Lessons on Seduction (Unedited Sample)

2 Goodbye, Cameron

Song for the mood: Summer Girl by HAIM.

Sapphire

Mid-September.

"Cameron?"

An icy silence infiltrated the clean air in the sterile, sunlit room. The only thing that broke the peaceful ambiance was the sound of my voice.

"We go back a long way, you and me. I'll never forget when we first met in junior high. I was new in Lester Harbor, and you said I was the prettiest girl you had ever seen. Oh, we were just kids." I threw my head back and laughed at the bygone days.

"You were the lovable Cameron Oliver. We sat in church together and held hands during the sermons. Oh, my goodness, you had such a beautiful voice when you sang Amazing Grace. You were like an angel."

I sighed, toying with a strand of long, cocoa-brown hair that fell over my left shoulder.

"Then, when we started our first day of college together, you combed your hair, which really brought out your beautiful green eyes."

Those evergreen eyes were shut behind a veil of unconsciousness.

"For years, I've loved you, but our worlds are growing apart."

I've got this. Everything will be okay.

"Was it worth it when you cheated on me? I thought we would wait for each other. That our first time would be together when we marry. Instead, you threw me away for a night with someone you barely knew."

I was so fucking stupid. Now in my last year of college, I realized that I wasted years loving someone who shitted on my life.

Live and learn, Saph. Live and learn.

I stared at the unconscious man on the hospital bed. The photo of us on his bedside table, placed there by his mother, showed a broad-shouldered and athletic guy who had everything going for him.

He practically threw his life away a week ago, shortly after I found out he was fucking another girl. We fought about it, and then he left me so he could drown his sorrows at a boozy party.

That was the night he chose to drive home drunk afterward. He nearly killed himself by driving at a ridiculously high speed off a quiet highway at around two a.m., veering off the road and crashing into a tree. Fucking idiot.

So here he was, battered, bruised, broken, and unconscious in a hospital bed. His right arm was in a cast, and so was his right leg. People said it was a miracle that he was still alive, and the medical staff believed he would slowly recover.

"Cameron, I wish it didn't have to be this way," I whispered.

He couldn't hear me, but I wasn't doing this for him. I was doing this for me. I had no idea when he would wake up from his coma, but I wasn't going to put my life on hold for him. It hurt to think of my bitter memories with Cam, and I had to cut my losses.

It was now or never.

"Cameron, I cannot do this."

I removed a sapphire and gold ring he gave me and placed it on his bedside.

"Are you okay?" a feminine voice asked, as I felt a soft hand gently clasp my shoulder.

I turned around to my new friend, Vera Richland. We met at a book club on campus early in the semester a few weeks back, and she became my rock of support amid the drama.

She drove me to Saint Andrew's Hospital to visit Cameron that afternoon.

I rubbed my arms after feeling a shiver run down my spine.