Status: Complete
Oh, Brother
Sera
The plane ride back to America was miserable. The person in the seat next to me hogged the armrest and smelled like Fritos, the waitress accidentally dumped soda onto my lap, and I felt sick to my stomach.
I wasn’t going to be seeing Tyler again. Yet already, I ached from missing him.
I didn’t sleep at all during the fourteen-hour plane ride. I tried, but my mind was too unsettled, too busy wallowing. It felt like the plane would never land.
But land it did, and I rushed as quickly as I could to the luggage pick-up, where Reece would hopefully be waiting. I was so exhausted that I stumbled more than a little, but I managed to make it with only a couple of bruises.
“Sera!” Reece squealed, sprinting towards me and flinging her arms around me. I laughed and hugged her back.
“I missed you,” I said honestly. And I had. My best friend. She was like a sister to me. More than a sister, because we chose to be friends.
“Aw. I’m sorry, Seraphina. I’m sorry I talked you into going, and I’m sorry that you fell in love with him.”
Love? “I don’t love him,” I said, but the words tasted like a lie.
“I know you better than anyone. And I can tell when it’s more than a crush. You have to tell him that you’re not me.” I was just glad she hadn’t pointed out that I’d already confessed to loving him. I was doing my best to make the lie true.
“He’ll never forgive me. No. And you won’t tell him, either. We’re going to move on. I’m going to live my life like I would have if I’d never met him, and he’ll do the same.”
And I tried. I really did. I got ready for school. Reece and I were sharing a dorm room, as always, and we spent a couple of days before the start of term moving in and making it our own. We put up pictures of all the times we’d had together, so many that the room looked like it was wallpapered. I had one picture, though, that wasn’t like the others. Instead of being a memory of ours, it was a picture of Tyler and me. We’d gotten another tourist to take it for us, and we were grinning like mad with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
It was probably unhealthy, that reminder of what I longed for so much but couldn’t have. But I didn’t want to forget, not for the world.
Reece told me I was being a fool. That if I loved him this much, I should call him, confess. But I wouldn’t. He would hate me, and I would hurt that much more.
I wasn’t going to be seeing Tyler again. Yet already, I ached from missing him.
I didn’t sleep at all during the fourteen-hour plane ride. I tried, but my mind was too unsettled, too busy wallowing. It felt like the plane would never land.
But land it did, and I rushed as quickly as I could to the luggage pick-up, where Reece would hopefully be waiting. I was so exhausted that I stumbled more than a little, but I managed to make it with only a couple of bruises.
“Sera!” Reece squealed, sprinting towards me and flinging her arms around me. I laughed and hugged her back.
“I missed you,” I said honestly. And I had. My best friend. She was like a sister to me. More than a sister, because we chose to be friends.
“Aw. I’m sorry, Seraphina. I’m sorry I talked you into going, and I’m sorry that you fell in love with him.”
Love? “I don’t love him,” I said, but the words tasted like a lie.
“I know you better than anyone. And I can tell when it’s more than a crush. You have to tell him that you’re not me.” I was just glad she hadn’t pointed out that I’d already confessed to loving him. I was doing my best to make the lie true.
“He’ll never forgive me. No. And you won’t tell him, either. We’re going to move on. I’m going to live my life like I would have if I’d never met him, and he’ll do the same.”
And I tried. I really did. I got ready for school. Reece and I were sharing a dorm room, as always, and we spent a couple of days before the start of term moving in and making it our own. We put up pictures of all the times we’d had together, so many that the room looked like it was wallpapered. I had one picture, though, that wasn’t like the others. Instead of being a memory of ours, it was a picture of Tyler and me. We’d gotten another tourist to take it for us, and we were grinning like mad with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
It was probably unhealthy, that reminder of what I longed for so much but couldn’t have. But I didn’t want to forget, not for the world.
Reece told me I was being a fool. That if I loved him this much, I should call him, confess. But I wouldn’t. He would hate me, and I would hurt that much more.