Girl and Boy

There were once two people, a boy and a girl. By some act of fate, they met one day, and by and by, the boy asked the girl out. Neither of them expected the amazing relationship that was to follow. It was filled with hugs, kisses, memories, sweet words, and one or two rough spots, but on the whole they had the time of their lives.1

On a day approaching their 16 month anniversary, the girl arrived home later then usual. She rushed to the phone and called the boy, and right away could tell something was wrong. 'Are you sitting down?' he asked, and her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. 'What's wrong?' she wondered out loud. And he said:2

'Well, it's mid year, and I'm going to college next year, and I really think...that we should break up.'3

For that one moment, the entire world stopped for the girl. She could not breathe, her heart did not beat; her entire body was frozen in time. Then she began to cry, loud, heaving sobs. The boy tried to soften the blow, 'Don't cry...' he said, 'please don't cry,' and, 'I'm sorry.' But the girl wouldn't listen. 'I'm not going to try to convince you,' she said in a steely voice through her tears. 'It's your life and I don't get to make your decisions for you.' 4

The boy didn't know how to respond. He listened to her crying, and could not take it any longer. 'I have to go,' he said, and heard the click of a terminated phone call. Seconds later, the girl called him back, with just one question: 'Couldn't you even have done it in person?' 'No,' he said, 'I wouldn't have been able to.' And, yet again, the phone call was ended.5

The girl spent the next hour curled up on the floor, too hurt to move onto her bed. With each second that passed, her sobs grew louder and more heart-wrenching, until she was sure that she would never cry again. When she told her parents, she found that this was not true, and with every new person to be told, more tears were shed. 6

She walked around her room, taking down pictures and putting them away, not being able to bring it upon herself to destroy them or throw them away. She went through the motions of life for the rest of the day, doing homework, eating dinner, going to bed.7

The next morning she faced a school full of friends who had no idea. They never knew what to say when she told them, and most of their words only hurt worse. 'You're too good for him anyway', 'You'll find someone better...'. She didn't want someone better, she wanted HIM. He was the only one who knew her so well, who understood her. But she couldn't dwell on that anymore, she meant it when she said that it was his decision to make, and that she wouldn't try to change his mind. 8

As the week wore on, she learned to hide the tears and make of light of it. She began to convince herself that she was ok, that it wasn't that big of a deal. She sent him emails about mundane things that he needed to know. She tried to call him one day, but couldn't get any words out. She said something about something trivial, and that was the end of that.9

One day, she saw him again, and was amazed at the tears in her eyes. She thought that she would be content just being friends with him, but couldn't bring herself to speak to him. And it hurt her badly that he didn't even acknowledge that she was in the room. 10

Two weeks after the break up, she was walking down the hall at school, talking to a friend, when she heard her name. She turned around, and there he was. Her friend left, indicating that she would talk to her later. The girl was unsure what to do, what to say. She was amazed when the first words out of his mouth were, 'Can I have a hug?'11

'Of course,' she said. It was agony and ecstasy to wrap her arms around him; she had imagined it so many times in the past weeks. When she pulled out of the hug, she was surprised to see him crying.12

'I fucked up badly,' he said. 'I made the worst mistake of my life, giving you up. I don't understand why I did it...I want to get back together with you, but I will understand if you don't...I hurt you so badly.....'13

The girl didn't know what to say. This was what she has dreamed of that first night, and yet she wasn't sure anymore. 'I..I don't know,' she said. 'I'll have to think about it.'14

It felt so good to talk again, finally, to hug and laugh...But the girl was torn. She spoke to several friends about it, and the first responses were resounding: 'Don't take him back! He made a big mistake, and now he has to live with it.' Yes, in principle the girl agreed, but what about her heart? She was still in love...15

Other friends gave ambiguous answers, saying that the boy had been very stupid, but that if the girl loved him, she should give him a chance. This only led to more confusion. She already knew that he had made a mistake, no doubt about it. She did love him, and wanted to give him a second chance, but what about her heart? Could it stand to be broken again?..16

She couldn't give the boy an answer, telling him that she would need time to make her decision. Days went by, and she was still no closer to making sense of it all. Should she follow her head or her heart? And which one was saying what? She spoke to so many people about it, and got a lot of conflicting information. She still had no idea what to do.17

Each day, the girl talked to the boy, both at school and on the phone. It was wonderful to hear his voice again, and to see him. She wanted so much to be back with him, but couldn't escape that feeling that she was going to get hurt. She was tired of being hurt, tired of crying over him. 18

Nearly a week had gone by, and she was still no closer to a decision. Two of her friends gave her the best advice. One said, 'If you live too cautiously, you'll never experience anything.' The other: 'If he truly loves you, then he's truly sorry. He'll do everything to make you not cry. If you feel like you're going to be hurt again, stop it then.'19

The girl wrote up a list for the boy, a list of things that they needed to work on if they were to have a relationship again. She was happy when he told her, 'These are things that I will work on whether or not we go back out, because I want to be a better person for you.'20

The girl decided to have a response for him by the end of the weekend. Deep inside her, she knew what her answer was going to be. She loved him, and he loved her, and it seemed to her that he truly was sorry. She felt right when she was around him. But she knew that they couldn't just pick up where they left off, that they would probably never be able to be in that same place. They would take things slowly, both physically and emotionally, so that any problems would quickly come to light. 21

She debated whether to tell him on the phone that night or at school the next day. She herself knew what could happen when things were said over the phone, but she could hardly wait. 22

On the phone that night, she couldn't contain herself. 'I've decided,' she said. The line was silent for a moment. 'And...' the boy asked hesitantly. 'Yes,' the girl told him. 'A thousand time yes. I love you so much...'23

The next morning, she anxiously waited for him. They met where they had been meeting for the past two weeks. Shyly, she leaned into him, and they shared their second first kiss.24