Save Your Heart

I was awoken by my phone ringing and vibrating quite loudly on the coffee table. I quickly reached over to answer it in hopes it didn’t wake up Derek, who was lying next to me on the couch sleeping soundly. “Hello?” I answered in almost a whisper. I heard a someone sobbing on the other end, they didn’t answer. “Hello?”

“I...need...you.” Natalie’s voice came through the phone. It sounded like a struggle to get those three words out while crying.

I gently picked up Derek’s arm from my waist and moved it over to his side. I sat up on the couch looking around for my belongings. I was going to go back to the apartment last night, but it was late and Derek insisted that I stayed. We spent the night cuddling on the couch, chatting, and watching TV. We fell asleep on the couch watching The Crosby Show reruns. “Are you okay, sweetie? What happened?” I spotted my converse across the room near the front door, so I walked over to them.

“Just come home, please?” She asked as I was attempting to put on my shoes while holding the phone to my ear.

In all of the years Natalie and I have been friends, I had never heard her cry this much. In fact, she rarely cried. I told her I would be there as soon as I could be and we hung up. When I found all of my things around Derek’s apartment, I gently nudged his arm. “Derek?”

He opened his eyes slowly and smiled when he saw me standing over him. “Mmm, good morning, pretty girl.”

I grinned. “Good morning.” He grabbed my hand and tried pulling me onto the couch next to him. I wish I could have laid with him all day long, I wanted to so badly. “I can’t. Natalie called me, I need to go back to my place.”

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m not sure yet. Can you drive me there?”

Derek nodded as he got up from the couch quickly. I waited by the door while he put on some clean clothes and ran a brush through his hair. He grabbed his keys and my hand and we were out the door.

The car ride was silent with the exception of My American Heart playing softly in the background. Once in a while we would exchange smiles or comment on how nice it was outside, but other than that, it was peaceful. I replayed what happened last night in my head. A part of me still couldn’t believe that any of the events could happen to me. In the past, I had always been the girl who was just a friend to everyone. I was always the one who had feelings too quickly and those feelings led to my heart breaking in the end. I had never had anyone tell me they had feelings for me and acted on them. No one has ever told me how pretty I was to them out side of my family. No one ever cared about me like Derek appeared to. He took a hold of my hand. I looked over at him; his face was serious yet happy. His eyes were glued to the road. I squeezed his hand and a smile magically appeared on his face. This was uncommon ground for me. I was scared and excited for what was going to happen.

The apartment was silent when I walked in with Derek close behind me. There were clothes all over the floor and dishes piled up in the sink. I set my things on the floor next to my bedroom door before heading into Natalie’s room. The curtains were closed and the room was dim. I looked over at the bed to see Natalie curled up in a ball. I walked over and sat next to her, rubbing her back. “Nat?” I whispered.

“I’m a slut.” She said bluntly looking over at me. Her cheeks had streaks of mascara mixed with tears running down them. Her make-up was smeared and her hair was all over the place. Natalie was always so pretty. Whenever I saw her, she looked like she was going out to a huge party in her honor, even when she was sitting at home lounging on the couch. I shook my head immediately. “Yes I am, Ry. I’m a slut. No wonder there aren’t many girls who like me. You just like me because you’re a nice person.” She started to cry. I drew bigger circles on her back with my hand in hopes to calm her down.

“Nat, look at me.” I said. She sat up in bed. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks. I grabbed a tissue from her bedside stand and wiped off her face. “I’m friends with you, because I love you and I think you’re a great person. Whatever anyone else thinks about you, fuck ‘em, because they don’t know you like I know you. You’re beautiful, kind, and fun.” A small smile started appearing on her face. “If any girl doesn’t like you, it’s simply because they’re jealous of you. Everything will be okay, sweetie.”

Natalie sniffled. “You really think so?”

“I know so.” I told her with a smile. I pulled her close to me. She laid her head on my shoulder as I hugged her.

“He used me.” Natalie voice was soft. It sounded as if she was on the verge of tears again. “He has a girl back home. He was lonely. He left after we slept together.” She took a deep but shaky breath. I hugged her tighter as she wrapped her arms around me. Derek appeared in the door way to see if everything was alright. I shot him a weak smile and he returned one before leaving and closing the door behind him.

“Hey, Nat, you’re going to be okay. You hear me?” I lifted her off of my shoulder. “You aren’t going to let some guy make you sad, because you are better than that, better than him. So you’re going to pick yourself up, take a shower, and go out to lunch with me. Okay?” She nodded.

“Thank you.” She said before heading into the bathroom.

I picked up Natalie’s room a little bit before heading into the living room. Derek was slouched on the couch looking at his phone.

“I’m sorry about that.” I said. I sat down next to him. He tucked his phone into his coat pocket and sat up straightly. Then he stared at me smiling. Once again, I couldn’t help but smile back. I could feel the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. “What?”

“Um...” He started to say something when we heard Natalie shut her bedroom door and join us in the living room. “...nothing.”

Natalie sat on the love seat next to us. She looked as if nothing had happened to her. There was no more running make-up, in fact, her make-up was perfect. She had on a black pencil skirt that went to her knees and a white blouse.

“You look wonderful, Nat.” I chimed. She grinned at me, then noticed who was next to me. She gave me a curious look. I put my pointer finger to my lips as if I tell her to be quiet. Derek and Natalie greeted each other and then we were on our way to lunch.

We went to a quiet and cozy cafe, somewhere that wasn’t loud so we could enjoy each other’s company in peace. Most of the time was spent making Natalie feel better and telling her that there wasn’t any guy who was worth her tears. Even Derek joined in on the motivational speeches, which surprised me. I was surprised he even tagged along with the two of us girls.

When Derek excused himself from the table for a moment, Natalie enthusiastically slammed her hand on the table. “Rylin!” Natalie cooed.

“What?” I asked nonchalantly, taking a sip of my hot chocolate.

Natalie’s arms went up in the arm. “What? You don’t know what I’m talking about?” I shook my head cluelessly. “You and Derek?! There’s a ‘you and Derek’!”

I shook my head again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Can’t you see the way he looks at you? My God, he was gawking at you like you were a diamond in the rough or something.”

I laughed it off. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about, Nat. Derek and I aren’t a couple.” I took another sip of my drink.

Natalie laughed too and pointed her finger at me. “That boy is so in love with you and you don’t even realize it.” I shook my head again. Natalie’s love radar wasn’t very good and I wasn’t counting on it for this moment either.

“Sorry about that.” Derek apologized as he took his seat between Natalie and I. My stomach did a flip when his face was leveled with mine. He looked so handsome even though he had just gotten out of bed hours ago without a shower. I’m sure I didn’t look half as good as him. “Did I miss anything?”

“Pfft, wouldn’t you like to know.” Natalie exclaimed. I kicked her leg hard under the table. “Ow! Ry, what was that for?” I made a face at her telling her to stop whatever she had in mind. She giggled to herself and took a big gulp of coffee.

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about nonsense things, laughing at nothing, and finishing our warm beverages. After about an hour or so, Derek drove Natalie and I home. The sky was starting to get dark. I had no idea we spent that much time at the cafe. He asked me to come back home with him, but I obliged and told him I should stay with Natalie for the night.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, then?” He asked softly. He was looking down at his lap and playing with his car keys. I looked at Natalie to make sure she was okay.

“It’s cool. I’ll meet you at the apartment. It was nice seeing you, Derek.” She exchanged waves with Derek and left the backseat of Derek’s car.