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The Last Lesson Was Losing Me
The Last Lesson Was Losing Me
Author: Canal

Chapter 1

Author: Canal
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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  • The Last Lesson Was Losing Me   Chapter 11

    Dustin was wearing a volunteer vest and sorting through a stack of anti-fraud pamphlets. He heard me approach and looked up. Our eyes met.Four years had passed, and he looked much thinner. His short hair was still neatly kept, but a few gray strands now stood out.His eyes moved from me to Archer, who had his arms wrapped tightly around me.Dustin stood, his voice hoarse. "Sharon, it's been a long time."I nodded."It has, Mr. Emerson," I said coolly.Archer looked past me curiously. "Sharon, do you know him?""Just someone I used to know," I said flatly.An officer walked over with a statement in hand and patted Dustin on the shoulder."Mr. Emerson, thanks for helping us trace those accounts again today. Without an anti-fraud expert like you, tracking down these overseas accounts would've taken us a lot longer."Archer tugged at my sleeve, sounding miserable. "Babe, am I an idiot? I wanted to buy some in-game gear, and this guy said he'd give me 20% off if we did the deal o

  • The Last Lesson Was Losing Me   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

  • The Last Lesson Was Losing Me   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

  • The Last Lesson Was Losing Me   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

  • The Last Lesson Was Losing Me   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

  • The Last Lesson Was Losing Me   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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