Travis and Me

1

Travis. The beginning and the end. The eternal first and last name in my love life. I have never loved anyone the way I loved him; I still do, so much. And even though I can't say with utmost certainty that he felt the same way for me, I like to believe so. I like to believe so.

I like to believe that he considered me exactly what I consider him to be: the love of my life. And I also like to believe that even if our love might not have been the best, it sure was unique, true, ethereal, overwhelming and adorable in its own way, and it probably is. It most probably surely is.

There might have been other names that we both have connected with our own. But our names looked the prettiest, cutest and truest together. There might have been many in between, but his name is still the first and final that gets read along with mine, and mine is the first and last that is seen along with his.

In fact, he is so mine that he exists within me. In my mind and soul alone. No technology or intelligence can help you find the real him anywhere else. He was born within me and he died within me. He started within me, and he'll probably end the same way too.

Our love was so filmy. Enemies to lovers; teenage lovers. A classic. Would've made a great storyline for a book, a drama, or maybe even a movie.

The first time I heard of him, I couldn't decide what to make of him (as if I felt the need to). Even after piecing all the information I heard from my friends together, he didn't feel very special: one year senior to me, bully, heartthrob, good in bed, younger one of two; just another typical spoilt, haughty, popular, playboy son of fairly rich parents. In fact, I think I kind of got a bad impression.

And the first conversation we had was certainly not the best of introductions.

Even though I had seen him bully other students at school before and had my blood boiling when he did so, I never did anything about it as I did not want my teachers or anybody else to have the wrong impression that I was a troublemaker who poked her nose in everybody else's business. That would make my school life a whole lot harder. But I should've known that my personality trait of voicing out against anything unjust could not be suppressed for a long time. And that's how we had our first conversation. I once impulsively stood up for a meek boy whom he was constantly troubling.

"Now, now. Look who's decided to stick up for the fatso! The new bitch, aren't you?

"Okay, I'll warn you for the first and the last time, 'cause everyone deserves a chance to reform.

"Nobody teaches me anything. You hear that? No-body. I'll do whatever I want and no one has the right to stop me." he croaked.

"I agree, everyone deserves a chance to reform. And everyone can too. Including you. What did he do to you? Let him go." I replied calmly, but sternly.

"What did I just tell you about teaching me things, huh?" he asked, in a disappointed and offended voice.

"It's fine to learn and adopt good things from others at times, you know." I couldn't control myself.

"ARE YOU DEAF, huh? Those who can't learn things own their own are the ones who learn from others and I am not one of them! You hear me, you fucking bitch?!"

He seized my arms tight and held me so close to him that I could see myself, shocked by his sudden act of aggression, in his vibrant black eyes. But neither did I feel fluttering butterflies in my tummy nor any electrifying feeling of unrecognized love, unlike how things go in the movies. In fact, I didn't even notice all the people staring at us with excitement and shock. All I could feel was my now cold body, the anxiety building inside me and the fuming flames of anger in my chest.

"When I say something, I mean it and it is not meant to be disobeyed."

 Even though, these words came out of his mouth more as hissing than speech, I could feel his hurt ego in those words. And somewhere between those words, for a moment, I could feel some sort of a vulnerability surfacing him, and I also felt that I was the only person in the lobby sensing the latter. He seemed to be extremely sensitive about my reluctance to submit to his authority. My arms felt like they would explode with pain if he continued to hold me that way for a few more minutes.

"Let me go" I whispered back, furious, with tears of anger starting to well up in my eyes. And as if he had quickly put on a mask of some sort, the aggression and hurt left his face in a moment, and he smiled a wicked grin and said, "Oh, are we crying now? It's okay, I won't hurt you, li'l girl. Just be a good kid and everything's gonna be fine." He let go of me.

"Don't you dare do that one more time!"

"Of course, I will." He sniggered.

The bell rang and one of my new friends dragged me to my class against my will. I had never even imagined that someone would've reacted this way to something so manageable.

After all the runs I made of it in my head, and all the advices from my friends that evening, one thing I was really clear about was that I hated him. And it was obvious that it was a mutual feeling.

~A/N: Hey, y'all!!! I'm new here and this is my first story on the platform and I feel super scared and excited. I really appreciate it if you read till the end of this chapter. Can you please give me your feedback on this chapter, and also suggestions on ways to improve in the future?  Love y'all so much!!! <<<3 XO~