{A Michael Jackson Story}
He was broken glass, and she was untouchable. She thought she could read people, but he was a book without words. She held him in her hands, but she could not trust his actions, or even her own perceptions. After all, some...
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{M A U R A}
I was in the car, but I couldn't feel the gas pedal beneath my foot.
I sat there stoically in the driver's seat, anticipating the undeniable pain and humiliation I would feel the moment I saw his face. I was a ticking time bomb really, I felt myself about to explode. I guess I didn't care.
I looked over slowly at three week's worth of peonies. Their pink petals were wilted.
A heat wave had settled over Chicago. It was already mid-October and usually by then the summer's sweet temptations had long gone away. For some reason, sweltering temperatures decided to stick around.
Disgust rose in the back of my throat like bile. Disgust toward myself, toward Jesse Williams, toward Vick, toward Jax, toward everything that moved and breathed.
A knock on my car window threw me out of my reverie.
It was the delivery man. He leaned downward and peered at me.
"Flower delivery for... Maura Vanderbilt?"
I began to breathe heavily. Like a dog after a long run, like a woman scorned. I could feel the heat rushing to my face. The delivery man's eyes grew wide as I rolled down the window and snatched the flowers.
"I'm gonna fucking kill someone!" I screeched and the car's engine roared to life.
Every negative emotion in the world knifed through me as I raged down the road, ignoring stop signs and the possibility of death. The whole way I mused to myself, feeding into my own anger and relish.
"Who the fuck does he think he is?! All of them! As if men just... rule my life! As if I have no seperate thoughts or aspirations!"
I whipped into the school parking lot before screeching to a halt. I tumbled out of the car with the engine still running and snatched up as many peonies as I could fit into my arms.
For some reason there were no students milling about the lot. They all seemed to be gathered in a clump near the front lawn, silent.
I didn't care, not one bit. I stormed up right to the nearest dumpster and threw the lid open.
"Well you know what? Fuck it all!"
I felt the most amazing rush of energy and adrenaline as I pushed the peonies into the garbage. I ignored the looks of disapproval and befuddlement, all that mattered was me taking back my own emotions, me owning them instead of allowing them to be stamped on by others.
