Seventeen Weeks

Week Two - July 13

Madison.

Why did everything somehow go back to her? She was more of a problem - not Spencer. And that's pretty depressing.

I didn't want to answer his message. I already knew the story - Spencer realized that he liked his ex, so he broke up with me. What else was there to it?

I ignored his text message. I wasn't in the mood to relive the story of the witch who stole the one I loved to the bottom of my heart.

But Spencer was in the mood to tell me the story.

Arielle, let me explain. Madison likes me. A lot. I ran into her when I was in the grocery store with my aunt, and we caught up on a few things. I didn't really want to talk to her at first, but once I saw how she changed since we broke up, I couldn't help but engage in a conversation with her. Eventually she gave me her new phone number, and I ended up texting her later that night. Texting her and catching up on everything made me realize that I missed her.

All that happened because he encountered her in a grocery store?

None of it made sense. You don't just walk back to your ex that easily, especially when you're in a relationship with someone else. You don't just exchange numbers with your ex after not talking to them for several months all because of running into them in a freaking grocery store. You don't just suddenly encounter each other and are on friendly terms after what was supposedly "the toughest breakup with the Wicked Bitch of the West".

That story was absolutely ridiculous. Was it even true to begin with? I couldn't tell. I had my doubts, but in the end, I believed it.

~~~

"May I see your ID please? Driver's license or work ID is acceptable."

The man pulled his wallet out of his left back pocket and opened it up, revealing what seemed to be over a dozen plastic cards - IDs, gift cards, debit cards, and credit cards. He took no more than two seconds to locate his driver's license. He wriggled it out of the slot and handed it to me with a smile on his face.

I checked to see if it matched with the list of authorized people to pick up a child named Riley, and his name was the first one on the list. I handed him the clipboard and he signed his name on the line next to the name "Riley Stevens". He actually resembled Riley quite a bit - minus the obvious fact that this man didn't have a French braid in his hair.

Little Riley quickly ran to the table I was sitting at while shouting "Daddy!" in an excited, high-pitched voice. The man smiled and lifted her up off the ground, carrying her away as he wished me a good rest of the day.

Some of the parents are pleasant when they come to pick up their kids from the day camp. Others, however, are in a bad mood after a long, tedious day at work. Being respected by the nice parents makes me happy inside, since I'm barely respected by those who know me well and "love me".

Like Spencer.

I gently tapped the pen in my hand on the table as I patiently waited for the next parent to come. I was hoping that the next parent would have a pleasant attitude similar to Riley's father, but once I saw who was the next person I had to deal with, I realized that this person was going to be one hell of a handful.

First of all, he wasn't even a parent. He looked like he was my age - maybe a few months older. Second of all, I knew him from school. His name was Jaden Cordeiro. Not only was he one of the biggest pains in the ass I've ever met, he was also someone I hated, which leads us to reason three.

He stole my best friend during sophomore year. In other words, a few months ago.

Long story short, he was one of my least favorite people on the face of the Earth. Watching him walk towards me made me realize that my seemingly "good" day was going to end as a pretty shitty day.