Love is a Pretty Tragedy

[Chapter 5]

I kissed Henry as I got out of the car. It was so nice to have just a normal date, even though I definitely tried to ruin it when my worrying thoughts at the end. I let myself in, to find both of my parents absent.

I walked up the grand stairs and passed my brother's room. He was jamming out to his music with his head in an enormous book. I watched him for a second as he tapped his fingers to the rhythm. He would have always been a great musician if he had kept with the guitar. However, according to my parents, the only acceptable instrument is the piano. I knocked on his wall. He looked up and his face instantly lit up. He took off his oversized his headphones. "Hey, come in for a second."

"Okay." I said and went over and plopped on his soft bed. "What do ya need?"

"I just-" Wes paused. "Well I actually want to apologize." He said coming over and taking a seat next to me on his bed. "I come home from school, and I act like I know everything about your relationship. I seem to be a little bit stalkerish about it at times."

I cut him off. "A little? More like an obsession."

"Look, I'm trying to apologize here. Wait until after for comments." I rolled my eyes, but Wesley continued. "So, I know I have been way overprotective about Henry. I just remember how it was at the beginning with him. And then how difficult it was for all of us after when you started to actually date him. Our family has enough rules in place and ideas on who we should be with." Thinking about it was obviously really hard on Wes. I knew his only problem was that he cared too much sometimes.

"I guess he has always seemed to be that bad guy in my eyes." Then, there was a quick pause. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Ella. You are still my baby sister, you know." He put his arm around me and gave my shoulder a squeeze. "People do change. Definitely not our parents or their friends, but I believe you if you say that he is different now." Wes took a sign of relief; he seemed glad to finally get all of that off of his chest.

I honestly didn’t know what to say. Wesley’s feelings about Henry were something that made us not as close as we used to be, "I really appreciate that Wes," I said with a half smile. Wes acted like he wanted to add something else, maybe explain where this change of heart was coming from, but he closed his month and put his headphones back on.

I wanted to press him, but I decided maybe not to press my luck and headed toward my bedroom. This wasn't just something that Wesley had recently had a concern about. Wes had hated Henry for years now. However, his previous feelings just seemed natural since no one in my family liked Henry, and Wes was the only one that had a slightly good reason. My parents do seem to have very high opinions of who we should be with, preferring us to stay with the children of their circle.

All of these thoughts got me thinking about when I first met Henry. I had always known his name, since it was such a small school, but I never saw him. He was definitely had a rep for being successful at everything he did, especially getting girls. I found out much more about him sophomore year when he transferred into my English class.

[Flashback]

It was another boring day in English class, Mrs. Hall droning on about Oedipus Rex. Honestly, I don't believe that any teacher could really be successful at making the story fun. So, I was doing my usual thing, doodling on any scrap piece of paper I could find. It wasn’t like I was an artist by any means. Something about drawing swirls and zigzags made it easier for me to try to stay focused.

Until a new guy walked in with a pink slip in his hand. Mrs. Hall introduced him to the class and pointed to the seat next to me. I was so invested in my drawing I barely saw him until he move right beside me. However, I definitely did notice once I looked up. It was extremely difficult not to.

The picture of him stands out so clearly. First, I noticed his height. Not that he was incredibly tall or anything, it was more that he was what looked like the perfect height – probably around 6 foot 1. He also had such a great smile that he was shining at me as he took his seat. At the time, he had short, light sandy brown hair. Most likely from the summer sun, but he really didn't seem to have a tan even though the sun seemed to radiate off him as he took his seat. I didn’t catch the color of his eyes, but I was instantly curious.

Basically, he was really quite cute, and I instantly felt a little nervous. I was used to growing up around boys. My parent’s friend’s children were always over from the time I was a baby, but this was different. Not to mention, the school's homecoming dance was coming up in a couple of weeks. I hate to be like all of the other girls, only concerned about the school dances, but it would have been nice to go with Henry Owens. I looked around the classroom and could see the girls' eyes staring at him as he sat beside me. I wondered if he got that wherever he went, and then I realized it was just because he was the new guy in class. Well, I better speak up and say something to him, I thought. However, I was blank for anything to say other than just a simple hello. Lucky for me, I didn't have to since he spoke to me first. "Henry." He said with a cute smile. Now known as the signature smile to me.

"Estelle. I haven't seen you around before." I lied.

"I'm sure you have heard of me before." Cocky, eh?

"Yeah, actually." I said a little taken back. I knew he was on the baseball team, but he wasn’t your typical jock. He didn’t even show up for football games.

"Well my old English class was so boring, but I feel like this one will be more interesting." He flashed another smile as he seemed to look me up and down.

"Keep hoping. Mrs. Hall is so boring." I said quickly before I looked down at my hands. I felt like I was starting to blush.

"Okay now class, it is project time." Mrs. Hall said excitedly. While the whole class sighed and moaned. "It seems like you all have not been paying attention to the readings at the high level of detail that I would expect. So I decided to spice it up, a partner project." Normally, I would be groaning just as everyone else was; however, I could help but to think perfect timing Mrs. Hall.

