Rejection

Why was Angela sent to live in Forget-Me-Not Valley? What embarrassing situation caused her mother to send her away for the summer?

    Oh no!  I could never yell at Gustafa.  He was so damn sweet.  It would crush him if I screamed at him. Instead of yelling, I didn't do anything.  I just laid there on the ground.  Gustafa kept trying to pick me up and take me to the doctor, but I stubbornly refused to get up.  "...'m not hurt." I finally mumbled.  "Then why are you crying?" Gustafa asked with a worried frown.  "My life stinks!" I wailed.  "Tell me what's wrong.  Go ahead, lay it on me, sister." Gustafa encouraged.  For some strange reason, I opened up and told him everything.

   It all started two years ago when my parents moved to Castanet.  I was angry because they dragged me out of school in the middle of the year and I had to leave behind all my friends.  Dad wanted to start a shipping business and mother wanted us to be the richest family in town.  I had to start in a new school in the middle of the year, and I didn't know anyone!  I was a stranger and I didn't fit in.  I finally made a few friends;  Sweet country girl, Renee, was always kind to me but I could never truly open up to her;  Chase, who I initially thought was a girl because, quite frankly, he was pretty AND he wore hair barrettes. He was a bit aloof at first, but soon lost his attitude and we became good friends;  and Julius, with his flamboyant clothes and wildly colored hair.  He was my best friend in the world.  I could tell him anything. 

    When my dad died, I went through a dark time.  My friends helped me deal with the pain and loss, and I finally started to come out of my depression.  Things seemed to straighten out for a while, then a new problem occurred.  It started with a simple little crush.  A girl named Selena had moved to town in the middle of the school year.  She was exotic and beautiful, with her dark red hair and deeply tanned skin.  She was obnoxious, self-centered, and blunt, but I didn't care.  I was so smitten by her beauty and curvy figure, that I didn't see her personality flaws.  I talked to her at every opportunity and constantly bought her gifts.  I thought she cared about me, so I finally confessed my feelings to her one day.  I was so stupid, that I actually tried to kiss her.  Her beautiful face changed from surprise to horror in a heartbeat.  "What are you doing?  You're a girl!  That's disgusting!"  she shrieked at me and backed away.  Instead of just leaving me to suffer with my embarrassment and misery, Selena yelled for everyone within earshot.  She wanted the whole school to know of my humiliation.  Thankfully, my mind blocked out the worst of it.  I just remember a confusing whirlwind of taunts and screaming faces.  My friend, Julius, somehow managed to get me out of there. 

    The news spread through town like wildfire.  Mother was still dealing with the loss of my dad and this was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.  I had never seen her so angry and embarrassed in my life.  "How could you do this to me?!  What is wrong with you?!"  she screamed.  She knew the only way to fix this problem wast to get rid of the cause- Me.  She sent me off to dad's hobby farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley with enough money to survive the summer.  She figured the gossips would move on to new and interesting topics by the time I got back.  The last thing she said to me before I left was "Don't come back until you get this odd, experimental behavior out of your system.  When you are back to a proper, normal young lady, you can come back home."

    As I finished my story, I realized I was still crying, but softly now.  "Peace, sister.  It'll be all right."  Gustafa crooned to me.  He had a soft, gentle voice that seemed to soothe my weary soul.  I felt drained and exhausted from pouring out my heart.  I just wanted to curl up and sleep forever.  I felt warm and comfortable and didn't want to move...except for something tickling my cheek.  I reached up to swat the annoying bug, there were so many in the summer, and ended up with my fingers tangled in Gustafa's beard!  I was so upset before that I didn't realize he had knelt down on the ground next to me.  I was curled up in his arms with my head resting on his shoulder.  My face suddenly grew hot with embarrassment and I was glad it was too dark for him to see me blush.  "C'mon, you need to get some sleep.  You'll feel better in the morning." Gustafa said soothingly, without commenting on this awkward situation.  I let him help me up and I stumbled along like a zombie.  With his help, I finally made it to my house and plopped down on the edge of my bed.   Gustafa brushed my tousled hair out of my face and smiled at me with friendship and...something more?  "Gustafa, do you think I'm a freak?" I finally managed to ask, with a tremor in my voice.  I sat there with barely controlled fear, waiting for the rejection that I knew was coming.  Gustafa looked genuinely surprised by my question.  "Why would I think that?" he asked softly.  "We are all made different.  If we weren't, the world wouldn't be such a groovy place." he stated with a smile on his face. 

Author's Note

This chapter is mostly about rejection. Angela is rejected by Selena, by her classmates, by her mother, and she is afraid Gustafa will reject her too. I have a love-hate relationship with this chapter. I love the tender scene with Gustafa, but I can't stand Selena in the video game. It was really, really hard to write flattering things about her in the flashback section. The way she is portrayed in my story Selena's Challenge, is pretty much how I feel about her. She's such a hag!

Reviews

[Emunah June.]

So hang on a moment...is Angela bisexual? Because she admitted her love for Selena, right? I'm kinda confused. :/