The Ivy League by Ruby Parker Page B

was proud of herself.  She was standing in the open doorway of her apartment.  “He is mine, and you were trying to take that from me.”
    Sara could see Krista was not herself.  Her skin was pale, her hair was oily and stringy.  Her nose was red from being constantly rubbed.
    “Are you alright?” Sara said, forgetting her own anger for a moment.  She was hurt by what Krista did, but she wanted to get to the bottom of it, and understand why she would do something like this.
    “No,” Krista said, “I’m sick.  I’ve been sick for days.  And you are taking away the only man I’ve ever loved.”
    “ I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sara said, crossing her arms over her chest.  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.  I would never try to take someone from you.”
    “Oh really?” Krista said, seeing the blue diamond ring on Sara’s finger.  “That ring says otherwise.”
    “Dan?” Sara said, looking down at the ring.
    “Yes,” Krista hissed , turning away from the door, leaving it open for Sara to enter.  She had been crying since she had found out, and fresh tears began to roll down her face. 
    “Krista,” Sara said with a sigh, stepping into the apartment and closing the door.  She stopped in her tracks when she saw the mess that the apartment was in.  She had only been to Krista’s home a few times, but every time she had , it was spotless.  Something was seriously wrong with her friend for her to suddenly start acting like this. 
    “I love him,” Krista whined plopping down on the couch.  “But he wants to marry you.”
    “Ok, you’re gonna have to give me a little bit of a back story here,” Sara said, sitting on the couch next to Krista.
     
    #
     
    Sara left Krista’s apartment with a heavy heart.  They had spent hours talking, and hashing out each other’s stories.  She was still very angry with her friend, despite the multiple apologies she made after Sara explained she had no intention of continuing a relationship with Dan.
    She felt so stupid for trusting him.  He seemed like such a gentleman, but after everything Krista told her, including many graphic details she didn’t want to know, Sara knew she never wanted anything to do with him.  She had given Krista the engagement ring, not even wanting to see him one more time to give it back. 

Chapter Thirty
     
    Sara sat in her apartment staring out the window.  She felt so lost.  She spent the last three days crying.  Her dreams were a shattered mess.  What she had thought would be a future with Dan had been revealed to be nothing more than an illusion.  She lost her best friend, her academic future, and her fiancé in one fell swoop. 
    A knock at the door pulled her out of her stupor.  She was not at all prepared for the person she found standing on the other end, and she immediately regretted her decision to postpone bathing for the past two days. 
    “You have no idea how much trouble it was to find your address,” Banks said, as his eyes ghosted over Sara’s bedraggled appearance.  She had clearly been slumming it since receiving her bad news, but she was still beautiful to him.  “I had to pull quite a few strings to get it.”
    “What are you doing here?” Sara said, brushing at her hair with her fingers, hoping it would somehow make her look not so frumpy.
    “I tried calling you,” he said, “ but you didn’t answer.”
    “Yeah,” Sara said, tucking a greasy lock of hair behind her ear, “I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.”
    “Can I come in?” Banks said, as he brandished a thick bouquet of roses from behind his back.
    “Sure,” Sara said with a half-hearted smile, accepting the flowers.  She stepped aside, letting him come into her apartment.  If she hadn’t been so upset with everything that had happened, she would have been embarrassed.  This was the first time he was seeing her apartment, and it looked like a disaster.  Clothes and empty tubs of ice