Before I Met You

Leslie found herself being attacked almost mercilessly via phone calls the same time the dancing boy named Diego was dealing with his useless brother.
It was him, who else could it be? He did carry the honorable title of being Leslie's boyfriend after all. But to Leslie, it seemed that was all it was destined to be: a title.
To be fairly honest, Leslie had to admit that the only reason she had ever agreed to go out with a boy was to qualm all the insecurities she carried in herself. Afraid of being alone forever in a world that seemed to want nothing more than to chew her up and spit her out, Leslie found solace in a relationship - however meaningless it turned out to be.
The boy's name was Hunter and he was a shy boy. His loving green eyes were always tucked away underneath his wavy brown fringe, hiding them from the world. With confidence that barely skimmed the surface at the luckiest of times, Hunter was not only a quiet soul but a peaceful one. Never seeming to fade entirely from Leslie's subconscious, she agreed to go out with the shy, quiet boy named Hunter.
She did not regret it. Hunter was as honorable as the most impressive prince charming in any girl's fantasy, as handsome as any boy his age could ever hope to be, and as desperate to fall in love as any closet romantic dreamed to. Hunter was quiet and shy, this was true, but Hunter was also perfect.
This was only one of the flaws that led Leslie to lose interest in him romantically. Leslie was fully convinced that she was not good enough for him, that he deserved someone just as honorable - but she was too selfish to let him go. Instead, Leslie chose to tuck Hunter away in the pocket of her heart, where he could never fully penetrate the walls she had built around herself but he could occupy the space around it like no other had been allowed to before.
Hers or not, Hunter was always close to Leslie's heart.
And apparently, his cell phone as well.
Sighing thoughtfully, Leslie pondered ignoring the boy's third call that day. She considered even turning it off. But with her kind heart and overally good intentions, Leslie soon answered it.
"Hello?" his voice broke through the soft static that was barely heard over the invisible phone line. "Leslie?"
She sighed again. Patience was a virtue.
"Yes," she replied tiredly. All she wanted to do was sleep. She was as emotionally drained as she was physically. It had been a long night once he father had decided to come home.
"Oh," Hunter's voice sounded surprised now. "You picked up."
She could almost hear the unspoken 'finally' the boy was itching to add to the end of his sentence. Not surprised, Leslie cradled the phone between her slim shoulder and face as she began to tug in her shoes. She felt a walk would help clear her thoughts quite nicely. 
"Yes," she repeated. Their conversations almost always went like this. Price of dating a walking zombie, I suppose. "Sorry I didn't answer earlier. Got distracted."
"Ah, alright," his soft voice replied. "Just wanted to see if you wanted to do something today, but it seems to be too late now."
Glancing at the clock, Leslie saw that it was almost around 4pm now. Realizing with a jolt that she had spent far too much time asleep, she blew out a breath of air impatiently.
"Sorry," she said, frustrated. It was always her fault for being so distracted all the time.
"It's fine, Les," Hunter spoke kindly. "Maybe tomorrow?"
Finally finishing with her shoes, Leslie rose to her feet and walked to her living room window, gazing out distractedly. "Yes, tomorrow. Definitely."
She heard some shuffling around before Hunter's voice filled her ear once more.
"Sounds good. Love you."
Her heart rate increased when she heard those last two words. And not in the cute way. 
"L-Love you too," she stuttered out before hanging up, slumping against the window tiredly.
Somehow, Leslie couldn't find a way to explain the feeling of relief that washed over her as she realized she didn't need to see her boyfriend.
Instead, Leslie thought lovely thoughts of a day filled with nothing but innocence. No lies, no pretending.
Leslie should've known better than to expect so much from life.