Three's a Charm...
His fingers type away as he walks down the corridor, eyes glued to his phone as students scurry around him to get to 5th period. There's a string of messages stained in blue as the recipient of the messages continues to open, read, and ignore.
She usually keeps the 'read' sign off her messages, and he can only suspect the reason she had activated it again was to piss him off. To show that she was reading and not taking a single interest in his attempts to apologise to her.
Scott's best friend, Tyler, places a hand on his shoulder, finally breaking his attention away from the phone. There's a knowing smirk on his lips as his eyes flicker to the item in Scott's hand and then to his ocean blue eyes.
"Dude, if you want her to listen don't you think you should speak to her face to face?" He asks, eyebrow raised. Tyler had more experience with girls and his idea sounded logical enough.
"What if she walks away?" He asks warily. It had taken him three years to finally admit to Bella that he's been crushing on her and then another five months for him to finally pluck up the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend.
"Then you run after her"
Tyler rarely showed it, but he was a hopeless romantic. It may be the reason why girls take such an interest in him. In terms of looks, he fell slightly above average on the spectrum with his dirty blonde hair, emerald eyes and slightly crooked nose. Scott guessed the rest is made up by his personality.
"She'll never forgive me." There's a growing lump in Scott's throat, was he about to cry? Probably. But he had to keep up this facade that boys... men don't cry. Society needed to catch up and show to young men that it is okay to cry. It is okay to talk about your feelings. And it's okay to admit when you're wrong.
"You probably shouldn't have put the blame on her when she confronted you either." Tyler adds with a pointed look.
"Alright, I fucked up." He sighs, running a hand through his ashen hair. He's noticed it's started thinning at the front, but that was an issue to address another day. Right now, he had to undo his fuck up. "I gotta go."
His hasty steps echo, head rapidly turning left and right, looking up and down corridors in hopes that maybe she hadn't gone straight to class. He scurries past her locker, a frown setting in his heart shaped lips. His final attempt at finding her would be the big oak tree behind the school, a place they often walked to for lunch away from the crowds.
His heartbeat slows as he approaches the tree, eyes locked on the girl sat against the trunk, her eyes closed and a serene look on her face.
"What are you doing here?" She mumbles, eyes still closed. He takes a moment to catch his breath, eyes glued to the sun kissed girl in front of him. Her auburn hair sits atop her head in a messy bun, eyes lined black with her signature eyeliner. She looked breathtaking, and he'd be a damn fool to let her go.
"I came here to apologise" Scott's voice is small, weak. He had a whole speech planned in his head but he knew they were lined with excuses.
"Too little too late" Bella says, eyes finally opening so he can see her hazel eyes.
"Please" He hadn't expected to play the begging card so soon into the conversation, but his quiver had no bows. And now wasn't the time to make up excuses.
"You lied to me Scott. Numerous times. I forgave you the first time, I forgave you the second time. I'm not sure I can forgive you a third time."
"Even if I say please?" It was a futile attempt at humour but he noticed a flicker of a smile cross her freshly painted lips. He took that as an opportunity to stroll closer and take a seat beside her. Their arms brush at the movement and he feels that familiar warmness settle throughout.
"Not this time, Scott." Her left eyebrow is raised, challenging him to try harder. They've done this before. Gone around this merry-go-round once before. Twice before...
Scott remembers something his mum always said. He knew people who say they are young, that they didn't understand what 'true love is'. But this is a girl he'd tried to pursue for years, seen and admired for years.
His attempts at flirting was always met with stony sarcasm and witty one liners. His attempts to take her out always led to coffee shops with board games or a trip to the cinema - places where she could be inspired by creativity. He remembers the first time he watched her read, and the second time, and the third. He loved the way she bit her lip in concentration, eyes completely zoned out and lost in whatever had caught her attention.
He may be young but he knew what true love is. And it was the feeling that electrified every nerve end when he looked at Bella.
When he'd expressed his admiration of her to his parents after a few months of being together, his dad had shook his head and muttered the classic 'you're too young to be in love. It's infatuation. You bicker like children and you're always falling out. It's child's play'. But his mum had advice that stuck with him, that pushes him to work through all the bickering, the differences, and the moody days.
'If it's easy, it will never work out. Relationships work on differences, they work on disagreements. They work on having opinions and discussions. Just always remember to forgive and forget. Give her a kiss or a cuddle and don't ever let her go to bed still angry.'
He places his head against her shoulder and revels in the feeling of being this close to her. Bella's touch was enough for him to know that he loved her. He just wished he would stop making the same mistakes over and over.
"I'm sorry." He whispers, head nuzzling into the crook of her neck. He relishes in the way her body relaxes around him.
"You deserve better, I know that already. I'm just stupid enough to keep fucking up because I don't know how to open up to someone who I feel this strongly for."
Bella shakes her head. "I know it's hard, it's hard for me too. But if I ask you about something, I expect you to be honest with me. I hate having to find out the truth from one of your friends after you've told me a lie. Better yet, I hate having to find out the truth from more or less everyone in this college!"
He winces at the sound of her raised voice. She'd bottled this anger long enough and she was trying really hard to keep the lid closed, let the bubbles fizzle out before she explodes.
"I get that, I really do. I'm sorry for blaming you, for saying to Marie that I was scared to open up to you. I should've come straight to you."
She let's out a heavy sigh. She was elongating the issue, when in reality it wasn't that big of an issue. She was just sick of being the last to know. Especially when she was falling head over heels for him.
"Will you forgive me?" He asks, head lifting off her shoulder so he could look into the eyes that captivate him.
"You know you're already forgiven. Just please, if you ever need to get something off your chest, tell me. We're in this together and I'll never judge you for any decisions you make."
He nods his head, forehead resting against hers. He loved her, he just had to take the plunge and give her his all. He supposed that's what love is all about at the end of the day.
"I promise you'll always be the first to know."
Photo by Naveen Kumar on Unsplash
