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The Last Lesson Was Losing Me

The Last Lesson Was Losing Me

Short Story · Romance
By:  CanalCompleted
Language: English
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Synopsis

Campus

Bias

Mistress

Tragic Love

Winning Back the Wife

Melodramatic

I'm ridiculously easy to fool. I trust every word that comes from others. One particularly awful year, an older student scams me out of all the money I have to live on. Dustin Emerson gives me half of what he has. He's the one person I know won't lie to me. He tells me, "You're not stupid. People are just awful, so stop trusting them and trust me instead." An hour before my grad school entrance exam, Dustin texts me. "I got into a car accident. I'm at the hospital. Come quick." I rush to the hospital, only to find Dustin and my best friend, Emily Levine, sitting at a convenience store eating nachos. Emily bursts out laughing, slapping her thigh. "See? I told you she'd fall for it. One text, and she came running instead of going to her exam." Dustin picks up a chip and holds it to her mouth. "Alright, you win. A bet's a bet. I'll take you to the theme park today." I stare at them in disbelief. Dustin pulls out a tissue and wipes the sweat from my face. "You're about to graduate, and the real world can be brutal. This is your first lesson." My voice shakes. "My entrance exam is today!" Emily purses her lips. "Okay, okay. Sharon's so upset she's about to cry. Let's get her back before she fails and blames us for it." The moment Dustin sees me crying, he gets worried too. He floors it and gets me to the exam center with just one minute to spare. I'm just starting to relax when a proctor stops me. "This exam ID is fake. You need to leave." When I look down at the paper in my hand, I realize someone has swapped out my real exam ID. There's a huge doodle of a pig's face on it, with a message written beside it. "Sharon, you dummy! I'm keeping your exam ID safe for you. Surprise!" Underneath is another message. "Don't make the same mistake twice. This is lesson number two." I recognize Emily's handwriting and Dustin's. I may not always know when I'm being lied to, but now I know who truly means well and who doesn't. I won't be so quick to trust anyone again.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I stumbled out of the exam center in a daze and spotted Dustin Emerson's car by the campus entrance.

He glanced over at me, clearly amused. "That was fast. Looks like you lucked out thanks to Emily. Get in. You're coming to the theme park with us. You used to go on and on about wanting to go, remember?"

My voice came out strained. "Dustin, do you have any idea how hard I worked for this exam? I spent an entire year preparing for it. I got up at 6:00 am every day to study and didn't leave the study room until 1:00 am.

"All those hours sitting at a desk left my lower back aching, and I still have to use pain patches. You knew all of that, didn't you?"

Dustin turned the AC down four degrees, to the temperature Emily preferred.

"I did. But we're trying to help you. If you can't even tell when someone close to you is pulling something like this, grad school won't make you any less easy to fool.

"Once you're out in the real world, people will take you for everything you've got. Besides, you can always take the exam again next year."

Emily stuck her head out the passenger window. "Sharon, we're just trying to wise you up so you don't keep getting fooled."

As she said it, she pulled my real exam ID from her pocket, waved it at me, and tore it to pieces right in front of me.

"It's useless now anyway. Keeping it would only upset you every time you looked at it."

She tossed the scraps out the window, and they hit me square in the face.

Dustin shot me an impatient look. "Get in and stop embarrassing yourself. If you really don't want to go, you can walk back to school."

We were at the new campus in the suburbs, about 12 miles from downtown. My phone was almost dead, and I didn't even have enough money for a cab.

Exhausted, I had no choice but to get in.

The AC blew straight into the back seat. With sweat still clinging to my back, the cold air made me shiver uncontrollably.

Emily turned around and held out a small cartoon blanket. "Sharon, are you cold? Here, use this."

