Tears of Love

Justin sat in the dark corner watching people run to and fro gathering things and putting them in their places. The theatre was alive with a buzz. Opening night was here and there was still so much work to be done. Justin had been doing work all day. He sat in the corner to get away for a few moments. To think, to breathe, to tell himself the show would be ok. 1

Out of the corner of his eye he saw ‘her’. She was beautiful. Dressed in a paint covered t-shirt and sawdust filled blue jeans, she looked amazing. He watched her work. Raising and lowering things, hammering in nails on supports, painting the last little bit of scenery. He smiled. She didn’t even know that she looked so beautiful doing nothing special. 2

Then, as if from nowhere Justin saw ‘him’. He slowly snuck up on her and threw his hands over her eyes. She smiled and placed her hands on his. Slowly she pulled his hands down and turned around to kiss him. He kissed her and then pulled away as he said something that Justin could not hear. Slowly he bent down onto one knee. Her hands quickly covered her mouth as she gasped. Everyone in the theatre stopped what they were doing and watched them. 3

He began to speak. He rambled on for a few, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Her eyes got wide. Slowly as he was still talking he opened the box. Once the box was completely opened he ended speech. She had tears of joy in her eyes and running down her cheeks. She smiled as big as she could and simply nodded. She knelt down to him and captured him into a hug. 4

The tears that Justin had been fight back began to break through. He took a deep breath and emerged from the corner. She saw him. She say the tears and the smile form her face disappeared. She took small steps towards him trying to come up with the words to say. Justin quickly leaped into a large stride and went into the green room. 5

She followed after. “Why are you so upset?” she called after him. Justin spun around to this question as she bumped into his chest. “’Why am I so upset?’! Wouldn’t you be upset if the person you love just got engaged to someone else?” he said angrily. Her mouth dropped open to try to speak, nothing came out. He paced back and forth while talking to her. He asked her “Now why is it that when I talk to another girl I get in trouble by you and when you do almost anything with another guy I am cool about it? You treat me as if I am your boyfriend only when I talk to another girl or do things that you don’t like, yet when it comes to choosing someone you pick him? He talks to other girls all of the time. He doesn’t get in trouble. He goes to a different school, where you can’t always know if he is being faithful to you. I go to this school and you watch me all the time. I don’t understand. What makes it ok with him?”6

She stood looking at him in awe and shock. “Well…” he finally said. She just shook her head without an answer. Justin closed his eyes and grit his teeth. Taking a deep breath in he replied for her “Fine, if you don’t have an answer then I’m leaving. Goodbye.” The last word rang in her head as he spun around and quickly walked out of the doors.7

Later in the night she realized she had done something horrible. She slowly dialed Justin’s cell phone number. It rang. And rang. And rang. Finally it reached his voicemail. The phone regurgitated Justin’s voice as a it exclaimed “Hey, it’s Justin. I’m either busy or screening calls. Leave a message.” She decided that he was screening his calls and wasn’t picking up the phone. She left him a brief message. “Justin, I’m sorry about earlier. Can we just talk? … If you want to talk I’ll be at the bookstore on the corner of Liberty Avenue and Collins Street until 8.” She slowly hung up the phone. Pulling the keys from her pocket she headed off to the book store. 8

It was 8:15 and Justin still wasn’t there. Time to give up, she thought to herself. Ask this thought crept through her head her phone rang. ‘Justin’s House’ blinked across the screen. Quickly she opened it with a smile and spoke excitedly “Hey Justin!” The other side was quiet except for the sound of someone crying. “Honey…” the line said, it was Justin’s mom. Justin’s mom sniffled into the phone. “What is it, Mrs. Pepper” she asked in a concerned manner. Mrs. Pepper took a deep breath and sobbed “Justin was in the car on the way home today and someone ran a red light and hit him….” “Oh my god, Mrs. Pepper, is he alright?!” she said with worry in her voice. “I’m sorry honey” Mrs. Pepper said quietly. She dropped the phone and the tears that had already filled her eyes flooded out onto her face. “Justin is only 18. He couldn’t be…..oh my god….what have I done….”9