Purpose

A Door Opened

Mallory unlocked the door and pushed it open, but little did she know, she was opening far more than a door. She was opening all new opportunities, and opening up her life and heart to him. Him. Justin.

Katy Perry music streamed through the door, the beats pounding on the walls and floor, the loud thumping only matched by the thumping of Mallory's heart. Because that was when she saw him. Him. Him.

It seems like every one of her heartbeats brought a different question. Is that Justin Bieber? Why is he in my room? Why is this music on?

He turned to face her, swaying to the music, his hair light like a cloud and his eyes as deep as a storm. She froze, and so did he, his once dancing body coming to a halt when they locked eyes.

That moment when their eyes met should have gone down in history. It seemed like the music had stopped, and the curtains blowing in the wind froze, and the door froze as it began to close, and everything was.

Was still.

His brown eyes searched Mallory's as if they were looking for buried treasure within her skull. But the treasure was them together, they just didn't realize it yet. After they had been staring at each other for way longer than normal, Mallory blinked, and the music swelled up again, the curtains began waving again, and it seemed like the sun was shining brighter than ever before.

He opened his mouth to speak, his lips parting so beautifully there should be poems written about it.

"What are you doing in here?"

Mallory was so stunned and confused, she did not respond instantly, and for a moment all that could be heard was Katy Perry's California Girls playing in the background.

Finally, she remembered how to speak. "I-uh- what? What do you mean? This is my room. What are you doing in here? I mean, what am I, how did you-" she stuttered, beginning to feel dizzy. His gaze slowly worked its way into Mallory's heart, making her feel confused and satisfied at the same time.

"Well," he said, with a coy smile playing on his lips, "looks like one of us is in the wrong room, and I was here first." He winked at her, and that wink started a hurricane in her heart.

"I'll- I'll leave now. I'm so sorry." Mallory still couldn't quite think straight. She turned to the door, and her cheeks were surely as red as the rose he would later give her. The rose that was.

"Wait!" Justin's voice sounded nearly desperate, and he sort of reached out towards her. "You, ah, heard me listening to all this..." he gestured to the ceiling, where speakers continued to play Katy Perry.

"Oh, haha." Mallory laughed a little. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." She tried to wink at him, but her eyes were still stunned by the amazing view. She squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment.

He smiled back at her- a nervous smile, one that kept the door to his heart locked, but opened a window. "Hey," he said jokingly, "but I can't trust you quite yet, can I?"

"Oh," Mallory said hesitantly. "It's really fine, I mean-" her cheeks burned more. "I won't tell anyone."

"How 'bout this," He said, sitting down on an ornate couch that looked too fancy for his taste. "I'll take you to dinner, you won't pay for a thing, and maybe you can learn enough about me to consider me worthy of a secret being kept."

"I really don't- I mean-" Mallory continued to be at a loss for words. Every time she looked at him, she lost her train of thought.

"I take that as a yes," he said. He took out a notebook, tore out a page, and scrawled a time and location on it, handing it to her. Mallory squinted at the slanted handwriting, unable to comprehend a single thing. Whether it was because of his messy writing or the fact that she was dizzy is still a mystery to her.

"Should I-" Mallory took a shaky breath. "Should I bring my family?"

He scratched his head- in a cute way. "Well, we can be each others' company, can't we?"

"Um. Yeah, sure." She carefully folded up the paper and put it in her pocket.

Now, Mallory glances at the small orate box sitting on her bookshelf. The scrap of paper is in there. It is too precious to be lost now. This is something that still is, a small memory that has not yet slipped though her fingertips.

She can never go long without thinking of him. When she looks at her hand, she imagines that his fingers are entwined with hers. Looking in the mirror, she imagines him sitting next to her. He is always wearing his goofy flower-print shirt, the shirt that has nearly left her memory. It is a shirt that was, and it always will be a was, as will most of her memories of him.

Remembering this first moment is the saddest for Mallory. In that time, their future together was big and full and happy and still to come, but that happiness only was.

Is was what will always is?

If she could go back now, Mallory wouldn't hurry out of the hotel room the way she did back then. She would stay, and hug him, and try and sing with him. Their notes and melodies would dance out the window and drift away, never to be seen again. But she would have made the short moments with him so much more meaningful, if only those moments were a will rather than a was.

He is a was now, she tells herself. Tears stream down her face just thinking about it, and they are salty, salty like the ocean they swam in.

The ocean that was...