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11 Chapters
Chapter 1
I stumbled out of the exam center in a daze and spotted Dustin Emerson's car by the campus entrance.He glanced over at me, clearly amused. "That was fast. Looks like you lucked out thanks to Emily. Get in. You're coming to the theme park with us. You used to go on and on about wanting to go, remember?"My voice came out strained. "Dustin, do you have any idea how hard I worked for this exam? I spent an entire year preparing for it. I got up at 6:00 am every day to study and didn't leave the study room until 1:00 am."All those hours sitting at a desk left my lower back aching, and I still have to use pain patches. You knew all of that, didn't you?"Dustin turned the AC down four degrees, to the temperature Emily preferred."I did. But we're trying to help you. If you can't even tell when someone close to you is pulling something like this, grad school won't make you any less easy to fool."Once you're out in the real world, people will take you for everything you've got. Besides
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Chapter 2
Emily blinked. "I always crank the AC all the way down. Dustin was worried I'd catch a cold, so he insisted on buying me this blanket."I'd ridden in his car once with a low fever. My lips had gone pale from the cold, and I begged him to turn the AC up.He kept his eyes on the road and said flatly, "You'll get used to the cold. Don't be such a baby."I reached for the blanket, but Dustin pushed Emily's hand back down."Keep it. If you give it to her, what are you going to cover up with?"Emily pouted. "I'm not cold.""Just keep it. You're on your period. If you get too cold, your cramps will get worse, and you'll keep me up again tonight. She can just put on a jacket. Don't worry about her."I pulled my hand back and dug my fingertips into my palm until it stung.Then, as if by magic, Dustin pulled a big bag of snacks from the center console. They were all Emily's favorites.Emily let out a delighted cheer, grabbed a chip, and held it to Dustin's lips. "This new flavor is so g
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Chapter 3
That night, I came down with a high fever.Still groggy, I opened my eyes and felt a cool washcloth on my forehead. Peaches, my Samoyed, licked the back of my hand.I'd raised Peaches since she was a puppy. Dustin brought her to me sophomore year and said she was part of our family. I ended up taking care of her most of the time.Dustin sat by the bed, his eyes bloodshot. He exhaled in relief when he saw me awake."Finally."He picked up the glass of water from the nightstand and brought it to my lips. "Take your medicine."Once I'd swallowed the pills, he set it back down."Do you have any idea how worried I was? I called you all night and sent you over 70 messages, but you never answered. I thought you'd gotten caught up in another scam like you did freshman year."Freshman year, an older student from my hometown had lured me to a rental house in the middle of nowhere.When Dustin couldn't reach me, he called the police that night and helped them search room by room. He even
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Chapter 4
When I got home, Dustin was already there with Emily beside him on the couch, his face grim.He looked up when he heard the door. "So you've got the nerve to send me a message like that now? I'm trying to teach you a lesson about the real world, and this is how you repay me?"Emily grabbed my wrist. "Sharon, don't be so ungrateful. Dustin's doing this for your own good. Better to learn the hard way now than get cleaned out by some scammer later, right?"She sighed, looking deeply hurt. "If that post bothers you so much, I'll delete it right now. Don't let me come between you two after all these years."She pulled out her phone and deleted the post right in front of me.Dustin frowned and pulled Emily away. "Why'd you delete it? We were just enjoying the river view. What's there to hide?"His tone softened as he turned to me. "Alright, enough."He pointed to the thick stack of books on the coffee table. "I had someone get you these study guides from top prep instructors, and I si
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Chapter 5
The airline agent handed me my boarding pass. "Here you go."I took it and said calmly, "Thank you."A notification popped up on my screen. Emily had just posted a photo of the fireworks at the theme park.Her caption read, "He promised to make it up to me and give me a day straight out of a fairy tale."I locked my phone, pulled out the SIM card I'd used for the past four years, and dropped it into the trash.Nearly 1,900 miles away at the theme park, Emily was wearing an oversized bunny-ear headband and holding a half-eaten ice cream cone."Dustin, this sea-salt one is way too sweet. I don't want it anymore."She shoved the cone into his hand and hooked her arm through his. "Can we go on that high-speed ride? We didn't get to go on it last time."Dustin tossed the cone into a nearby trash can. "I thought you said you were on your period and had cramps."Emily gave him a playful wink. "That was already over. I only said it yesterday because we were trying to teach Sharon not
