After All These Years

Change of the Tide

          When Ella Peters was ten, she began greeting Sawyer Murphy, her crush and best friend of the ages, by "Mister Murphy." It started out as a joke, something he was taken aback by, but as the weeks went by it turned into their thing and something Sawyer would be the last to admit he was incredibly fond of. However, when Ella decided she had had enough of Sawyer and his ways and needed to distance herself, that was one of the things she disliked the most about giving him up, especially when he continued for the first while trying as if to win her back. It occurred to him after a week of continuation that he had no idea what he was even attempting to win her back from and it made him wonder daily what had gone wrong. He was hurting but he kept it to himself and hid it well. To say he missed her sweet and humorous tone when she called his name was a major understatement, he missed her hanging off his shoulder and getting him to participate in girly activities when the other boys wanted to go do something else.

          Eventually he found he had spent enough time chasing her around and reach into that newly renovated shell of hers and stopped all together, instead making sure he could be around her through her friends and the boys without her wanting him thrown out to the wolves.

          It was spring break when the six of them were back on the block, meaning the families were preparing for a combined dinner and were way too busy running all over the place to take a moment to settle down. Their parents knew there would be no moment of calmness until they could sit down to eat. The kids from a young age had learned that unless any of them were called to help with anything, they kept at a distance so it would go smoothly.

          This time of year was favored by many for multiple reasons, the fun and chaos gave way for secrets of the heart to fly rampant and give new opportunities. Household chaos made these types of things much simpler, allowing people to sneak off without anyone noticing and questioning their absence. So, when Ella stood in her bedroom, staring at herself in her floor length mirror that angled at a slight upturn, the last thing she expected was to be pulled out of her trance that held her hands smoothing over the surface of her short dress as her eyes dragged along the material by the familiar voice and those words that made her heart ache.

          "Miss. Peters," her eyes lifted away from her dress, hands clasping together, and found Sawyer behind her in the reflection. His shoulder leans against the doorframe making his head tilt as he moves his hands within his pants pockets. She thought she shut the door. His voice gave no trace of humor and neither did his eyes.

          "Sawyer, don't," she looked to the floor when her eyebrows came together, and her teeth held her lower lip. She couldn't take the memories he wished to bring up right now when she was preparing herself for a date.

          "Please, just do this for me." He's having a hard time, seeing her this way, and giving herself to someone who wasn't right for her, and all he wants is her back for one second. "Please," he begs in a whisper, not moving from his place.

          She watches him in the reflection once again, deciding if this were something, she could do without causing herself pain but from the look on his face, she knows he needs this. "Mister Murphy," her voice is so small, barely above a whisper but she knows he hears it loud and clear. Their eyes hold in the mirror and he wants to close them in the space so he can hold her like he never let her go but he knows he shouldn't.

          "You look nice." It kills him but she does, nothing about this moment is good for him. He should be across the street or hanging out elsewhere until the supper was ready, but he can't stop thinking about her and the fact that she's going out with that barbarian tonight. He wants to stop it from happening more than life but what could he do that would be reason enough for her to give him up and have it stick without it being too far.