Alice pulled up her knees. "'E hurt me, Elijah..."

Elijah looked surprised and frowned. "He hurt you? Like.. did he strike you?"

Alice shook her head. "He broke my heart... I thought he was a nice boy. He said he loved me and he wanted to marry me..."

Elijah sighed and closed his eyes and hugged her. "I am sorry. Some boys are terrible and will say anything to get with a girl. It's why they try to drill into girls to not let boys near them until marriage. You are innocent and believed him. I wish you didn't have to learn this way. He is a fool to not treat you far better and to have not really cared for you. He didn't deserve your heart. Not even close."

"It's my fault for not listening to what I've always been told. When I was with him..." She bit her lip, embarrassed. "I had such shameful feelings and I just forgot... Oh, I am so ashamed, Elijah."

"No no, don't feel sad Alice. While we might not have acted upon it, we've all felt that once in our life. Even if no one likes to admit it. You were in love and he made you feel special, right?" He tilted his head and looked at her and smiled weakly. "You wanted to keep him happy and him keep his promise to marry you. You couldn't have believed it was a lie."

Alice's bit her lip and nodded, wiping her eyes. "I'm such a fool. I should have listened to what father and mother taught me. Even he doesn't want me now."

Elijah frowned. "Don't be hard on yourself. If he truly loved you, he'd be ecstatic to hurry up the wedding so you two could be together and start your family. This isn't because you aren't good enough. And it was just a lapse in judgement. Please, don't let him be the reason you are so upset. Completely forget about that guy, he's just awful. We will see what we can do to help you, alright? I'm on your side, Alice."

Alice nodded slowly, wiping away some tears. "It aint fair that he can act like that and move on and my life is... like this."

Elijah nodded, "It isn't fair. That's why I want to see you over come it and show him and your dad and anyone else that you can be happy. I don't know how but I will try to help you find a way."