Snapshots of Time

1 - Love in Suburbia

"I miss you." She whispered now sinking to her knees in front of the window of her bedroom. She felt her face get warm and tears started stinging her eyes. Her trembling hands started writhing as the tears fell faster yet from her eyes, leaving dark splotches on her lavender sweatshirt. Her body started swaying back and forth as memories of him came to her mind, memories she had repressed for months. She looked out the window trying to let the stars bring her back to earth as they twinkled against a velvety backdrop.

"I love you." He said, pressing his lips against hers, his hands finding their way around her waist pulling her against him. He tasted like the vanilla milkshake they had just shared inside the Downtown Diner.

"You don't mean it." She had murmured into his lips as they pulled apart briefly. The clouds were waltzing in the rich navy sky.

"Yes, I do. I don't think there's a word to describe what I feel right now." He answered quickly, wrapping his arms around her as white flakes started flowing gently from the sky.

But that didn't help. Her hands started twisting around her wrists, scratching at them viciously.

She shut her eyes trying to stop the stream but it was no use, her hands now running through her hair like he used to.

"I love you." She whispered as they lay in his bed, curled up next to each other, him in his grey sweatpants and a Star Wars t-shirt and her in his flannel pajama pants and his lapis blue hoodie. His fingers were twirling strands of her hair mindlessly, as he looked at her, his eyes not leaving her face once. His parents hadn't been home for a few days and his brother was at a friends house. They didn't go far, she just didn't want to leave his house, his room, she just didn't want to leave him.

"I know." He whispered back, kissing the tip of her nose before turning her around so that her back was pressed against his chest as they lay on the bed under warm blankets.

It kept getting worse. "I MISS YOU!" She screamed, her shouts ripping apart the silence of her room, of her empty house in the midst of suburbia. Her heart tore into thousands of pieces, her brain ripped into shreds. Everything was so similar, every life was the same with every single person, except they all thought they were different. And she was just like them. And then he came and made her think differently, and loved her for herself, making her feel good.

Then he left. And the depression she had before he left came back, and it keeps coming back and worse than before. And she couldn't help it because as sad as it may seem, and as pathetic as people might think, he helped her and made her feel special in a world where her father was a distant figure and her mother was too busy with her autistic brother to deal with her. He made her feel loved in a world where her accomplishments were passed over and when she tried to speak was never heard. But she just didn't know what to do. Sometimes it's too painful. Sometimes everything just hurts and she just wanted to die. So when she stood up, sniffling and drying her eyes and walked to the bathroom, she allowed herself to relive memories with him, so she could be happy, for once.

"D-do you want to go out with me?" He stuttered, looking down at his feet. She looked up, she hadn't seen him walk up to her desk. She put down her black pen and looked at him. They had been lab partners in Biology for ten weeks, and she had truthfully enjoyed every day.

"You want to go out with me?" She asked, not believing it.

He looked at her with a confused look on his face. "Is that a no?" He asked, looking crestfallen.

"No, it's a yes." She said, taken aback by her sudden boldness.

"Great, I'll text you okay?" He asked, still sounding disbelieved that she said yes. He already had her number from a lab project they'd worked on together.