Justin, my boyfriend of one year, always meets me at the concession stand during halftime of his soccer games. After the coach gives his pep talk, he rushes over to be with me for a short few minutes. There was only five minutes of halftime left, and I had been patiently waiting.
The rings of my cell phone to his repeated on and on until his voice came on voicemail, "This is Justin Green. I'm either busy with my girl [me giggling in the background] or with soccer, so leave a message and I'll get back to ya."
I sighed and finished the last of my pretzel. My best guy friend, Henry, waved to me from up in the stands. You could never miss his dark, bushy hair. I waved back and turned around, to head back to my seat, assuming that Justin was still talking with coach. My eyes followed my purple Converse, looking slightly ahead to make sure I wasn't about to step on any stray trash.
"Hey, watch where you're going, Amber!" my friend Garrett exclaimed. He was the school's best soccer goalie, and he made sure everyone knew it, too.
"Oh, hey, have you seen Justin?"
He gave me a weird look and said, "Yeah, he's in the locker room. Catch ya later."
Instead of taking the stairs, I walked through the corridor towards the lockers. I shoved the door open and, almost involuntarily, walked to the back of the room where Justin's locker was.
What I saw stopped me in my tracks. What I saw wanted to make me scream and cry. What I saw wanted to make me crawl into a hole. What I saw wanted to make me punch something.
I never thought I would see Justin hold another girl, let alone kiss one. Make out with another girl, for that matter. His hands were all over her, and her hands were running through his hair like I knew he loved.
Do I even know if he loves anything? Do I even know if he still loves me?
Worse, she was a cheerleader. Justin knew I had always despised cheerleaders. I once was one. I cheered from my heart, because I felt something deep inside me that wanted to urge on my team. But then, the cheerleading squad became preppy. All they cared about was boys and their own looks. It became cliché, fake, and unreal.
That's what Justin is - a fake. Just like her.
"We're over." I choked out between sobs.
My head started pounding and my blood boiled. I didn't care what I looked like. I scurried out of there, inbetween the bleachers, and under it was our place. Justin and I had shared many kisses inbetween those metal posts. He had carved 'J + A forever' in the dirt, which I immediately scrubbed out.
I sat in the dirt and sobbed quietly. I realized this would be the first place Justin would look for me, and since I didn't want to see him ever again, I crawled out quickly. I wandered out into the grassy area by the parking lot and sat by the trunk of a tree. I stared ahead and reminisced all of our memories from the past year. I realized that every kiss and every touch was a lie. When he said, "You are the only girl I would ever love," it was far from true.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Henry approached and sat next to me, leaning on the trunk of the tree. Shocked by my tear-stained face, he was quiet for a moment. Then he used his jacket to wipe the tears off of my face.
"Did he .. ?"
Henry was probably thinking that Justin only broke up with me. It would hurt too much to explain the cheating part in detail. So I nodded slowly, and muttered, "He cheated."
"I'm so sorry, Amber." Henry whisphered. I cried on his shoulder, neither of us caring that his tee-shirt and jacket were almost soaked through. The occassional passer-by gave us worried glances. We stayed shock-still for what I assumed to be ten minutes. Taking a peek at the scoreboard clock, it was twenty.
"Amber, I know it'll take a while for you to heal. I'll be here for you every step of the way, you know I will." He breathed out heavily, then continued, "You need someone who will love you for who you truly are. Someone who calls you beautiful instead of hot. Someone who gives you a bouquet of plastic roses and says 'I will love you until the last petal withers.' Someone who looks at you and tells his friends, 'That's the one.' ... I could be that guy, Amber."
I lifted my head to look into his deep eyes. I almost thought I saw a tear, but it could have just been a trick of the light. Seeing him look at me like that stirred something deep inside me. I realized that he had loved me all along and had been watching on the sidelines, waiting. Always picking up the pieces to my broken heart, and waiting for his chance.
"I've been waiting to give you this. It's been sitting in my pocket for a while now." He pulled out a small box and opened it, dumping the contents into his hand. A small, yet intricate and elaborate key on a thin chain sat in his outstretched hand. There was a purple gem in the middle, my favorite color.
"It's beautiful." I breathed.
"It's the key to my heart." Both of our hearts skipped a beat, and in that moment there was pure silence. "Will you be my girl?"
"Forever and always." His eyes shone with delight. The fireflies started to turn their lights on and off in a dazzling pattern. Henry clasped the necklace around my neck, and we laid in the dirt, watching Mother Nature do her work. I finally felt complete, a feeling I had never felt with Justin. That night, I had explored a whole new level of love. A love that was true. That night, I became stronger and it helped me become who I am today.
That night started three new obsessions: keys, fireflies, and Henry.
Spoiler! :
made me smile at some parts and just think, 'Awww!'
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