Scandalized

by Ivy Owens

This is a moment I will remember for the entire rest of my life. No matter what happens after this, I will file tonight under Happiness.

So why pretend? If he doesn’t like what he sees, then the worst thing that happens is it ends a little sooner than it would have otherwise. It’s not like I won’t be devastated either way—I will.

But we don’t get to choose our heartbreaks, and we never truly know the paths that could have been even more terrible.

I’m still so mad, I’m not even willing to own the fact out loud that it would have been easier to handle all of this if I’d included his account in the write-up.

The thought sings to me as I cross the street: life will throw curveballs, and things won’t always be this easy or straightforward, but this love—our love—is the rare wonder that comes along once in a lifetime.