Pray // 𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜

Sapphire

Evelyn

I stared expectantly into his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair.

"Maybe...I'm just not that much of a chick-magnet, you know?" He said, avoiding my eyes.

I did a mental face slap.

"Ethan! Have you looked at yourself lately? You're a total hottie." I Said.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Sure."

"It's true."

He sighed. "If it were true, she never would've left me."

Silence.

"You....want to talk about it?" I asked, hesitantly.

He looked straight at me, his usual blank stare. Sometimes, I felt like he could see right into my soul.

"I used to love someone." He said. "It was back in sixth grade, we were just kids, but it was real...and she felt it too. She told me. I used to wait up for her at the bus stop every morning. Sometimes, she's be in such a rush that she'd forget her jacket at home, and I'd lend her mine."

I nodded for him to continue.

"We'd sit together on the bus, talking up a storm. We were always together. I remember our first kiss. It was the day I'd asked her to be mine...on Christmas Eve. It was in my room. We were watching out for Santa that night through the window, and when our eyes met, I kissed her. I felt so special when she kissed back. I asked her to be my girlfriend, and she said yes."

He sighed before he continued. "Then, one day, she told me her dad had gotten a promotion at work and I was so happy for her. Her family became rich. Like, really rich. She had a driver taking her to school now, and she was part of the 'cool' clique. I tried catching up with her, but she was just moving too fast...out of my life, I mean."

His eyes wandered the room and found mine again. "Then...she forgot all about me. I stopped trying to get her back. I would see her in my head all the time. It affected me so much. It troubled me until my mom started taking me to a therapist because I didn't want to talk to anyone. She was scared, and I now understand why. Then, a year later, my dad died from cardiac arrest. I started smoking much later on, to drown my stress. I still do. I want to stop, but it's hard. It became a habit I just can't break."

I didn't know what to say after all that. I felt like crying for all the pain he'd kept bottled up inside.

"Have you told anyone else?" I asked.

He shook his head. "My therapist thinks it's only a phase."

Oh, my God...

"Who would do that to you?" I asked, wanting to know the dumb cow who'd hurt my friend.

He sighed. "It was Sapphire."