The Yearning

Right Here Waiting

Wherever you go, whatever you do,
I will be right here waiting for you.
Whatever it takes or how my heart breaks,
I will be right here waiting for you.
~Richard Marx~
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The first time I saw Andy was when he transferred to my school; he was going into the eighth grade and I into seventh.
We had a couple of classes together, but we never spoke; he was quiet and kept to himself, not much different than me.

On one of the last days of school, I found myself trapped 'between a rock and a hard place'; literally two jocks and a brick wall.
It was after lunch and they managed to catch me off guard, I looked around for some help and saw I was the only person out there.
I tried to get away but couldn't, one stood as lookout as the other had me pinned to the wall with his arm against my neck. I felt his hand traveling up the inside of my thigh and I tried everything to stop him.
In a blink, the jocks face contorted and his head spun around, the culprit was Andy's fist as it made contact.

He stood his ground against both of them, for the most part, until they managed to get him on the ground.
At that point he was done for, they beat the fuck out of him and I couldn't stop it. I screamed and hit at them, but I was physically powerless.
When they finally let him be, I was afraid he wouldn't be able to move. I stooped down beside him, "Are you okay?".

"Just leave me alone."

"Come on, let me help you up.", I made the gesture by taking his arm.

He jerked away and shouted, "Go away and leave me alone!".

Before I stood to leave, I thanked him for what he had done. I think that was probably when I started to fall in love with him, he was the first person who ever tried to protect me.

School ended without another interaction between us and the next year wasn't any better; he moved up to the high school and I only saw him a few minutes each day, it did nothing to quench my growing crush for him.

When my turn to move up came, I couldn't wait; but my bubble was quickly burst, I learned he and Scout were together and completely inseparable.

The only up side was his friends became my friends, and we all hung out together; in time Andy and I talked more and grew to be pretty close.
I guess his friendship was my 'consolation prize' and as usual it came with a catch, I had to listen to him talk about Scout incessantly.
I was his 'shoulder to cry on' and my heart broke a little each time we were alone; he talked about his idea of a dream girl and how he knew Scout was it, even though she did things to hurt him.

When that flame finally fizzled, I thought maybe I had a chance; but there wasn't enough time, he was soon boarding a bus to Cali.
That dreadful morning was gray and gloomy, with a light mist falling around us; I stood out of the way while his parents and other friends hovered around him. He said his goodbyes to each and started to get on the bus, I almost cried; but he stopped and turned around, like he was looking for something.
He jumped off and ran over to me, I held back my tears and displayed my prettiest smile.

"I almost forgot to say goodbye to you!"

"It's alright, you take care of yourself."

"You too. Be good and I'll call you soon.", he hugged my neck and kissed me, then re-entered the bus.

I watched until the bus had completely vanished from view before I let my tears flow free; who knew our first kiss was going to be a goodbye.