Coincidence
I stepped into the school and saw the hustle and bustle of kids as they made their way to homeroom careful not to be late on their first day. You could tell the difference between the freshman and the seniors. The freshman all looked scared and nervous and I’m pretty sure a few of them had peed their pants. The seniors on the other hand all looked cocky. Like they were a balloon full of power and nothing could pop them. I looked down at the schedule in my hands deciding it was time to make my way to homeroom. Room 1267. I started to make my way through the crowds of high school and tried not to bump into anyone. Sadly, that didn’t work. I had made it about halfway to the room I needed to go to when I accidentally bumped into someone. I looked up and smiled apologetically.
“Sorry. I better start looking where I’m going” I stuttered.
“Oh, it’s totally fine! You new here?” said a girl with long red hair and bright green eyes. She had a lot of freckles on her face. It took me a little while to realize how stunning this girl was.
“Yeah. Could you smell my fear?” I joked.
“Ha. No, that’s funny though” She stated.
“Oh, it must be my ability to make friends and my welcoming scowl” I said sarcastically.
“Ha. Actually, it was the confusion on your face and the fact that you are carrying around a map of the school. I’m Jack by the way.”
“Phoenix.”
“I’m in love with your name! Anyway, where you headed? I will walk you there. I don’t care if I’m late to class. I mean it’s just homeroom; it’s not that big of a deal” she said nonchalantly.
“Oh, um room 1267.”
“No way! That’s my homeroom too! I’m a junior. You?”
“Junior as well. Although, I’m either in senior classes or in honors classes.”
“Oh! So you’re a nerd? Or do you prefer dork?” She chuckled.
“I prefer attractive, cool, amazing, athletic, dork. Thank you very much.” I stated sassily. “Hey, we might want to get walking to homeroom.”
“Yeah. Shall we?” She wrapped her arm in mine and we skipped down the almost empty hallway as the warning bell rang behind us.
“Let’s shall.”
We made our way through the giant school and finally arrived in homeroom. The door was closed, but Jack didn’t seem to care. She slowly started turning the handle and then rapidly swung the door open and burst through the door. She really knows how to make an entrance. I like her.
The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly. My classes seemed pretty easy and I had a few classes including free period and lunch with Jack. I didn’t really make any friends, but it was only my first day. I had one more class left in the day and then I could finally get out of this torture chamber and go home. I walked into the room and made my way to a desk in the back. I threw my books on the desk and sat down. A few more latecomers shuffled into the room soon after the bell rang and then the teacher started talking. It was math so they started talking about numbers and stuff. I was sure I already knew it so I spaced out a little. Okay a lot, but that’s beside the point. I was zoned out up until the time when the door swung open. A boy walked in. A boy that caught my attention. A boy I knew. Well, a boy I had known. Now he was just a face. A face that haunted my memories. That flooded my dreams at night. He was my first best friend, my first love, and my first heartbreak. After him I built a wall around myself. I promised myself that no one would ever hurt me like he did again. He tore my heart apart and made sure there wasn’t a single part still intact when he was done. I fell in love with his boyish smile, his amazing charisma, and his childish sense of humor. He left me though. He left me in the dust and I promised myself that I would never let him back into my life even if opportunity presented itself and here opportunity is.
He walked to the teacher’s desk and placed a yellow slip on the desk and then made his way to a desk across the room from mine. He sat down and then scanned the room with his eyes. They connected with mine. He smiled softly and I remember why I fell in love with him, but then I remembered what he did to me. I scowled back at him and tried to hide the sorrow in my eyes, but I couldn’t. I was just too sad. He can’t do this to me. He can’t make me fall in love with him, use me, get rid of me, and then try and wiggle his way back into my life destroying everything I know and love piece by piece.
It’s unfair and selfish. I looked at the clock and counted down the seconds until school ended. Finally, after what felt like an eternity the bell rang. I scurried out of the room and made my way to my locker. I swung it open and exchanged the books in my backpack for the books that I actually needed. I closed my locked furiously and made my way to my car. I opened the door and was about to step in until I hear a noise.
“Ehh hem.” Said a boy with bright green eyes and pearly white teeth.
“What could you possibly want, scumbag?” I asked, clearly annoyed.
“Your love and affection” He said smugly pretending not to notice my attitude.
“You already had that. Then you cheated on me with that blonde bimbo and my ex- best friend and lost my love, affection, trust, and respect.” I said letting the angle bubble inside of me and pour out.
“It’s a song, babe.”
“Don’t call me that. You lost the privilege of calling me sweet names when you ripped me apart.” I said. It took all of my might for me to not break down in tears. Then I saw my new red headed friend emerge from the school and I waved her over to me. She happily made her way across the parking lot almost getting hit by multiple cars on her way over.
