Chapter 29: Love and Monogamy

 The man returned with a bunch of paper towels from the bathroom. He pulled a water bottle out of his briefcase and crouched on the floor, insisting I step aside and let him handle it.

He asked me what happened with the cupcake, and I’m not sure why, but I just told him everything.

About Susan being my only friend at the start of the year. About how she begged me to go along with her to the Full Moon Ball, and then completely flipped out when, through no fault of my own, I was chosen by the prince instead of her. And about how I reached out to her last night, and felt so full of hope this morning, and how she got mad about my earrings, and all of the awful stuff she said about my family.

Never before in my life had I just opened up and spilled my guts to a total stranger like that. But he was easy to talk to, a good listener, and kept asking questions.

Finally I said, “I’m sorry, I’ve been rambling on about my problems and hav