The Pool Party Redemption

Rae gasped as she looked up from the floor to see the figure of her ex-boyfriend standing before her, his eyes scanning her body up and down. She tried to push herself off the floor but found that her limbs were too stiff and heavy to move. The alcohol was kicking in. She blinked hard, a haze clearing away in her head as she saw that he wasn’t even looking at her face, but rather staring at one of her breasts, which had fallen out of her top after she pulled herself up. She let out a soft moan as the pain in her head began to subside and she remembered everything that happened last night.

“Oh god!” she said in a hushed voice.

She remembered drinking way too much at the pool party that afternoon, dancing with a bunch of hot guys and kissing them without caring what happened next. Then she met up with a guy who seemed to be different than the rest. He brought her back to his dorm room where they kissed for what seemed like hours on end. She remembered how gentle he was with her as he slowly undressed her and did things she never thought would be possible between two people. It was intense, it was passionate, it was...she didn’t know if she should call it love or lust but it felt magical nonetheless. And then he left just as abruptly as he came and now here she is alone in this apartment with none other than her infamous ex-boyfriend, Johnny Liuksan, or just ‘Lucky’ for short. Their nicknames for each other were used so often by their mutual friends that eventually everyone started calling them that and now even Rae called him Lucky when they were alone together. It embarrassed him because he hated being called ‘Lucky’ but she couldn’t help it because in her mind that was exactly what he was: lucky enough to be dating the most beautiful girl in their high school yearbook class, lucky enough to be able to touch parts of Rae no one else could ever get close enough to be able too, lucky enough to have Rae fall madly in love with him despite knowing all along how fake their relationship was...and now here they were three years later living together as college freshmen, something that Rae told herself would never happen when they broke up three years ago.

She opened one eye slightly and tried to focus on Lucky's face but all she saw were blurry features and an expressionless stare looking straight into hers. Her vision cleared just enough so that she could see every detail of his face and only then did she realize how much time had actually passed since they first met each other last night. His once jet black hair was now slicked back with streaks of gray scattered throughout it; dark bags hung underneath his eyes like a pair of rucksacks; his skin looked sickly pale instead of its usual tan chocolate color; his lips were chapped and cracked; and he had been frowning ever since he walked into this room this morning. He hadn't changed physically over the last three years except for those minor details here and there – all except for one thing which made him look completely different from the Lucky Rae once knew: his eyes no longer held any sparkle or life within them – they looked dead, lifeless almost...they looked like someone else's eyes and yet they looked familiar at the same time – they reminded Rae of someone else's eyes...someone who used to stare into hers with love, adoration and affection...someone who used to look at her like Lucky once did...it took Rae a moment before realizing who those eyes belonged to...herself!

"Rae?" Lucky finally spoke after what seemed like an eternity had passed between them both. His voice sounded rough as if he had spent the past three years screaming at anyone who dared look his way during class or while walking through campus grounds – screaming at himself for how stupid he was for breaking up with someone so beautiful just for some stupid reason like “I deserve better than you” – screaming at himself for breaking up with someone who gave him everything – someone who loved him unconditionally despite knowing how fake their entire relationship had been from the start – screaming at himself for being such an idiot! - screaming until his throat felt raw from all that screaming!