Reece

Twelve

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he spoke into the mic. “There’s something I need to say- a confession, of sorts. I have never been one of those in-touch-with-their-emotional-side types of guys so you’re all going to have to just bear with me.”

He turned to look at me desperately. “Cadence, there’s something that I need to say to you, but I need you to be patient because I might not make much sense. When my brother introduced you to me, you ruined my life.” Gasps could be heard reverberating around the room. “You see, before you, everything was perfect. It basically revolved around rugby and my mates and probably food, and that’s all I ever really needed. Then you waltzed in with your ridiculous blonde hair and those green eyes, and let’s not even get started on your smile, and suddenly my life was turned upside down.

“I no longer lived for rugby, or for my mates or for food. Instead, you became the most important thing in the world for me,” Reece blushes with the revelation. “And every day since then, you have been the single most important thing to me. Yeah, we fight and sometimes you want to kill me, and we spend more time not talking than actually talking, but there’s never a dull day with you. You make life exciting. Like that time you planted those lips on me the first time around. Admittedly the second time was exciting too, but I can only manage to embarrass my way through one kiss at a time.”

A laugh rose among our fellow students, their attention firmly on Reece, while his attention was firmly on me.

“The thing about you, Cadence, is that you never fail to surprise me. When you stormed up to me and kissed me like your life depended on it, it was like my life depended on it too. I don’t think you realise quite how you affect me, but let me explain it to you. Kissing you was as natural as breathing. Without your lips on mine, I probably wouldn’t have survived because you gave me that glimmer of hope. Even when you called me by my brother’s name, that hope never diminished.”

He pauses to regain his thoughts and I gave him an encouraging nod. “Even through our many arguments, and there were many arguments, I never once gave up on the thought that one day I would finally win you over. Then the one night where I finally get the girl, I lose her in the same heartbeat,” Reece chokes up. He somehow looks smaller than he did before, but he finds the strength to battle through and deliver his final lines. “Dylan and the others were wrong to tell you that I like you, Cadence. So wrong. Because, I don’t just like you.

“I love you,” he tells me with a crooked smile flashing across his features. “I’ve loved you since the moment I met you, Cadence. That kiss out there proved that to me, even if it didn’t seem like that to you. I finally got everything I ever wanted and I just needed to see you, and to know that it’s real. So, if it is, could you tell me? Come up here, and tell me that this is real.”