Stay Strong
One.
Jacinta held the phone gingerly in one delicate hand. She looked at it with an aura of disdain, as though it were something dirty, something diseased, something evil. Around her, the darkening twilight was calm. The sun dipped lower and lower in the sky, tickling the clouds pinks and oranges, the sky turning darker, blackness beginning to take over.
She stood silently in her back garden, her toes only inches away from the pond located there. Fish of all different colours swam lazily in it, occasionally speeding up if they thought they saw food. Jacinta watched them, allowing their lazier movements to relax her, though inside everything felt as though it was on fire.
He had been using her all along. The phone call confirmed it. All the while, he had been turning into someone she didn’t recognize, and now, she saw what he really was like. He had gone from the kind, sweet boy she had fallen in love with to a fool. The kind of guy who thought drink driving accidents happened to other people. The kind of guy who thought it was OK to stare at other girls and remark at how hot they were with his girlfriend present. The type of guy who would pretend he didn’t know Jacinta if they were at a party and he saw a nice looking girl.
Jacinta had been blinded by love for a while. Her friends had been frustrated, but now she saw what they had been seeing all along. She saw what he was, and that evening, she had dialled his number, and told him exactly what she thought. She had broken up with him, much to his disbelief. Who would have thought young, timid Jacinta would stick up to her boyfriend, who was popular, confident, and handsome? No one would have thought it. Without him, Jacinta would be back to the bottom of the food chain at school, back with her loser friends with their loser hobbies.
Jacinta didn’t care, though. She didn’t want to have to go through turning into someone that she wasn’t, only to look back in a few years and see everything that she had thrown away. She valued herself too much for that. It would hurt, she knew that much. She had loved him with all her heart and a part of her still did. But she deserved better, and she knew that now.
The phone suddenly shattered the silence. She knew it would be him. She listened to its shrill ring, the same sound that had been haunting her for the three hours since she had told him where to go. He didn’t think she would have dared to do it. He was angry. He was trying everything. He was apologizing, saying he would change. He was getting angry, saying she drove him to it. He was trying to lay on the guilt, saying that he had problems and needed her to help him get through it. Jacinta stayed strong.
The phone stopped ringing abruptly. Almost instantly, it began again.
Suddenly everything came to a head inside Jacinta. All of the hatred, the rage, the hurt, the fear, the humiliation, the grief of losing him ... it all came to the surface and she let out a cry of frustration, and she hurled the phone into the pond.
There was a soft plop as it broke the surface of the water. The fish scattered, regrouping when the phone had sunk to the bottom of the pond, settling among the coloured stones and the ornaments left there to entertain the fish.
The twilight was silent again. Jacinta took a deep, liberating breath and, turning around, went back into the house.
She stood silently in her back garden, her toes only inches away from the pond located there. Fish of all different colours swam lazily in it, occasionally speeding up if they thought they saw food. Jacinta watched them, allowing their lazier movements to relax her, though inside everything felt as though it was on fire.
He had been using her all along. The phone call confirmed it. All the while, he had been turning into someone she didn’t recognize, and now, she saw what he really was like. He had gone from the kind, sweet boy she had fallen in love with to a fool. The kind of guy who thought drink driving accidents happened to other people. The kind of guy who thought it was OK to stare at other girls and remark at how hot they were with his girlfriend present. The type of guy who would pretend he didn’t know Jacinta if they were at a party and he saw a nice looking girl.
Jacinta had been blinded by love for a while. Her friends had been frustrated, but now she saw what they had been seeing all along. She saw what he was, and that evening, she had dialled his number, and told him exactly what she thought. She had broken up with him, much to his disbelief. Who would have thought young, timid Jacinta would stick up to her boyfriend, who was popular, confident, and handsome? No one would have thought it. Without him, Jacinta would be back to the bottom of the food chain at school, back with her loser friends with their loser hobbies.
Jacinta didn’t care, though. She didn’t want to have to go through turning into someone that she wasn’t, only to look back in a few years and see everything that she had thrown away. She valued herself too much for that. It would hurt, she knew that much. She had loved him with all her heart and a part of her still did. But she deserved better, and she knew that now.
The phone suddenly shattered the silence. She knew it would be him. She listened to its shrill ring, the same sound that had been haunting her for the three hours since she had told him where to go. He didn’t think she would have dared to do it. He was angry. He was trying everything. He was apologizing, saying he would change. He was getting angry, saying she drove him to it. He was trying to lay on the guilt, saying that he had problems and needed her to help him get through it. Jacinta stayed strong.
The phone stopped ringing abruptly. Almost instantly, it began again.
Suddenly everything came to a head inside Jacinta. All of the hatred, the rage, the hurt, the fear, the humiliation, the grief of losing him ... it all came to the surface and she let out a cry of frustration, and she hurled the phone into the pond.
There was a soft plop as it broke the surface of the water. The fish scattered, regrouping when the phone had sunk to the bottom of the pond, settling among the coloured stones and the ornaments left there to entertain the fish.
The twilight was silent again. Jacinta took a deep, liberating breath and, turning around, went back into the house.
♠ ♠ ♠
Final entry for the final challenge =] Awesome contest, sad to see my last entry is already in. Hope you enjoyed! =D