I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and just got around to revising it now. It was planned as a oneshot, but the only person I showed it to thinks I should continue.
I was walking down the hall at school, and I saw Paul. He looked so cute in his new blue sweatshirt. I love how his hair is so shiny and curly (even though a lot of people think it looks greasy) and how he is actually shorter than me. I would have been the shortest kid in all of middle school if not for him, and I'm in eighth grade. I've been in the same class as him every year of elementary school, but I never had a crush on him until seventh grade.
However, every time I see him, I nearly cry. I was cursed in sixth grade by an evil witch: my Aunt Lisa. I found her secret lair with her cauldron and magic books and everything, and she placed two curses upon me: I cannot tell anyone that she is a witch or give any hints of any kind, and if I fall in love, the second I or my lover admits it, he will die. However, from then on, I had amazing instincts. Maybe it is a side effect of one of the curses.
Because of that, I must endure without him, even though I suspect he likes me. It is like a thorn in my heart to watch him have fun flirting, playing, and joking with other girls. I know eventually, they will fall in love like I never can. In fact, I wrote a poem about it a few days ago:
There is a pain within my heart
It makes me want to cry
It breaks my heart to stand so near
And know he can never be mine
It's not beautiful or award-winning, but it sums up my situation perfectly...except that it leaves out Aunt Lisa.
***
Later that day, Paul wanted to talk to me privately, so we walked off to the side of the crowd. "Sally, will you go to the dance with me? I know it's a ways off, and we've barely talked since elementary school, but . . ."
My heart leapt and sunk at the same time. I wanted more than anything to say yes, but I knew that if I did, I would never lose him until he died. Would it be better to watch him from the side, never speaking to him, or to love him and lose him forever?
"Can I get back to you on that? I don't know if I can go to the dance. You see, I'm going on a vacation right around that time, and I might be out of town. I need to ask my mom for the exact days, but I can tell you my answer tomorrow. Just don't ask anyone else. Please!" I ended with a plea, my eyes desperate.
"Okay. Tell me just before first period in the Geography classroom." We were in the same Geography class.
"Sure." My voice was weird, sort of strained and glad at the same time, and rather hoarse. I smiled to reassure him, but my eyes were just as scared and desperate as before. He walked away looking rather surprised by my strange facial expression.
"Crap," I muttered to myself. But during my last class (math) I thought about it: would it be better to love and lose or to never love at all? But if he loved me, if he really loved me, death would not hold us apart. I would survive the years, never falling in love again, and rejoin him in Heaven. But could I endure? What if there was another boy just as funny and sweet? Could I resist? But as I thought it, I knew that as long as I remembered him, I would never be temped to fall in love again. It would be akin to cheating if I did.
So the next morning, I was late to Geography because of the bus, but as I passed his seat I said the word that would intertwine and seal our fates forever.