He had invited me out, and I accepted. I enjoyed hanging out with him, my friend, so much. We had similar interests, played the same video games, but argued about character interpretation. He was a fun person. He asked me on Friday if I wanted to go to the strip mall the next day, and I had accepted. I dressed up as I usually would for a hot summer day, shorts, tee-shirt, tennis shoes, and my long hair in a bun to keep my neck cool. When I left the house, it was cloudy, and would possibly rain, but I didn’t mind. I wouldn’t get cold, it was summer, and a little water would cool me off. I took the bus to the strip mall and met him there. As I approached him, he smiled at me, and pulled out a bouquet of flowers for me. He asked me if I would be his girlfriend. I took the flowers from him, smiled awkwardly, and rejected him as politely as possible. His smiled wavered. Then he frowned. Then he screamed at me. Shouting profanities at me, telling me that I was stupid and I just wanted to date jerks. He said he was a nice guy, said that after all he did for me, I owed him. I stared in disbelief. He grabbed me by my collar firmly and punched me in my left cheek. The shock pushed me to the ground, and as I sat there in shock, he spit and me and turned and left. I sat for a moment longer, until I could no longer see his back. I stood up, still holding the flowers, and gently touched my cheek. Swollen, and I felt rain water and tears upon my cheek. I dropped the flowers in the mud puddle at my feet. The colorful house behind me reflected in the water. I was so cold.
Such beautifully haunting imagery in those closing lines: "I dropped the flowers in the mud puddle at my feet. The colorful house behind me reflected in the water. I was so cold." This scenario is so unfathomable to me but I would guess it's sadly rather common.
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