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Deanne: What’s wrong? You okay?
Me: Yeah.Ijust…
I paused, then erased that.It was just another stupid hook-up.
Ivy joined in.Oh, he sucked in bed?
Lora: You’ll find a better lay next week.
The Uber came to a stop, and I grunted a goodbye as I got out. I headed for the back entrance of my house, hoping I’d made it back early enough to avoid seeing my parents. If I could get away with this without any judgmental comments from my mom, that would be one small positive about this day.
I stepped into the kitchen, and Mom glared at me. She was in front of the stove, frying bacon and eggs. She had her hair up, and she wore her usual apron and red lipstick. It was eight-thirty in the morning, dammit. Couldn’t she have slept in for once?
“I don’t need to hear it.” I held up my hands. “I’m going to bed. I have a headache.”
She shook her head at me. “Oh, Chelsea. Can’t you—”
Waving her off, I hurried into my room and dropped onto my bed. My friends had stopped texting, as if they could somehow tell they were on the wrong track. I squeezed my eyes shut, and a tear dripped onto my pillow. Something had to change!
Fuck it. I opened the group chat again.I’m swearing off men,I wrote.
The replies were immediate.
Deanne: WTF?!?!
Ivy: Wow, was he really that bad?!
Lora: You can’t be serious.
Me: I am. No more guys. I’m going to focus on myself instead.
Me: For a year.
After adding the last part for good measure, I curled my knees up to my chest. Now that I’d made this decision, I felt good about it. This was the right thing to do. So much could change in a year. I’d use the time to work on myself and figure out what I wanted in a relationship. I’d even study successful relationships and figure out how they worked.
Since I wouldn’t be able to jump into bed with anyone, I’d have time to truly evaluate any guys I might meet. And if I met the right one, he’d be willing to wait. If our connection was deep enough, it wouldn’t even matter to him, because we’d both know we’d have the rest of our lives together. Right?
I checked my phone again.
Lora: LOLOL
Ivy: Umm… good luck with that.
Deanne just sent three cry-laughing emojis.
I sat up so sharply that a jab of pain sliced through my head.Wtf? Why wouldn’t I be able to swear off men for a year?
Lora: Chelsea, honey, I don’t think you could swear off men for a week.
Of course I could,I typed. It wasn’t like I was hooking up with random guys weekly. Flirting… well, maybe. But I didn’t have to.
Deanne: Chelsea… no offense… but you’re… boy-crazy.
They were starting to get on my nerves. Did they seriously think of me like that?
Me: There’s more to me than that.
Lora: You sure about that?
