Page 11 of Can't Have Him

I laugh. “Yeah, mine too.”

“Oh. I also have—” She reaches into her backpack and pulls out another piece of paper. “Extra credit.”

“Great. Thank you.”

She nods. She starts to turn to leave.

But then I say, “Wait. Olivia.”

And she stops and looks at me.

“Do you have a minute?” I ask.

“Um…sure,” she says.

“Come in. Take a seat.”

“Should I close the door?”

“Yes. If you wouldn’t mind.”

She does, then takes a seat. I can see the apprehension in her face, but I need to go through with this. I can’t let her go the rest of her life without knowing the truth.

“I lied to you,” I say. “I lied about cheating on my ex.”

Olivia looks confused. “What? Why?”

“I had to tell you something truly awful to make you not like me anymore. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t feel it was necessary. I’m sorry for lying to you.”

Olivia stares at me. “Is that the only thing you lied about?”

“Yes. Well—no. I lied about breaking it off with my ex. She was the one who ended it. But that’s it. I promise.”

Stiffly, she says, “Well, thank you for telling me.”

“I feel terrible about it, Olivia. It’s been eating me up since I said it to you. It really has. And ever since that day, I’ve questioned whether it really was as necessary as I thought it was. But it’s too late to do anything about it now. All I can do is come clean. And apologize. I’m sorry, Olivia. From the bottom of my heart. I’m sorry.”

Slowly, she nods. She takes a few moments to digest what I’ve just told her. “I mean…I see why you did it.”

“I know this is the last time you and I are going to see each other,” I say. “But if we ever cross paths again, please know that I’ll always be honest with you.”

She nods again. Then she stands up, and so do I. She looks at me, hesitates, then turns and opens up the door to my office.

“Bye, James,” she says.

“Bye, Olivia,” I say, my heart throwing itself against the inside of my chest as she walks away.

* * *

By some small miracle,all of my students turn in their final papers with time to spare. After double-checking to make sure I’ve received one from everybody, I pack up my things and head out of my office. It’s completely quiet out in the hall.

Then I hear footsteps.

Rushing footsteps.

I look up and see Olivia approach.

“Olivia?” I say.