• This may be about a boy with messy hair.
    Who wears ripped jeans that are too big for him and rides a bike.
    Or maybe this is about how he makes her feel.
    The warm glow of pure love that chases the storm clouds away.
    Until he is gone and all she can remember is the torture she went through because of him.

    “I love you,” he whispers, pulling her close to his chest.
    She buries her nose into the crook of his neck.
    Her necklace isn’t there.
    She tries not to take offense.

    Maybe it’s the way he stands with another, hiding behind walls.
    And snack machines.
    And she stands alone, wondering.
    Watching.
    Waiting.

    “I chose you,” he says, kissing her forehead softly.
    She returns a kiss to his cheek and says nothing.
    “Baby, what’s wrong?” He asks.
    Her bite mark is fading away.
    She wonders how long it’s been.
    “Nothing,” she replies, not looking at his face.

    Perhaps its how promises were broken.
    Excuses that are claimed to be truth.
    Hopes that the light at the end of the tunnel grows bright.
    She hopes.
    Alone.
    In silence.

    “We’ll be happy again,” he promises, pushing her against the wall gently.
    But enough to know that what he says are blank words with little thought.
    She accepts his heated kisses quietly.
    Her ears are open just incase someone happens to stumble upon them.
    She wouldn’t want to cause trouble.

    It could be the silence between them.
    He never talks about her, she never asks about her.
    Yet he claims that she won’t be around much longer.
    She listens.
    Hoping.
    She trusts him.

    “I don’t love her,” he insists with awful spelling. “I only love you.”
    She stares at the flashing screen of her cell phone.
    Her delete button doesn’t work.
    Whatever is typed cannot be undone.
    She types blindly and curls up under her blanket.

    She doesn’t know how much time is left, but she knows that she can’t stand much longer. The watching, the silence, the hoping.
    After a while, it seems pointless and means nothing.

    Standing in the hallway, she is surrounded by friends.
    By those who care for her.
    But she doesn’t care.
    She looks past the crowds towards the little nook she knows he has crammed himself into.
    With her.

    The bell rings.
    She is still watching.
    They walk past her without a glance and she departs with her friends to her first class.
    She looks over her shoulder but sees no one.

    Hours pass and soon it is the middle of the day.
    Her phone vibrates and she heads towards the bathroom.
    There he is, bent over a water fountain, pretending to drink to appear casual.
    He sees her and smiles.

    Arms wrap around her, pulling her closer and closer.
    Heated lips meet hers and she does not fight back.
    He looks into her eyes and for a moment, all the love in the world shone brighter than the sun.
    “I love you baby girl,” he whispers in her ear.

    They depart.