Learning To Let Go

A Confession To Make

I trailed behind Aaron, my mind whirring. “We’re here,” he said a few minutes later. I pushed past him and opened the door.

“Wow,” I whispered, stepping into the room. The floor was filled with sand and there were a few benches along the side, and every surface was covered with the most beautiful plants. There were orchids intertwined around the lights hanging from the ceiling, and morning glory creeped up against the wall. There was a small bush at my right foot, and it was blooming with the most beautiful purple flower I’d ever seen. The ceiling was painted a sky-blue and there was a little water fountain tucked away somewhere; I could hear the water flowing.

“So…” Aaron said, sitting on a bench.” “It’s amazing,” I breathed, sitting down on the bench opposite him. “Anyways,” he said nervously, fiddling with his fingers. “I have something to tell you.” This was getting weirder and weirder by the minute. “Shoot,” I told him, picking a perfectly shaped purple flower from the bush. “So we’ve been in the same class for seven years, since we were nine,” he said, avoiding my burning gaze.

I nodded slowly, fervently praying that the situation is not what I thought it was. “I’ve had a crush on you since then,” he admitted, almost inaudibly. I groaned inwardly to myself, as he opened his mouth to speak again. There was more? “And I was hoping we could be more than friends,” he said hopefully, finally looking up from the floor. I sighed. “Listen, you’re a nice guy, but I don’t even know you well. And besides, I love someone else,” I said gently, avoiding his eyes. “Okay,” he said softly, his voice laden with disappointment. Great, an awkward situation. What I hated the most.

“Listen, I gotta go,” I said, getting up. He nodded and I waved to him as I stepped out of the room. I ran all the back to our compartment and threw the door open. I saw Rene in her favourite yellow sundress and raised my eyebrows.

“Rochelle dropped by to say that dinner’s in fifteen minutes. I was just going to look for you,” she explained, combing her hair. “Hold on,” I said, rummaging through the wardrobe that held my clothes. I threw on a pair of jeans and my favourite monkey shirt before heading out of the compartment with Rene.  I shut the door behind me and said to Rene, “You will not believe what just happened.” She eyed the rest of the tributes squeezing along the narrow corridoor and said, “You have to fill me in during dinner.”

I laughed and nodded. This was the Rene I knew. She was a gossip queen and chatter box, loving to spend her free time chatting. She elbowed me and nodded her head at Jacob. “Come on, let’s sit next to him,” she said, winking at me as she dragged by the elbow into the dining room. I chuckled and followed her in.