Lovebirds Since Youth

The Other One

Sophomore Year (10th Grade) - 15 years old

I think curly brown hair will certainly be the death of me...

I hear a chair being scraped across the tile floor, so I look up to find Laura's green eyes.

"I saw you," she says with a smirk.

"Saw me?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"Don't act dumb, I literally saw you just now drooling over Lucas."

My eyes widen and my cheeks burn. "Are you spying on me or what?"

"I wasn't the one spying on Lucas. I just happened to look at you and I could almost see those pink hearts form in your eyes."

I shove her shoulder. "Shut up," I laugh.

"Hey, if you like him so much, you should really have a go with him."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, totally, better to fail trying than not trying at all."

I look at Lucas one more time and take a deep breath. "Okay, I'll tell him."

I get up from my seat, not waiting for Laura to reply, and walk towards Lucas. I tap on his shoulder and his brown eyes meet mine.

Come on legs, don't let me down this time

"Hey, can I talk to you after lunch?" I tell him, sounding as smoothly as I can.

"Sure," he smiles.

I give him a smile, nod and walk back to my seat.

"What did he say?" Laura asks.

"Nothing yet, I'll tell him after lunch."

She sighs. "You're so boring, I wanted to know what he said already."

Lunchtime

This could be my one and only chance, I can't miss it

Lucas is sitting right in the middle of the school's backyard on a bench, loosen tie, hair a bit messed up, head tilted backwards and eyes closed. I can't help but smile at that view, he looks so handsome. I take a deep breath to approach him.

"Hey," I say, getting his attention.

"Hey," he smiles at me. "Sit down."

I do as he says and scream inside when he puts an arm around me.

"What did you want to see me?" He asks.

I try to look him in the eyes without losing a grip of myself. "I wanted to tell you something important."

"Yeah, go ahead."

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll be straightforward. I really like you, Lucas. I wanted to ask if you'd like to hang out after school."

His smile spreads. "Do you know I like you too?"

I giggle. "What? No way, I thought you'd say you only see me as a friend."

"Not at all," he laughs. "And I like you even more seeing how straightforward you are. I'd love to hand out with you after school."

I smile wider. "Perfect, see you at the mall, we'll figure out what we're gonna eat."

"Excellent."

2 months later

"And you're a couple?!" Laura asks enthusiastically.

"Yes!" I smile.

"For how long?"

"One month," I say, proudly.

She gasps. "Why did you keep it a secret?"

"I don't know, I guess I was just shy," I laugh.

"But how did he ask you?"

"We were on a date and he offered me this promise ring," I smile, showing off the ring I just mentioned.

"I thought your mom gave it to you," she laughs, holding my hand.

"Well, I gotta go, Lucas is waiting for me."

One month later

My phone again.

I sigh, picking up my phone to check who's texting at this hour.

Lucas. Again.

This time I've had it. I call him to talk.

"Why aren't you answering my texts?" Lucas asks through the phone.

"I told you I'm studying!" I say, pissed.

"At this hour?"

"I have an exam tomorrow, and I wanna be 100% sure, is that a crime?"

"Do you still love me?"

"Oh my god, Lucas! Why are you still asking me that?"

"It doesn't look like you love me, you don't even text me as much as I text you."

"You never let me breathe! You're always around, you always wanna come with me wherever I go, you text me 24/7 and always say you love me, I'm sick of it!"

"So you don't love me?"

I close my eyes to calm myself down. "No, I clearly don't. And we're over. Bye."

That night, Laura held me close while I cried over an emotionally unstable guy and someone who I thought didn't even remember me. She always told me everyone is worthy of love, we all deserve love...