Kiss Me Goodbye

The No-Good-Very-Bad Day (Day 8)

Sunday, July 2

You know that feeling when you're so wrapped up in a book you can't stop reading? When the hours pass by with the blink of an eye, but you don't even notice because you're too busy falling in love with the characters?

Reading does that to me all the time.

When I wake up this morning, the first thing I do is grab a book. It's worn out, the spine creased and the cover battered, but even though I've read the book so many times, it never fails to charm me.

What other book than The Notebook could keep me so wrapped up?

Maybe it's the fact that the heroine is named Allie, or maybe it's the perfect romance, but every time I read this book, I seem to dive into a world from which I cannot escape. Until I finish, I cannot resurface.

Of course, it's a tearjerker, but ironically, that is one of the main attractions for me. I always thought that if a book is written well, it will elicit all sorts of emotions.

The Notebook never fails to make me sob every single time, pouring my heart and soul out to Noah and Allie. It's the type of perfect romance, so tragic, that there is beauty in its darkness. In short, it's the type of romance I love to read about but hope to never have.

My ankles are crossed as I sprawl on my stomach across my bed, toast in one hand and book in another. My arms ache from the uncomfortable position I'm in, but honestly, I'm too lazy to move.

"Alli!" I hear Renee cry somewhere in the distance.

I mumble in response and flip a page, too engrossed in the text to care. How long have I been reading? I glance over at the clock quickly and do a mental calculation. It's been at least two hours.

Renee appears in the doorway, a hazy shape that I try to ignore. She crosses her arms. "Have you seen my curler?"

I shake my head no and stuff the remaining piece of toast into my mouth. A few pesky crumbs fall onto the pristine white comforter and I brush them away, annoyed.

"Okay then," Renee says. She seems rather annoyed, but I'm too engrossed in my book to care. "And by the way, you missed lunch. Mom and Dad left you food downstairs."

She turns on her heel and stalks out of the room, a flurry of blonde hair and pink bathrobe.

"Thanks," I yell out a few seconds later.

*

Two soft knocks come from the other side of the door before it's pushed open gently.

Renee's inquisitive eyes peek out from behind the doorway. I hastily grab a tissue and dab my eyes, knowing how horrible I must look.

When I cry, my eyes get puffy and my nose turns red. I don't have to look in the mirror to know how chaotic I must look.

"Hey, you okay?" Renee asks softly. She sits on the edge of my bed, balancing precariously. "Is everything fine?"

I don't answer, flopping over on my stomach and burying my head in my pillow. As pathetic as it sounds, I'm still bawling over The Notebook.

When such a beautiful love is built before your eyes, just to have it torn down, you can't help but be frustrated and angry with the author for writing such a melancholy ending for such a perfect story. Why can't he just have left the ending at the part when the guy gets the girl and they fall in love?

To be honest though, I can only hope to encounter the kind of love Noah and Allie have, to grow old with someone, to love one other unconditionally. Maybe someday, someday I will be able to read this ending without sobbing, but for now, like every weepy teenage girl, I am content to let the tears flow.