“What’s wrong?” I asked, my eyes staring into his blue ones.
“Nothing,” he hastily said.
“Oh c’mon,” I rolled my eyes, blue highlights on long black hair flipping over my shoulder. “you know you could tell me anything, right?”
“I just,” he said, eyes tearing up, blue pools of the ocean. “it’s a girl and I can’t stop chasing after her.”
He traced a broken heart in the dirt as I swallowed a clump in the back of my throat.
“You remember what it was like, right?” he said, turning to face me. “When even seeing them was like being high, as though you could have done anything when she just spoke to you, and not knowing how to get her to see what you felt from them.”
Bile raised up to my mouth as I attempted a smile, “well obviously I got over that, love is so over-rated.”
I turned back to his drawing and erased the broken line in the middle, letting my hair lie long to cover the tears in my eyes.
“How did you get over your crush, by the way.” he asked, his eyebrows scrunching together to form puppy-like expression.
I huffed at the frizzy lock of hair in front of my face as I fell back on the grass, staring up at the midnight stars.
He fell down beside me, and I fought to breathe as my face lighted up.
Thank god it was dark, lest he see my cherry red cheeks. .
I turned on my side, to face him, smiling. “I call it the substitution manoeuvre.”
“What’s that?”
“You find somebody else.”
“Dear lord, _ _ _ _ _,” he sighed. “I’ve only known you for a month do you honestly expect me to understand what that means?”
“Ha,” I said, poking him on his shoulder, my fingers lingering for just a second longer than they should have. “finally something that the famous A+ student _ _ _ _ _ _ _ doesn’t know!”
“Could you please explain this detailed plan of yours?”
“Fine, peasant, I suppose I shall.” I said, sniffing through my nose and making a disgusted face.
“The substitution manoeuvre is when you find another crush to disguise the old one,” I said, continuing on past the previous interruption. “you put all your love into that one person, and eventually that other person becomes insignificant.”
“But then you’ll be in love with the other person, how will yo-“ he interrupted
“I’m not done,” I said, giving him my most grievous look. “and yes, you will be in love with that other person, but don’t you get it? You haven’t been in love with them for long enough so…”
“So…” I could almost see the lightbulb lighting up above his head. “you won’t be truly in love with them, and it will be just something quick and small.”
“Nice! A for effort!” I said. “But it’s not that simple, and you have to be picky when you choose your substitute.”
“What do you mean?”
“It has to be somebody you know and see personally almost every day, but not somebody you can talk to.” I said, my face slowly turning downwards. “that way it’s strong enough to forget the other person, but not strong enough to make you fall deeply in love with the substitute.”
“But…” he said, trailing off. “What if you get to know the substitute? I mean if you’re seeing them every day then…”
I looked at him, my face drooping down for a second before I hastily laughed and said “you just have to hope you don’t then.”
Slowly, I retraced the broken crack in the sand heart.
