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I only had myself to blame for the heartbreak I was suffering from, but taking responsibility for my current state didn’t do anything to ease the agonizing disappointment and pain I felt.
As I pulled up to the Opera House where Luna’s art class was hosted, I saw that Mrs. Birch was already waiting for us outside.
“Hello, loves!” She waved as we got out of the car.
“I got a splinter and Mr. Hank was kissing a lady.” Luna quickly got Mrs. Birch up to speed before skipping inside looking for her new friend. “I hope Sienna is here.”
Mrs. Birch’s eyes flew up to me, twinkling with excitement. “So it seems like your date at the drive-in ended well.”
I didn’t even wonder how she knew I’d been to the drive-in. The gossip train had bullet speed in this place.
“It wasn’t me,” I responded using the Shaggy defense. But unlike the pop-reggae hit of the same name, it actually hadn’t been me.
This time, my internal voice inserted.
Right, this time. But several other times, in the not-so-distant past, it had been me, which was why I felt like I’d just been sucker-punched and the wind was knocked out of me.
“But Luna said Hank was kissing someone,” Mrs. Birch clarified as we walked into the historic building.
I’d never been inside before and if I didn’t want to curl up in a fetal position and rock back and forth I would have been awestruck by its ornate vaulted ceilings, intricate metalwork, painted murals, and massive gold-plated dome.
“Who was Hank kissing?” Mrs. Birch asked more directly, snapping me out of my momentary appreciation for the design.
“Oh, um, his ex showed up last night.” As soon as I said it out loud I felt like I’d done something wrong. Like I was adding fuel to the gossip bullet train.
“Melody?!” Mrs. Birch’s voice raised.
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“She was waiting on his porch when we got back from the movies.” I figured I’d already let the cat out of the bag so there was no point being coy now.
“What is she doing here?” Mrs. Birch questioned.
Good question. “I don’t know.”
“She showed up last night and he kissed her. Just like that?”
“No. I mean I don’t know. What Luna saw happened this morning.”
“This morning? Where?”
“His porch.”
“She stayed the night?”
I shrugged and fought back tears.
Emotions that I had no business feeling began to well up in me. I walked into the room where the art class was being held and took a seat along the back wall. Luna was seated next to Sienna and the two girls were giggling together.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
I glanced over at Mrs. Birch wondering why she would think I’d be worried about Luna. Sienna seemed like a very sweet girl.
“Hank moved on from her a long time ago.”
Oh, she wasn’t talking about Luna and Sienna. She was talking about Melody.
