Forever & Always?

Chapter Nine

    The leaves were nonexistent. The grass was now hidden by snow.

Ring

Ring

Ring

"Hello?" Daniel answered.

"What the hell, Daniel?"

"Excuse me?" He said.

"You freaking flirted with another girl."

"Okay, no I freaking didn't. Who the hell told you that." I considered my options. Believe Daniel and move on, or believe the girl that he flirted with, and start an argument. I could not let it go. I could not live with him cheating on me.

"That's not important. I honestly can't believe you." I hung up. I threw my phone at the wall, waiting for the tears to come. They never showed. I was not sad. I was not mad. I was...empty. I felt emptiness. I looked down at my hands, realizing they were shaking. I could not stand the emptiness. I tried everything I could to get myself to cry, but it did not work. I eventually fell asleep trying.

I was nervous to get up and face Daniel in school. When I walked into school, I scanned the room for him. Why did I want to see him? I was trying to convince myself that I could live life without a lying cheater. However, every attempt failed. All I really wanted was for him to run to me and hug me. That is all I ever wanted. I walked into first hour. He was already there. I sat down. He turned to me.

"Marie, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? If you didn't cheat on me then you have nothing to be sorry for."

"It didn't mean anything. It meant nothing. I love you." He leaned in to hug me. My body flew back. My heart was yelling at my body to fly into his arms, but my brain forced my body back. I wanted so badly to kiss him, to touch him, anything. It hurt so much emotionally, I was having physical pain as well.

First hour went by too slow, but too fast at the same time. I wanted to stop holding myself back, but I wanted to leave so I was not tempted to stare into his dark blue eyes or his messy brown hair. Or his pink lips. The second the bell rang, he stood up, his scent surrounding me. I could not get up. I could not take my eyes off of him as he left the room. Once he was out the door, I was shoved back to reality.

"Ughhh," I groaned, leaning my head back and slumping down in my chair.

"What's up?" Mrs. Lesting asked.

"Ugh nothing, but thanks," I said, grabbing my books and walking out of the room. His scent still lingered in my nose, almost as vividly as his eyes were in my mind. I did not understand how I could be so upset with someone, yet want them to comfort me so I was not sad or mad at all. However, I knew that if he tried to comfort me, even though I was craving his love, I would dodge every motion.

***

"Okay. He's in hell," Shelby said to me that day after lunch.

"Who?" I asked. I knew exactly who. I knew because I was in hell too, burning from the sadness and the dissapointment and the lonliness.

"Shut up. You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"Okay it's been one day. Not even! How on Earth can he be so upet and how on Earth did you find out he was in "hell"?"

"Marie, he told me. He was in tears. Tears...do you know how much pain a guy must be in order to cry?"

"Well he seemed fine in first hour," I said, closing my locker. Him missing me made me happy, but I would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that I felt the same way.

"Marie, you know this isn't the end. So stop acting like it is."

"Okay how would you know that??" I asked, anger filling my vocal chords.

"Because I've been in love with Travis for a long time, Marie! I know how this game works. It's freaking hard. I get it, okay? But guess what? You shutting down your feelings and you letting him suffer is a perfect way to lose him. And losing something as special as what you have, should never happen." She paused, tears coming to her eyes. She looked away for a moment. Before speaking again, she looked back at me.

"Look, I'm not saying you two will last forever, but I am telling you this. He was your first love. That will never happen again. This is the most important boy you will ever have in your life. I don't care who you marry who you fall in love with in college, he will always be the one that means the most to you. Don't waste it. Don't take it for granted. That's a stupid thing to do." She stopped, looked at me for a second, and then turned around and walked into her fourth hour.

"Well, damn," I whispered, walking away.

     Time went by too slow the rest of that day. I spent most of it staring at the clock. The end of sixth hour finally came. I went to my locker and grabbed my bag as quickly as possible. I wanted to go home, drink hot chocolate and watch a movie with Alex.

"Marie!" Daniel said in the parking lot. I kept walking. He ran to me.

"Marie!" He said, grabbing my arm. I tugged my arm from his grip, refusing to look back. He jumped in front of me.

"Marie." He gently grabbed my hands. I tried to losen his grip, but he was persistent. Deep down, that was exactly what I wanted him to do. However, I refused to dig that deep.

"What Daniel?" I said rolling my eyes and turning my head to the side.

"Hey. Hey, look at me," He said softly. His voice was calm and soothing. I swung my head towards him after a while of hesitation. Tears filled my eyes.

"Marie, I'm so freaking stupid. Please. Don't leave me." He stopped.

"Please," He said, his voice shaky. I turned my head again, avoiding his eyes. I did not want to see any tears come out of him. A tear slid down my cheek. He let go of one of my hands, keeping my other hand in his other hand. He brought his hand to my face and gently wiped away my tear, continuing to stroke my face. He softly pushed my head to face his. He leaned in and kissed me. I kissed him back. In that moment, I realized something. It had been almost three months since I started loving Daniel. Three months. That time flew by. Time flies. Life is a lot shorter than anyone thinks. At one moment you are a child, innocent and young. And then you blink. And out of no where you are teenager, kissing your first love in your high school parking lot. I was not sure how many years I had left. And I intended on using that little time wisely.

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Spoken like a true romantic. Was Marie right to forgive Daniel? Love is patient, right? However, love cannot be forced. She had a decision and she made it. What do you think? Read, comment, and VOTE.