Advice That Wasn’t For Me

I didn’t change my mind alone. And that matters. There was a woman in our club.

The vice president. She was older than me. Prettier. More popular.

The kind of woman people trusted without questioning. When I started getting close to him,

she noticed. One day, she pulled me aside. Her voice was calm. Almost kind.

She said, “Don’t date him.” “Men like that always have other girls.” “You’ll get hurt.”

She didn’t sound jealous. She sounded experienced. And I was young. Insecure.

Grateful that someone like her cared enough to advise me. So I listened. Only later did I

understand. She wasn’t protecting me. She was protecting herself.