“You what?” I asked. Her cousin? That was sick. I had heard enough as she began to blabber a response, I put the phone down.

“What’s up?” Amy asked coming over, “you look white.”

“An ex-girlfriend,” I began, “Well to be honest, we were never really together. I guess she was just a rebound, from Jade.” Amy nodded, “She was pretty desperate,”

“She sounds weird,” Amy smiled, “you deserve better,”

“Thanks, but what if this is my lot? What if I keep getting dud girlfriends who just leave me, or cheat on me…. With their cousins!”

“Cousins?” my phone began to ring, I turned it off,

“You heard, yes, her cousin,”

“That’s sick, what did she do?”

“Kissed him,”

“Really? Their kids would be really messed up!”

“Tell me about it, I just want to be with a normal girl, no drama!” Amy nodded and then got called away. I sat down on the seat next to the cooker,

“Bad day?” asked Benjay the cook, I nodded,

“Just got worse, my girlfriend kissed her cousin,” Benjay stopped stirring,

“Seriously?”

“No joke,”

“That happens a lot in my culture,” Benjay was Thai, “But when we say cousin, we mean distant relative, make sure she means cousin,” I smiled,

“I honestly don’t care; I’ve had enough of girls altogether.”

“You like boys?” he joked,
“No, I’m just going to be single for a while, sort myself out.”

“Good plan,” Benjay smiled, “Now get to work,” I stood up, smiled at him and picked up a plate.

I walked out the door into the restaurant and then did a double take. She was there, in the room, with her cousin. She hadn’t seen me, but I had seen her. And him. He was in my league. I put the plate down,

“Do your work Zack,” Benjay scolded,

“She’s out there,”

“Who?”

“The girl and her cousin,”

“Oh, I want to see this,” Benjay turned down the heat and pushed me out into the restaurant eating area.

“Zack!” Violet called, I look up and narrowed my eyes at her,

“Hey Vi,” I said sourly,

“Look I’m really sorry,” she began, “This is Connor, my cousin,” I raised my eyebrows at him,

“Hey Sicko,”

“What do you mean?” he asked in a thick Irish accent,

“You know what I mean, really Violet, he’s your cousin!”
“Second cousin!” she claimed,

“So what? He’s your parent’s cousin?”

“It’s a lengthy line, “

“Still, you cheated on me,” I spat, “It’s over. I never want to see you again! You knew about my situation, yet you go and cheat on me!” My voice began to rise, “Get out of my life, forever!” I threw down my teat towel dramatically and strode back into the kitchen. I didn’t even get to see the shock on her face, which according to Amy was priceless.

I punched my hand into the air,

“YES!” I smiled, I suddenly felt as if a huge cloud had lifted off me. I unexpectedly felt free, happy and ready to live. Next move? Apply to university.

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Author guidance for This exercise

Zack is Jade's boyfriend at the start of Paranormal http://www.protagonize.com/exercise/paranormal

He is devastated by the fact their four-year-long relationship has ended so suddenly with Jade going off with an English guy (read Paranormal :)).

Violet is a teenager who is attracted to Zack from the first moment she sees him.
This story was written by two teenage girls who felt sorry for Zack and thought he deserved a second chance at love. Hopefully, things will go better than they did with Jade (who Tianna personally dislikes a little).

updated Jul 19 '10 by Kiri