Rejection: Fiction

Alison, a woman in her late twenties, has never had a relationship that progressed into love. She believes that she is innately “bad,” which prevents her from finding a relationship with a good man. 

One night, Alison visits her best friend, Neil. Neil and Alison have been friends since college, when Neil supported Alison through her eating disorder. After flirtation, they have sex, which Alison greatly enjoys. Neil asks her if he can take a picture of her giving him a blowjob. Alison is flattered and agrees, asking for a copy. The next morning, Neil tells Alison that he isn’t interested in a serious relationship. Alison accepts this and reports the night’s events to friends, who are impressed. The picture Neil took turns out to be terrible.

The next time they hang out, Alison asks to have sex again, but Neil declines and counters that they should stop hanging out so often. Alison sheepishly accepts, then wonders what she did to scare him off. Alison reports the development to her group chat friends, who express contempt for Neil. This implies that they were never impressed with Alison to begin with, but she shrugs off her suspicion that they are patronizing her.