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Chapter 6
Emily quickly put on an easy smile. "She did. Sharon just texted me and said she's at the library studying for the exam. She's probably still mad and ignoring you because she wants your attention."You promised you'd spend the whole day with me."She slipped her arm through Dustin's.Dustin put his phone back in his pocket. Her explanation sounded reasonable enough to put his uneasiness to rest."Alright. Let's go on the next ride."That night, the fireworks show began right on schedule, lighting up the sky with bursts of color.Standing in the crowd, Dustin watched a green firework bloom overhead and remembered that green was my favorite color.He figured that once I stopped being mad, he'd buy me the new limited-edition figure and bring me back to the theme park another day.He assumed it would be that simple.The next morning, Dustin arrived at the apartment carrying breakfast from my favorite spot on the south side.He entered the six-digit code like he always did, but th
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Chapter 7
I had just finished a full day of orientation and stepped out of the office building when someone grabbed my hand.It was Dustin. His eyes were bloodshot, and dark stubble covered his jaw.He grabbed my shoulders. "Are you hurt? Do you have enough money?"He looked me over quickly, his voice edged with panic. "Did anyone scam you out of your money? Is the place you rented safe? You don't even understand the local accent. How would you know if someone was ripping you off?"Freshman year, when he'd kicked open that metal door and pulled me into his arms, he'd sounded just as frantic. Back then, he'd told me I didn't need to trust anyone but him.But now the biggest liar was standing right in front of me."I'm fine. Nobody scammed me."I stepped back, putting some distance between us. "Dustin, we already broke up. What I do is none of your business anymore."His hands froze in midair. He stared at me for two seconds, then his panic gave way to the exasperation I knew so well.He
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Chapter 8
For the next two weeks, rain fell almost nonstop in Harborcrest. The workload was brutal for new hires, and I barely left the office before 10:00 pm.Dustin really did stay. Around 11:00 pm one night, I walked out of the building and found him waiting under a streetlight with his usual bottle of water."Here. Drink some water."I didn't take it or even look at him. "Excuse me."I was too busy to stop and tell him to leave, and he took my silence as a sign that I was coming around.Once, I booked a cab to meet a client. After I got in, I discovered that Dustin had paid the driver handsomely to pick me up. The AC was set to exactly 79 degrees.He was trying to make up for every little thing he'd overlooked before, but now it all seemed ridiculous.One rainy night near the end of the month, I left the office after working late. I found Dustin waiting at the bottom of the steps, holding a black umbrella and a thick folder."Sharon."He hurried over and tilted the umbrella toward m
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Chapter 9
After that, Dustin kept his distance.He stopped waiting for me at the bottom of the steps with an umbrella. He also stopped bringing me those nicely packaged grad school prep materials.He just followed from across the street, always a little ways behind.Friday evening, I was sitting in the corner of a diner eating a turkey club when a middle-aged woman slid into the seat across from me. She pulled out a bottle of supplements with a label in a foreign language."Honey, you look pale and completely worn out. These are imported from Dalmeria, and they work wonders. I'm just trying to hit my numbers today, so I can give them to you half off."I'd been working late almost every night, and my back pain and migraines had been getting worse. I pulled out my phone to pay her.Just as I was about to scan the QR code she'd set on the table, Dustin covered it with his hand. He stood beside the table, looking at the woman with a blank expression."The first three digits of that barcode tr
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Chapter 10
I turned away another scammer, this time an older man trying to sell me a fake SIM card.Dustin spoke quietly. "You've learned. You can see right through people now."I answered calmly, "You don't need to follow me anymore."Dustin lowered his eyes and managed a bitter smile. "Yeah. You're not the same fool who could get scammed out of every penny you had anymore. You don't need me now."I didn't hate him anymore.His lessons on spotting scams really had helped me avoid a lot of trouble, and part of me was even grateful. But gratitude was all it was. Forgiving him was out of the question.The next day, Dustin left Harborcrest, and my life finally settled back into peace.A month later, 1,500 dollars suddenly appeared in my bank account. There was no note and no sender listed. I couldn't find any way to return it, so I left it alone.On the same day the following month, another 1,500 dollars showed up, again with no note.The third payment arrived right on schedule, but this ti
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