Teenage love (ShadAmy)

chapter 8

It had been a week since the magical Friday with Shadow. I told my best friend Sally about it and she went crazy with comments about marriage and kids and all that good stuff. For once, I did not tell her to stop with the comments. In fact, I joined in on it and we talked about him for quite a while. I was gushing about everything and she simply smiled, listened, and threw in a few comments here and there.

"Aw Amy! I'm so happy for you!" Sally exclaimed. I gave her a smile and turned away. I was really happy that he actually might like me, that we could actually be together. It all seemed too real, too simple as well, and that gave me a few bad thoughts. I simply brushed it off as I continuously thought about him. Sally had spent the night with me and we caught up on some things, as well as talk some more about Shadow.

I returned to school hoping that Shadow would finally ask me out. Time seemed to fly by and Shadow still hadn't mentioned anything. At the time, I thought that maybe I was going a little too fast, but I still panicked. A week passed and Shadow started to talk less and less to me. I became saddened by it, I had no idea what was going on in his head. Eventually, weeks had passed and he stopped talking to me completely. My Valentine's Day was really lonely, or at least it felt like it since my heart was practically shattered at this point. A little part of me knew that this would happen, but I choose not to listen.

I wish I did.

About two months had passed and he still didn't talk to me. During that time I tried to talk to him, but he didn't seem interested in what I had to say. Another one of my friends, Campeon, had comforted me in my time in need. Funny thing was that we had actually dated a few years back, but it didn't work out. We were still great friends though. Sally actually thinks that if things didn't work out between me and Shadow, that Campeon, and I quote, 'will come and save me from all this hurt'. He really did help me recover from my heartbreak a little, and I was very thankful for it. I still liked Shadow a lot, but he never reciprocated my feelings. I still held on to whatever hope I had left, but I knew it was all for nothing.

I wish I could say that it ended well for Shadow and I, that we finally got together, but I would be lying if I did. On April 6th, my heart had broken beyond repair. On that Wednesday afternoon, I had learned something I wasn't ready to hear. I was sitting in six hundred hall outside of my coach's classroom with the rest of my team. Our coach was always late so we waited outside for quite a while. We always found ways to entertain ourselves, but on this day, we were just sitting there. Close to eight o'clock, Shadow had arrived. As soon as our team laid eyes on him they started to cheer and congratulating him. I was really confused, but I let the others give him pats on the back and whatnot. The smile on his face was large and genuine.

"Congrats on you and Rouge!" Scourge practically yelled. I silently gasped to myself. That's why he was avoiding me. He was never really interested in me, or if he was, he just got bored of me and found someone else. Needless to say, I was heartbroken yet again. This time, I didn't know how to handle it. I was happy for them, I wasn't angry for some strange reason, but I wanted the best for them. I just wanted him to be happy. It was kind of hard going through my day knowing that I couldn't have him for myself, but my friends made me happy while trying to cheer me up, even if it was just for a little bit.

I had a little tournament after school, and I was not focused at all. I kept thinking about what had happened that morning. The time had come to get changed into my uniform, as ugly as it was, and head out and get ready for the tournament. I walked outside and saw that the water jugs needed to be filled. I picked up the giant orange Gatorade jug and took two steps before Manic, (a guy I had met throughout practice sessions. We're not close, but we talk every once in a while) had stopped me so that we can go and fill the jugs together.

"You dating anyone?" Manic asked me when we were halfway to the trainers to get ice and then fill with water. A little shocked from such a random question, it took me a second to shake it off and answer. "No." I responded. I thought it was kind of weird that he asked me that. We made it to the football field, and just beyond it was the field house, aka, the trainers.

"Good, because boys are stupid. You don't need worry about them right now." He told me. I thought it was kind of funny since I had never heard a boy say that boys were stupid. I giggled a bit and changed my grip on the jug to hold it better. "You have no idea, Manic. You have no idea." He gives me a funny look, and I give him a funny one in return, all while dodging the soccer players running on the track. He gives a short laugh and smiles to me.

"Is there someone giving you problems?" He asked me, the smile still on his face. I gave a short laugh as well, and then I felt my smile falter a bit. I turned back to face the front and continued on after the last soccer player had ran past us. "I guess you can say that. It turns out that he didn't need me after all, but it's okay, I'm okay." I smiled at him while walking into the field house, and down the hallway that lead to the trainers.

"He's not worth it then Amy. Obviously he's a jerk. I think you should just give up on him and find someone else." He took his jug to one of the trainers and requested it be filled with ice and water. I did the same and stepped aside while they worked on filling the jugs.

"You're right Manic. I don't have to wait on this guy, especially in a situation as hopeless as this." I replied, thinking of a better future of myself actually happy with some unknown guy.

"That's the spirit bud!" he said cheerfully, a smile growing on his face once more.

I played the best I could that day. Of course, at the beginning of the set, I was upset, but as I continued to play throughout the games I became happier and realized that Shadow wasn't everything. I would get better. Just like how I'm getting better at playing tennis. I've got new friends, just like figuring out new ways to serve a ball. My life was tennis.

"Love, first serve!" I called to my opponent. I thought that I would not have a lot of room in my heart for love, but as I hit that brand new, straight-from-the-can, green ball, I realized that I did have room for love, and a lot of it. And right now I'm going to use every ounce of it for tennis. I don't have time for boys, I'm going to use it to get to the top of the team.

I found love, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. It just wasn't my time yet, and I have already accepted that. It was unrequited love, and it happens to everyone, it was life. I was going to be okay, and I was going to be even stronger than before. I couldn't be with Shadow anymore, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't strengthen my friendship with him. I wasn't going to hide behind the curtains anymore. And if the day comes that we meet and find love, then I will love him like no other. But for now, I am going to move on and focus on what really matters to me.

My opponent returns the ball, but lands out of the court. "Out!" I call notifying her that the point goes to me, as well as reminding myself that all the negative emotions I have need to go for me to move on.