So Close
By Samantha Emery

She had always loved him, but never had the heart to tell him. Of course, everyone wanted him. He was as flawless as they come, a high school rock-star god. She sat on his bed and watched him cry. He was the strong one, not her, why did he have to cry? It made no sense. She just held him closely and hoped this would end soon.

She had been in his room once before, but they’d had other people with them then. He’d told her to come over after school, so she’d driven her car there as soon as she told her dad where she’d be. He had said no, because this was a boys house, then she told him how bad off her friend was, and he said to be home by five. She’d thanked him and left.

His mom had answered the door, and said he was in the shower. She sat on the couch and waited while his mom went upstairs and told him she was there. He called down for her a few minutes later, and she ascended the stairs tentatively. He opened the door, fixing the belt in his pants, and he held his shirt in his hands.

“Sorry, I was all sweaty from my walk home, so I hopped in the shower.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” She said. She could see his eyes were red from crying before, but she said nothing about it. She wanted to let him tell her what he was up to.

“So, how are you?” He asked, sitting on the bed and motioning for her to sit down as well.

“I’m alright. A little tired from the bike ride.”

“Want a drink?”

“Nope, not really.”

“OK”

“Well?” She asked, kicking her shoes off.

“Well what?”

“Well, why’d you ask me over?”

“Cause I don’t want to be alone… And I really want to talk to you. You’ve been there for all week with all this stuff, its like you’ve been through it already.”

“I have.” She said, looking down at her toes and wriggling them.

“You never told me about that.” He said laying back and staring at the ceiling. “Tell me about it.”

“Well, I was going out with this guy, Jeff, and I loved him so much… I really though he might be the one… But he was living so far away… I found out he was cheating on me… It killed me so much. The thing was, he didn’t know that I knew. So when I told him, he fed me all this crap about how she didn’t mean anything, and how he broke it off with her the day before. I believed him; I know I wanted it to be ok… So I believed him…” She paused, and looked at him. He seemed surprised.

“Wow, I never thought you’d let a guy treat you like that.” He said. “You seem stronger than that.”

“I am now, but I had to go through this to get to be that way.” She said, and then continued with the story. “He told me he was
changed, so I stayed with him. One day I decided to go up and see him, surprise! You know? And I saw her leaving, and him kissing her goodbye at the door… I smacked her, and punched him in the stomach and told my sister to bring me home. I never spoke to him again, and it took me months to recover from that. I haven’t dated anyone since.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” She murmured, lying down beside him, and looking at his face.

“So, I already know your story… And Hun, she’s not worth all this pain. I know you don’t want to hear it.” she said, seeing the look of anger that crossed his face. “But she’s not perfect. “How could she be if she’d ever hurt you like that? How could she ever want anyone but you?” She thought.

“I know… But still I’m not going to bad mouth her. I don’t know… It’s just…” He said.

She pulled on a piece of her hair, and watched his eyes well up. She reached out and touched his cheek as one of his tears rolled over the soft skin. She shivered at the contact, and hoped he didn’t notice the movement.

He spoke, softly, whispering. “I just miss having someone to kiss and hold my hand… She always did simple things that made
everything seem better.”

She pulled her hand away from his face and put her hand in his. “Is that better?”

“Much.” he said, squeezing her hand tightly. He closed his eyes and she kissed his cheek. He started to cry.

She had always loved him, but never had the heart to tell him. Of course, everyone wanted him. He was as flawless as they come, a high school rock-star god. She sat on his bed and watched him cry. He was the strong one, not her, why did he have to cry? It made no sense. She just held him closely and hoped this would end soon.

“I’m sorry.” He said, pulling away.

“Don’t be, you have every reason to cry.” She said, taking his hand.

He leaned over and kissed her gently. Startled by his own actions, he pulled away quickly and jumped up.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” He said, sinking back down.

“Well, of course you shouldn’t have. But you did. Now, I’m late getting home. I have to go. Love you babe.” She said putting her
sandals back on and opening the door.

“OK, I’ll walk you out.” He said, pulling himself up off the bed.

They walked down the stairs on silence. She paused at the bottom, looking for words, but she could think of none.

He walked past her and opened the door.

“What a gentleman.” She said walking out the door, and came out and shut the door behind them.

“Thanks for coming over. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said hugging her tightly.

She loved the feeling, wrapped in his arms, but pulled away, knowing she was already late, and couldn’t wait any longer to leave.
“Any time sweetie.” She said, walking down the steps and picking her keys out of her pocket, and leaving.

He watched her go, and right before she disappeared around the corner. He whispered, “I love you…” And then he walked back inside.