I believe in true love.
My football teammates expect me not to say that, but I think that. Whenever we pass a hot girl in the hallway, they comment along the lines of, “I would smack that” or, “Check out that hottie,” and of course, I would laugh as they stare at her cute butt. But I think she deserves more respect than that. True beauty comes from the heart, not from the skin. Maybe the girl wants to feel beautiful, but I’m sure that she doesn’t want guys gawking at her every second. You never know; she might be looking for the one, the guy she would live happily ever after with. She wants to be in a Disney movie, in which she plays the princess and Prince Charming, who fights off evil dragons and witches, appears at her doorstep. Don’t tell anyone this, but my favorite movie is The Notebook. I always tell my buds that it’s Rudy. Girls shriek in joy whenever I say that it’s The Notebook.
Two nights ago, I looked into Hannah’s beautiful blue eyes and told her that I loved her. And I did. Many say that I’m supposed to fall into another dimension when I’m in true love, but I didn’t feel that. Yet, I knew for sure that I loved her. We have been dating for three months, and I couldn’t find a more beautiful lady than Hannah: no beauty show contestant could compete against her tall slender body; no golden retriever puppy could compete against her smooth blonde hair; and absolutely no living soul could dare even come close to owning her soft lips.
Then I kissed her.
That moment felt great. I forgot about everything in my life- my parents’ divorce, the failing grade I received on my English test, and even our football team’s loss against Notre Dame, our cross-town rival. Everything turned out okay because I had Hannah.
“Hannah, you wanna lie down with me?” I asked her. We stood in town at around midnight- the perfect time for a romantic mood, just like a scene in The Notebook.
“In middle of the street?”
“Yeah, it’ll be fun.”
“Okay.” She lied down and we shared a moment of comfortable silence.
“What happens if a car comes?” I questioned.
“I don’t know.”
“We die.”
“Um…okay.” She stood up and trudged over to the sidewalk. Feeling alone, I did the same.
Then last night, we went to see Newly Found, the latest chick flick playing at the local theatre. Every single girl loved it. Every single guy hated it. When my buddy Peter confronted me about it, I used Hannah as an excuse saying, “Hannah really wants to go see it, so I gotta see it- I’m sorry man.” Then he mumbled something. Something about being whipped.
“What?”
“I said Diane Johnson is pretty hot in that movie.”
“Who?” I knew a girl with the same name from long ago. But, millions of people must have the names Diane and Johnson.
“Never mind.”
Right after the bell rang, signaling the end of school, I sprinted down the entire hallway to catch Hannah stepping out of her algebra class. After giving her the longest hug and kiss, we held each others’ hands and strolled out. Of course, everyone jealously eyed us as we passed by and I knew it- who wouldn’t want to be the football player dating the hot cheerleader?
We treaded down to the theatre across town, hand-in-hand. A bystander would’ve thought that we had gotten married already and lived a happy-coupled life. Hannah’s smile stretched from ear to ear, and I could not stop glimpsing at her gorgeous eyes. Whenever hers met mine, we stared at each others’ so long until we giggled.
“Hey, where do you see us five months from now?” she asked.
“Still together. Is that even a question?”
“I guess not.” She chuckled.
“Nothing can split us apart.”
“Nothing?”
“It’s not about keeping your promises, and it’s not about following your heart. It’s about security. Baby, you’re all that I want.”
“Really?” She smiled. I swear, I saw her eyes glisten in joy.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” We stopped in our tracks and kissed. Sure, other people might have thrown glances here and there, but we didn’t care. We had each other and that was all that mattered.
As soon as we got to the movie theatre, I stood in the ticket line while Hannah ran to the bathroom.
“Two to see Newly Found please,” I motioned to the girl at the cashier.
“You’re here to see Diane Johnson?” the girl asked
“Who?”
“The actress in the movie? She’s pretty popular.”
“Wait, who’s that again?”
“Diane Johnson? Here are your tickets. Enjoy!” She handed me the tickets and waved her hand to signal to the next customer. Diane Johnson… Diane…. Johnson… where had I heard that name?
“Hey, let’s go get good seats.” Hannah, appearing with a bag of popcorn and a drink with two straws, pulled my hand towards the theatre. She plopped down in the second row then patted the seat next to her, motioning me to sit there.