“Hey, my new best friend! Who’s this? A friend of yours?” She stated bubbly.
“I can assure you he’s not my friend.”
“Yeah, we’re not friends. We are way more.” He emphasized the way and gave me the eyebrows gesture as he spoke.
“Not even close.” I stated firmly. “You can’t do this to me! You can’t date me and make me fall head over heels in love with you, then cheat on me and expect me to just forgive you the next time I saw you. It took me so long to get over you and every time I thought about what you did to me I hurt so badly. The worst part was I didn’t have anyone to talk to about my pain and sorrow because you stole my best friend away from me! You can’t just walk back into my life and expect me to be okay with everything you did. I’m not going to be a pawn in your little games anymore. No more of my tears are going to be shed over you and I am not going to waste anymore of my life crying and hiding myself from people because I am afraid of getting hurt because of you. It’s not fair. I left that relationship with my heart broken into millions of difference pieces each with a different memory that I had with you and you left it with nothing, but a scratch that I had managed to claw on my way down from cloud 9. I will never love you again and I never want to see you again! Just leave me alone because I am done being hurt over you excuse of a human being!” I screamed the thoughts that had been in my brain for the last six months. He looked hurt, but honestly he should be! He was the reason that I hadn’t been able to get close to anyone lately. He was the reason that I hadn’t made friends or loved again. I was so afraid of getting hurt and felt so damaged after him that I didn’t know what to do. I made walls around myself that were impossible for anyone to knock down. The only way that the walls would come down were for me to realize that he wasn’t worth it. That I wasn’t damaged, but that he was. It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t do anything wrong. He decided to mess up and screw with my brain, but I was finished having pity parties for myself. I was finally going to stand up for myself and not worry about getting hurt. I mean there might be a few more heartbreaks in my life, but eventually I will find the person that I know would never hurt me. I looked at the boy that had once caused me more pain than anyone else ever had and didn’t feel anger, but felt pity. I felt bad that this boy would never know what true friendship or love was. “Goodbye, Eli. I’ll see you around, okay?” I stated once all these thoughts finished filtering through my brain.
“I’m sorry for what I did. I realized how much I lost when you left me. I didn’t want that blonde bimbo or even your best friend. After I cheated on you I felt like a worthless piece of crap that should have been left on the side of the road for the trash man to come get. I felt so horrible and cried more than I ever had before once I realized how much of an amazing girl I had lost and how much I loved you. I transferred to this school hoping to win you back. Do you think we could start over? That maybe you could give me a second chance?”
I pondered the thought for a moment. I realized that even though I would never forget what he did I could forgive. I thought about what to say for a minute before opening my mouth. “Eli, I will never be able to forget what you did, but I will try my best to forgive you. As for the second chance I’m sorry, but I just can’t do that. I will always love you and you will always have a special place in my heart, but I will never be able to trust you again. Maybe we can be friends, but it would surprise me if I ever gave you a second chance. I moved on, Eli, and now it’s your turn. I have to go now. Goodbye.”
I quickly hugged him goodbye and got in my car. I shut the door and closed my eyes. A tear quickly escaped my eyes and then soon after I was sobbing. I felt two comforting arms around me and looked up surprised because I hadn’t heard the door open. It was Jack.
“Hey sweetie, you okay?”
“I’ve been better.” I chuckled lightly.
“I’m sorry, honey. May I ask what happened between you two?”

“Of course. Well we dated for around a year and a half and were getting pretty serious. He was my rock through my parents’ divorce and my grandma’s death. He was my best friend and my everything, but then one day I had to go to the store and he decided to stay back at my place. I shared an apartment with my best friend, Lexi, at the time. Around an hour later I came home from the store and saw them on the couch kissing. Later, I found out from his best friend, John that he had been cheating on me with his blonde airhead. I was so hurt I broke up with him on the spot and didn’t talk to him for about three months. I also moved out of Lex’s place and found my own. They both tried contacting me, but I wouldn’t listen. I thought I would never be the same, but I was wrong. I finally got over him. I realized that I am better than him. I don’t deserve to be hurt like that and I can finally move on. I found closure and my walls are starting to crumble and I think that I’m okay with that.” I smiled. It was bigger than it had been in months and I realized that I was finally done being sad.

I saw Eli around the halls at school for the next few months and said hi every once in a while. Me and Jack got a lot closer and soon became inseparable. I realized that heartbreak happens, but you can’t let it destroy you. You can’t stop loving. You just need to move on and let the walls you built around yourself down. After a while my walls came down and I am now happier than ever.