"Great, first day of class and I have a project due. This teacher seems as bad as my last one, but if you don't mind helping out the new kid, wanna be partners?" He leaned over towards me. I could smell his scent strongly now. It was impossible to resist the offer especially with the smile he was flashing.

"Sure." I said with a shy smile.

After we got our assignments, Henry and I began working the first day after school at the school library. The pattern seemed to continue for the whole week. It was great for me because I got to spend so much time with Henry. Each day I felt like we were getting closer and closer. There are just some people you click with and we had it with each other. Not only was the physical spark there, but we were actually becoming really good friends. It seemed like he liked me, and of course I liked him. Until at lunch, two weeks before the dance I told Aly about Henry.

"Henry Owens? Yea, he's going out with Becca Thomas." Aly said with confidence.

"Are you absolutely, positively sure?" I asked with still some hope.

"Positive, they haven’t been dating for too long, but she talks about him all the time in Spanish." Aly rolled her eyes, and she put on her impersonator voice, "Oh Henry has the most gorgeous green eyes. Oh you should see Henry with his shirt off. He is seriously the best kisser I have ever experienced…”

"Okay please stop there!' I practically screamed at her. However, the only thing that stood out was the reminder of his green eyes. I quickly noticed their color at our first afternoon working on the project, and I haven’t forgotten what they have looked like since.

"Sorry, I get caught up sometimes." Aly went back to eating from her yogurt cup.

"Ugh, but he seemed like he really, really liked me." I was disappointed, my tone was so deflated. I couldn’t even come off like I was joking or it wasn’t a big deal. It did feel different with Henry, but I should have known he was just like the other stupid high school guys.

Aly stuffed her empty container into her lunchbox. "Hey, cheer up! What about that guy in our math class? He's pretty cute." Aly pointed out.

"Are you serious? He is such a show-off. Didn't you hear he had three girlfriends at once?"

Aly winced. "Okay bad example. I am just saying there are other guys out there." I just nodded my head. How could I have not figured that Henry already had a girlfriend, or even known about it to begin with? Did he leave any hits that I missed or more so ignored?

By the time I had found out all the new information on Henry, we were already putting the finishing touches on our project. I was much less talkative, and of course he noticed. However, he didn't seem to try to pursue why. He must have figured that I found out about everything. We ended up getting an A on the project, exchanging high fives, and sometimes chatting in class. Those flirty remarks, the teasing and the laughing all disappeared and I missed it and him more than I thought that I would.

From that point on, I really never had much contact with Henry until one night. I had to stay after school for a club project, and no one came to pick me up. I was already angry at the fact that I was one of the last sophomores to get my license. Supposedly, my father thought my brother was going to pick me up, but he never even got the memo. Of course, my mom had a house showing couldn't help me out.

So, I was waiting standing outside in the parking lot, and it was starting to get brisk. The sun would most likely go down in less than 10 minutes. Just as I was checking out my surroundings is when I saw Henry walk out to his car and fumble with his keys. He was in his baseball uniform and sweaty. I guess he just got done with practice. He was grinding his teeth and was breathing heavily. I walked over to him. "Hey, are you okay?" I touched his shoulder lightly. He was surprised and jumped when he heard my small voice.

"God dammit, you scared me, Estelle." He said in an angry tone. He grabbed tightly my wrist and threw it off his shoulder. "Don't touch me!"

"Ow, that hurt. Henry, what's the matter?" I asked concerned. It felt like a bruise was already forming from his grasp. My heart sunk. I had never been touched like that.

He slammed the hood of his car with his fist, and it made a dent. I took a step backward and my eyes widen. He must be stronger than he looks to do that with just one hit. My first thought was if he was taking some type of performance-enhancing drug. I didn’t think he was good enough to work that hard for a scholarship or something, but I wasn’t sure. "Shit, look what you made me do! Just leave. Fuck off okay." I turned around and quickly walked back to where I was. Tears were forming in my eyes. I was praying my brother would come soon. I looked over at Henry examining the dent he made. He didn't look in the least bit sorry.

Finally, my brother made it, apologizing a hundred times over. Then, he noticed me crying and saw the bruise; I told him about Henry. How he was flirty with me, then I found out he had a girlfriend and basically how he was a jerk. However, what just happened escalated everything to a whole new level. From then on, he was overprotective. I guess he thought that it was his job to take on that role. To protect me from the bad guys that walked into my life.

[End Flashback]

I found out later, he was pissed about his girlfriend breaking up with him. More than that he found out that she had be cheating on him with a buddy from the baseball team for several weeks. I always wondered if that is why he was more open to flirty with me when we were working on the project. The moment he saw me the next day he tried to prove that he wasn’t the guy he was that night. He apologized a million times, everyday practically. He said he was out of control and doesn't control his anger well. Soon many of his other insecurities and secrets came out, as I was only one of the few people that he could truly confide in. After a while, I forgave him and eventually fell in love with him. Most people say that I changed him for the better.