Once Upon A Lone Heart | ✔

Denial

Her cheeks are ablaze as I catch her looking at me. I can hear her heart as she sees him around. She looks around a number of times that I became curious, until I ask, "Who are you looking for?"

And she says, "Nothing," with a shy smile drawn across her face, cheeks are still flushed. Her long fingers run around the fair skin of her arm, tracing some white lines using her perfectly polished nails due to the dryness of it. I shake my head in disbelief.

She's in love. My best friend is in love. And I'm certain because I've never seen her like this in my 16 years of life. Her eyes are sparkling. Her cheeks are rose red. She bites her lips more than she ever did. She lies often. She speaks in a softer voice. She's... different.

It's good, though, that finally she's in love with an actual boy- not a fictional character from books or movies or a Hollywood star. But what I'm upset about is that she's not telling me who she's in love with.

I can't be angry at her. It's up to her. But isn't that what best friends should do- tell each other everything? Isn't that what we've been doing our whole lives? Or has she been lying all along...

No. She can't be. I trust her. Maybe it's different this time. Maybe because she thinks I'm not going to approve this guy she likes. Maybe because he's not actually a good guy and we both know that fact. Maybe because it's one of our guy friends.

As I poke my lunch using the white plastic fork, my best friend taps me on the shoulder and I turned to her the instant. Her eyes glimmer like a disco ball under a light, her smile is as bright and warm as the sunshine above her.

My stomach churns. What does this mean? Is she going to leave me? I don't know. I close my eyes for a brief moment, then stare back into her shining eyes.

"I love you," she tells me. "I've been in love with you."

And my day becomes as bright as her beautiful, shy smile.

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