Call Me: Lady X ✔

1: From Fire To Ashes

( Picture of Sophia to the right. Artwork (c) DodiZigi- DeviantArt.Com)

“I think we should break up…see other people.”

“Did…I just hear you say…?”

I wasn’t entirely sure if I was dreaming, but it slowly became clear to me that if this was, in fact, a dream, it would be a nightmare.

It was the last day of school, the sun was miserable, and I heard the laughing of kids, already soaking themselves in their sprinklers. Stains from where Ice Cream had dripped, or plopped entirely off the cone onto the sidewalk showed. But, what should be a happy event was not.

My boyfriend, Shane, in all his glory, was looking off to the side as he spoke to me. The 2 of us were standing outside of my house, right in front of the door, as usual. Unless he wasn’t coming inside to hang out, or something, he’d kiss me goodbye on the Welcome mat, and walk the 14 blocks away to his house. But there was no kissing today.

“Yeah, Sophia…You heard me right.” He said, frowning.

 “Repeat?” I said, showing a small unnecessary smile. I’d heard every word. I was just waiting for the punch line.

He sighed, and, being melodramatic as he always was, placed a hand sympathetically on my shoulder.

Almost grinning at my pathetic visage, he murmured, “I think we should see other people.”

I felt a twinge of pain in my chest. Wasn’t he joking? He had to be…

Knowing myself, I would fare well with this breakup. I mean, he was only my first kiss, first dancing, first…well, boyfriend. They say the first is always the hardest, but…we’d only truly been together for 4 months, not enough time to have roots tied down, and murmur his last name after mine… seeing if I liked the way it sounded. It was because of those measly 4 months…a minute amount of time that I would fare well. I hoped so.

“Oh.” I said, despite the sudden assurance I’d just given myself, “Why?”

Immediately, I wished I wouldn’t have asked ‘why?’ Because I might not like the answer he had to give me. Yet, at the same time, a bigger, more morbid curiosity made itself known.

Shane smiled, as if to observe what he’d just released, “You’re a nice girl.”

“You dumped me because I’m a nice girl?” I asked, appalled. Here I’d thought that the ‘lies’ of guys only wanting tramps had been just that-a lie. Turns out, I must be wrong.

“Partially”, he admitted, still smiling, for reasons I couldn’t be sure. It seemed more like he found this whole thing funny, instead of sad. Maybe he was just relieved he finally got the balls to ditch me.

“Please enlighten me then, Shane, on what type of girl I should be, to keep amazing boyfriends like you.” I muttered, sarcasm running thick.

“This may sound cliché, but, truly, it’s not you, it’s me.”

I grimaced.

Before I could unleash the power of cursing on him, he finally showed a rational response to all this: putting his hands up defensively.

“Before you drop too many F-bombs for humanity to survive” he cautioned, “Let me explain.”

“Please do.” I nodded, waiting…fuming, seething…It made me mad that he knew me so well.

“You are a nice girl…but…I’m not a very nice guy.”

My eyes rolled. His kindness was what made me fall for the joker! The wind blew, and as if with it, came a flood of memories.