This is a prompt I *TRIED* to write as just a prompt. This is just an excerpt of the 5,000-word+ monstrosity it turned out to be! I guess I can't do writing prompts!
Prompt/Starter Sentence: "I wasn't planning on this. Falling in love with you was the last thing I wanted, because I knew our time would have to come to an end. Yet, here I am, begging you not to turn the page."
'I wasn't planning on this. Falling in love with you was the last thing I wanted, because I knew our time would have to come to an end. Yet, here I am, begging you not to turn the page. If you know better, you'll just throw this letter away.'
I swallowed hard and stared down at the page. For years I'd left the envelope unopened, and now it was too late to do anything about its contents. Aaron was gone and all I could do was feel like an idiot for not hearing him out.
Tears slipped down my cheek as I turned the page.
'I knew you wouldn't listen.' He'd drawn a smiley face beside that sentence. I laughed out loud, but that smile faded as soon as I read the next paragraph.
'You've always marched to the beat of your own drum. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met, Sydney. From the very first time I met you, I knew you would be the one for me. When you started dating Hendrix, I thought I would die inside. Instead, I stuck by you, watching and waiting. The wound was opened fresh every time I saw you guys kiss from across the lunch room, but I cauterized that rip in my heart with the fact that I loved you more than he could have ever loved you. I loved you more than myself. I'll love you that way until the day I die.
Take care of yourself.'
By now, I was a mess. I leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. It was him. It was always him, and now he was gone.
For a few minutes I did nothing but cry. He'd been in love with me all along, and I'd let him go. My memory called up images of the last time we'd seen each other.
He'd jogged four miles from his house to mine—in the rain. By the time he got there, he was soaked. I opened the door and he just stood there like he expected me to do something. After Hendrix had put on that display with Jessica at the dance, he'd immediately left. I hadn't understood it then.
“Syd … ” he whispered breathlessly.He was gone just like that.
“Why are you all wet? Come inside!” I demanded, ushering him in. “Did you get locked out of your house again?”
I ran to grab a towel from the linen closet. When I got back, he was rubbing the rain from his eyes—or was it something else?
“Here, dry yourself off.” I handed him the towel and he seemed to be at a loss for words as he received it. I crossed my arms and waited as he swept the terrycloth over his arms. His gray shirt was wet and stuck to his body. I hadn't noticed just how much he'd filled out in the past few years. For some reason it made me blush. “Do you want some cocoa?”
He silently nodded and we went into the kitchen. As usual, Boca was asleep on his back in the cat's bed kicking the air as he chased something in his dreams.
Aaron stared off into space as I made the cocoa.
“You never answered my question. Why'd you run here through the rain? Couldn't you have waited till your mom got home so she could drive you?”
“No. I couldn't.” His eyes dropped to the counter.
“What's wrong? You're quiet.” The milk in the pot began to boil rapidly and I turned down the heat. I stirred the cocoa powder into the milk as it grew frothy and creamy.
“You can't stay with Hendrix.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “That thing with Jessica was an accident. He thought she was me.”
“That's what he wants you to believe.”
I turned to face him. “So what is the truth, Aaron? He wanted me and the entire senior class to see him kiss another girl?” I shook my head. “Are you sure that's not what you want me to believe?”
“Why would I lie? I'm your best friend!” he protested.
“Are you?” I leaned on the counter. “Hendrix has been with me through some pretty crazy stuff too, you know?”
Aaron frowned. “How can you compare me to him?”
“I'm not. I'm just making a point. You aren't the only guy in my life.” In an attempt to halt the conversation, I walked to the cabinet above our coffee station and pulled down two mugs.
The stool he was sitting on at the breakfast table screeched across the tile floor as he stood up. “The truth is … ” He trailed off but I could tell there was an intense weight on his shoulders and those words might have set him free of it.
I poured the chocolate into our cups, crossed the kitchen and handed him one. He took it reluctantly and looked down into the swirling hot liquid.
