respond.

I obviously hadn’t played that very well, and he knew something was going on. Maybe that would make it easier.

I drove home clutching the steering wheel and repeating the reasons I decided to do this. No one else was home yet, thankfully, so I ran up to my room and called Ari the second the door shut behind me.

“Hi, Elle.” She answered on the first ring, almost like she knew I would be calling.

“Ari…” I fell back onto my bed and stared straight up at the ceiling. “…I need help.”

She laughed a little. “What’s going on?”

“I need to break up with Vincent, and I don’t really know how.”

She didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Her hesitation was alarming.

“Finally.”

“Finally what?”

“You’re finally seeing it.”

“Stop speaking in code, Ari. I’m losing it here. I need your help.”

“Look, Vincent is a nice guy. You know that I like him and thought he was good for you, but he’s not the right guy. If you just wanted something fun for the summer, I would totally encourage it, but you have more important things going on, and he isn’t the one.”

“How do you know that?” I’d just barely come to that conclusion myself, and she was saying she’d known all along? Why did she let me waste so much time?

“You needed him. He was the first guy who ever caught your eye, and he was interested in you. I thought you needed that confidence boost. You had fun with him, didn’t you?”

I was very slow at processing her words. “Yeah, I did.”

“That’s what you needed. So what if he wasn’t the right guy for you? Would you have been as willing to go after Dallin if you didn’t already have some experience with Vincent?” She didn’t give me a second to respond before she answered her own question. “No. You would have admired him from afar, and nothing would have happened, no matter how hard he was trying, because you didn’t see it in yourself.”

“See what?”

“That you’re beautiful and fun, and guys enjoy being around you. Remember how many were willing to go out with you after the party? They were all excited for the chance to get to know you. I know they were all duds, but you’ve never seemed to see yourself the way others see you.”

Her words were finally sinking in, and she was completely right. Spending time with Vincent — even the other awkward dates — had shown me that it wasn’t just Ari or April guys wanted. I hadn’t meant to use Vincent to gain some confidence, but he’d done that for me. The clock was running out of time in the back of my head, forcing me to act on impulse rather than choosing the safe route.

“You’re right, Ari.”

“Well, I know that, but I’m glad you see it too. I was worried you’d be mad at me for pushing you too hard with this whole thing, but I knew you could handle it. Plus, you didn’t have a choice, so I knew you would have to listen to me.”

“Thank you.”

“Aw, you’re welcome. Now, on to the task at hand. You need to give Vincent the thanks-but-no-thanks speech. It won’t be easy, especially since he never did anything wrong.”

“I know! That’s why I don’t know what to say. If Dallin weren’t in the equation, I would have fallen for him.”