Lahat ng Kabanata ng I Learned How to Enjoy Being Alone: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

By the time we got home, it was already one in the morning.Sophie stood in the entryway, her face alarmingly pale. "Wendy, am I intruding on you two?"Before I could answer, Shane had already helped her into the living room."You're staying here tonight."I looked up at him. "This is our home.""I know." His tone was calm, as if the decision were obvious. "Her fever hasn't gone down, and it's not safe for her to go home alone this late."Sophie looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. "Maybe I should sleep on the couch. I don't want Wendy to be upset."Shane frowned. "You have a fever. You're not sleeping on the couch."Then he went straight into the bedroom. When he came back out, he was carrying my white nightgown and the thin blanket I'd used for a long time.He'd bought that blanket for me the previous winter because my hands and feet were always cold. He'd told me I kicked off the covers in my sleep, so hugging it at night would help keep me warm.Now he placed it in Sophie's arms."M

When I got home, the living room lights were still on.A new cake sat on the table. This time, the chocolate plaque read, "Happy fourth anniversary, Wendy. Don't be mad anymore."Shane stood beside the dining table and pulled out a ring box."I went too far with what I said today."The ring was a style I'd once casually mentioned liking.So he remembered after all.Why did he always wait until I'd been disappointed beyond measure before bringing these things out to coax me?I turned my head away and ignored him.After a moment of silence, Shane opened the ring box for me, his voice softening."Trust me one more time. Next week, I promise I won't be late."Then his phone lit up on the table.Sophie had sent him a message.[Shane, everyone's calling me a homewrecker in the comments.][I really can't take this anymore.][Is Wendy still mad? Could she say something for me?]Shane immediately turned off the screen.I looked at him.He avoided my eyes and closed the ring box."Make a post. J

The Southvale branch arranged a temporary apartment for me. It was small, consisting of just one bedroom and a living room, with a view of the elevated freeway outside the window.I didn't sleep well that first night. When I woke at two in the morning, I reached toward the other side of the bed without thinking, only to find it empty. I froze for a moment before slowly drawing my hand back.Four years of habit wasn't something I could erase in a single night.The next morning, I stopped at a café on my way to work and ordered automatically. "Two coffees, no sugar in one."The owner had already started on the second cup when I caught myself."Sorry. Just one cup."That was when I realized that leaving someone didn't happen in a single moment when you turned and walked away. It happened in all the countless moments afterward, when you had to learn all over again how to live by yourself.On my fourth day in Southvale, Shane came to find me.I had just left the office after work when I s

Sophie came to Southvale once after that, though she never came to see me. Shane was the one who told me about it.He was waiting outside my building that evening, and for once, he didn't come any closer."I'm going back tomorrow."I nodded. "Okay."He stood there for a long time before speaking again."Sophie came to see me today."I was about to leave when he suddenly asked, "Wendy, did I always think you could handle more than she could?"My steps stopped.Shane lowered his head and smiled, but there was nothing pleasant about it."Whenever she cried, I thought something terrible had happened. When you didn't cry, I assumed you were fine. If she said she was scared, I went to her immediately, but when you told me you were hurting, I told you to be more understanding."He looked at me."I actually used to think it was because you were more mature than she was. I know now that it wasn't."His voice dropped."I was taking advantage of you."My nose suddenly stung, and I turned my face

By the second spring after I left, I went back to Disneyland with a colleague, Claire Bennett. On the way in, she asked, "Have you been here before?""Once."She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the carousel."Then you've definitely been on this, right?"I hesitated, then shook my head."No."The line was long that day, and we waited more than forty minutes. When our turn finally came, I chose a white horse.The music started, and the carousel began to rise and fall. A little kid nearby was laughing at the top of his lungs, and suddenly I remembered standing beside Shane two years ago, telling him I wanted to ride it.He'd frowned."Haven't you always said you're not a kid anymore? Why do you suddenly need someone to humor you now?"Back then, I'd actually believed liking things like this was childish.It took me a long time to understand that there was nothing childish about wanting to ride a carousel, and there was nothing embarrassing about wanting the person you loved to ride i