“Isn’t this a bit close?”
“Not really. I like it up here.” Grudgingly, I sat.
The huge black screen dawned before us like a huge football lineman staring us down right before a play started. In fact, the distance between our seats and the screen proved to be so close that a close-up of anybody would feel as though that actor stood an inch away from our noses, ready to kiss him at any moment. Soon enough, the dark doomed the room and the screen fired up.
The movie turned out alright, not too shabby. The teenage boy in the movie found love with this girl and kept on claiming that he loved her. Then he cheated on her, but came back to her saying that he loved her with all his heart. The kid lied a lot just to have his girlfriend back, but Hannah seemed to love it- I don’t know why.
Though, the girl in the movie, Diane Johnson, caught my eye. I almost jumped when I realized that she was the Diane I had met at a summer camp several years before. We had attended summer band camp together, a camp that I despised with a burning passion, where she played the guitar and I, the viola. She used to be the girl who had tiny freckles and braces. I loved the way she composed herself, but Peter, whose mom dragged him to the camp also, would hear none of it. Nobody really talked to her or bothered to get to know her at all. She sometimes sat alone at the mess hall, or sometimes with another girl who people didn’t really interact with. Plus, people didn’t enjoy listening to her sing very much. Besides that, why couldn’t everyone just see her? I loved her brown hair, her sun-like smile, and even her cute butt. I thought she would be the perfect cheerleader type of girl. I mean, she had the body.
But seeing her on screen made me… excited. The girl, who I talked to six years ago at a music summer camp, now, had become a movie star. Everyone knew her, but I met her years before everyone else. Well, she could even be my friend, really. We shared some great moments together at that camp.
“Hey Diane,” I recall saying to her while we traversed behind the cabins to our band rehearsal.
“Hey,” she smiled at me, glancing at me shyly behind her long hair.
“Did you practice the new piece?”
“Yeah. Did you?” I looked into her eyes and I knew we connected at that instant. But of course, Peter had to ruin it all, dragging me away towards other girls.
“Hey, it was nice talking to you. I’ll see you at rehearsal!” I called out to her. Diane waved back and walked away, but we had formed a great friendship at that moment, a true rapport.
Of course, that had been years ago, but with her so close to my eyes, I felt something new. Her hair swooshed back and forth around the rims of the screen. Her dark brown eyes stared into mine. Her presence made me feel as though I belonged in that movie, as if I, not the actor, were the guy for her. Even as she prepared to kiss the actor, I felt close to her even more because she was getting ready to kiss me all the same. As she neared, I stiffened up a bit. Her warmth seeped through the screen, hugging me into a new dimension and transporting me out of the theatre into a new world. Then time magically slowed down.
Blankness blanketed this new world. I never imagined I could be in a world with this much white. Did the sun get closer? But either way, everything brightened up and I felt more warmth. Plus, her hand crawled down my back, making me want her closer to me. The light made her look more beautiful than ever. I knew, for a long time, that she had been pretty, but at this moment, she was gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. And, she had a warm heart. I knew it. The way she spoke touched me deeply to the core. Maybe….I could go find her.
But this mysterious world zapped out of my mind when the lights turned on. I glanced at the girl sitting next to me. She held the bucket of popcorn like treasure, stuffing her mouth with the buttered snack. She eyed me from time to time with a stupid-looking smile. She tried to look seductive, I could tell, but unlike before, she only appeared like a grinning bullfrog. Still, everything turned out fine- Diane made me feel welcome. She patted me, telling me that everything was awesome.
When the film finished, I felt disappointed. Diane left the screen and I was left in the darkness for a split second with the plain girl next to me. She kept on nudging me, tipping me to make a move. But I could not figure out what. All I could think about was how connected I felt with Diane. The heaven-like world just vanished into the air when she left. I felt alone…maybe even lost.
“Hey, are you alright?” the annoying blonde kid tapping me inquired. What did she want from me? I walked away, but she grabbed me and stared me into my eyes. A silence rose between the two of us. Something at the back of my mind told me that I had loved her before, but I refused to believe it.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
I needed to go find my true love.