The light trespassing through the blinds of the coffee house window made it very visible that the cup of coffee sitting in front of me was piping hot. If only I had seen that before I took a sip. If only I had read the instructions before playing the game. If only I had seen the warnings before taking a leap of faith.
It all started in the eighth grade when I scored a date with my crush at the time, Sarah Martin. I was nothing more than a lanky kid. I got pushed around and called a few names, nothing too bad, I went mostly unnoticed. That all changed when Sarah took an interest. She was beautiful with raven hair and eyes of a gorgeous blue hue deeper the ocean itself. If only I had looked deep into her eyes to see what was swimming beyond the shore. If only I had looked deep into her pretty eyes and seen the sharks lurking in the water. Within a few days of being around her, I began to realize how rotten she truly was. Like a rose she was beautiful, but get too close and pay the price.
Sixth period was over and I was walking towards the batting cages when I passed by the bleachers. I overheard whispering voices.
"Why are you even interested in that Vince kid, he's kinda lame, plus there's not much to see," whispered Mindy, Sarah's best friend.
"Ha. You thought I actually liked him. Nope, I'm just trying to make Zach jealous, and what better way to do that than by going out with the dork he pushes around," cackled Sarah.
"What if he thinks your as lame as he is"
"He won't, and even if he does everyone knows Zach likes me too much. Plus I could get that little dork to my homework for a couple of days maybe even a week. "
"Don't you think that's a little harsh. I mean, how do you think the poor kids gonna take it when you kick him to the curve."
"He'll be fine. Like what did he expect? That we'd get married, buy a house with a white picket fence, adopt three golden retrievers, and live happily ever after? This is reality. Life is like a game, and you're either a player or a toy."
The following day I did something no one had ever done before, I broke up with Sarah Martin exactly two weeks after we had first started talking. The fact that Sarah even talked to me let alone the fact that I broke up with Sarah Martin, something only a crazy person would do, had heads turning my way. That single action triggered an unstoppable domino effect. Soon other girls seemed interested in me. Exactly one week after the break up with Sarah I found my second girlfriend. Deciding to respect tradition I cut it off in two weeks. I fell into a destructive cycle.
Not everything that came out my relationship with Sarah was toxic. I didn't only attract attention from girls, but also from guys. The same guys who pushed me around took me under their wing. I became best friends with Zach. Once you looked past his hot-headed demeanor he was actually a great guy. However, I lost a friend. Maxwell who I had met on the first day of school in the seventh grade.
My head was pounding and beads of sweat sat on my forehead. I had just had p.e. and had to run a mile in the scorching ninety-degree heat. The bus wasn't making anything better. The laughs and screams of children echoed throughout and it was certainly at least one hundred degrees in there. It smelled like a peculiar combination of aged mozzarella cheese, rotten spinach and peach cobbler. Who knew the first day of middle school would have me to beat.
Just as I was beginning to relax a body slammed into mine, and a room temperature liquid splashed on me. A slight groan was heard and I snapped my head to my right to glare at the kid.