“You're worried for no reason. Now drink y—”
“Stop it,” he mumbled. “Stop brushing me aside.”
His eyes met mine and I couldn't tear them away. Heat crept into my cheeks as I realized just how close we were standing to each other. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. Pinpricks of electricity lit up under my skin. He disarmed me by bringing his hand up and gently touching my lips with his fingers. I wasn't prepared for the onslaught of feelings that followed the intimate gesture.
“What did you come here to say?” I said softly.
“Just take care of yourself, Syd.” His eyes were red, and I thought he might be fighting back tears, but I knew it could have just as easily been remnants of rain irritating them.
The gravity of his words sunk in. “What do you mean? Where are you going?”
“I'm joining the army. I'm leaving next week for basic.”
“The army!? You never told me you were joining the army!” My fingers grew so weak around my hot mug that I finally had to set it down.
He turned away from me in a way he never had before, in either the physical or emotional sense. I could feel that something had broken between us. The Aaron I used to know wouldn't have hidden such a big life decision from me. Had we drifted that far apart?
“It's the right thing to do. My aunt can't afford to send me to college and my grades have never been good.”
“But you'll be leaving Greenleaf … and next week? What about graduation?”
“I've already discussed this with the principle and my teachers. I took my exams early. They're going to mail my aunt my diploma.”
“So, that's why you were late to the dance.” Tears collected in my eyes.
“Saturday was the only day they'd let me take them all.” He sniffed. “I didn't want to tell you like this.”
“I can't believe you hid this from me.”
“Maybe this is what happens when you get older. We're way past fourth grade now. Secrets aren't free anymore. They come with a price.”
“What would I have had to pay to get this one?”
“I have to go, Syd. I can't … I just can't watch you … with him …”
“What?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you talking about?”
“It's too late now. It's all too late.” He set his cup down. “Thanks for the cocoa.” His quick steps took him out of the kitchen and down the hall.
“No,” I whispered to myself. A moment passed before I realized he was going forever. He was walking out of my life and if I didn't stop him, he'd be gone. “Aaron!” I ran after him and caught him before he got to the front door. “Don't go. Stay until the rain stops. Let's talk.” I spun him around. “I'm sorry. Look, I'll make us some dinner and when my mom gets home from work, we can go out for icecream just like we used to.” I smiled into his eyes.
“There's no time left, Syd. Things can't be like old times again.” He brushed his knuckles against my cheek. “Goodbye.”
Two years later, on my birthday, I received the yellow envelope in the mail, but I refused to open it. I was mad at him for abandoning me. He'd been right about Hendrix, and yet I'd never believed him.
I realized it was my fault our relationship had shattered.
Though I hadn't opened the letter, I was happy to get it. It meant he was alive and safe. But three years later, when Aaron's aunt showed up on my doorstep with tears in her eyes and a letter in her hand, I knew.
I knew he was gone.
The strangeness of the circumstances had been off-putting. He hadn't been reported as having died in action. He'd been reported as missing after his chopper had gone down off the coast of Qatar.
For six months I talked to his aunt three or four times a week. There was never any news.
I slowly gave up hope of seeing him again. I began to believe he was dead.
One day, it just kind of clicked for me. He was really gone. They would never find him. He was at the bottom of the sea and nobody could change that, not even me.
That's when I opened his letter and found out the weight I'd sent him away with was that he'd been in love with me for years. I'd virtually spat in his face the last time I'd seen him, and all over some jerk who never truly loved or cared about me.
'Aaron. I loved you, too,' I thought as I wept in my bedroom floor.
Of course I had. Why else would I have tried to stop him from leaving?
In my youth and stupidity, I'd let go of the one man who would have stayed by my side forever, and there was no way to get him back.
What do you think, guys? Worth pursuing? Let me know on any of my social media accounts! Much love to you all! Hope you have a fantastic weekend!
