vita // lh au

.04

*THIS CHAPTER COULD BE TRIGGERING FOR SOME. READ WITH CAUTION*

ZOE

Laurel and I were in the basement, we had just gotten home from the party. It was about 3 AM, and dad still wasn't home. Shocker.

"You have hickey on your neck, Zoe!" Laurel exclaimed.

My hand reached up to my neck, feeling the bite for myself. Damnit, Luke. "Shit." I said out loud.

"So are you guys a thing now, or what?" She asked me.

"No, we're just friends." I replied.

"What? Why?" She asked, kind of angrily.

"I'm not ready to date, Laurel."

"You never will be."

"I will be at some point; just not now." I said.

"I know you."

"So?" I asked her.

"You're never gonna be ready. The only way to fully get over what Ryan did to you is to either face the problem head on, or move on. And since you won't just face it, you need to move on. Luke really likes you, Zoe. And I know you like him too."

"It's not that I won't face it, it's that I can't face it. You know that."

"That's bullshit, Zoe, and you know it." She said.

"What is up with you, Laurel? Back in New York you were fine with me not facing it, and now that we're in Australia, all of a sudden I need to? If you ask me, that's what's bullshit."

"Well I'm not asking you. In America you didn't have a reason to get over it. Everywhere we went in New York, you were reminded of Ryan. Here, you have a fresh start; nothing to remind you of that idiot. You need to move on or you're going to spend your whole life moping around about some arrogant asshole that will never be anything but an arrogant asshole. But you, Zoe, you're gonna do amazing things. Unless you let it go, Ryan will always control you. Until you let it go, you're still letting him fuck you over each and every day. Let it go. Let him go. He's never gonna change. Stop thinking that he will. Guys like him never do. Let it go." She was crying at this point. "It hurts me so much knowing what he did to you. If there is anything in this world I could have done to make it not have happened, I would have. It hurts me so much; I can't even imagine how much pain you've felt. You deserve so much better than that. You deserve to be happy and be with someone who treats you right. Luke might not be that person, but you'll never know unless you try. It might go down in flames, but wouldn't you rather try? Don't you want to know what it's like to be genuinely loved again? I know I do."

"I do, I just don't know how." I replied shyly.

"Think back to the last happy memory you have with Ryan."

FLASHBACK

(A year and a half ago)

Ryan and I were at my house in my room, it was our 4 year anniversary. We had just gone on a lavish date, and I was feeling spoiled like usual.

"Thank you for tonight, baby, I had a blast." I said to him, smiling from ear to ear.

"You deserve it; I think I might like you." He said, smiling back at me.

"Oh really," I asked, "Well how much do you like me?"

"Enough to get you this." He pulled a small box out of his pocket, wrapped neatly in wrapping paper.

"You already gave me flowers and a necklace! I thought we said no gifts. What is this?" I asked as he handed the box to me. I unwrapped it quickly; eager to see what he got me this time. Our dads worked together, so needless to say, Ryan had a lot of money, enough to spoil me senseless. When I got it open, I realized it was a ring box. I opened it up to find a beautiful diamond ring, worth at least $9,000.