Let's Set Our Hearts At Self-Destruct

At first, Jaime went crazy without her. Sure, he had a lot of friends to occupy his time, but Avery had been the only friend he ever liked. And now she was gone and didn’t get a shit about him or their friendship they effortlessly built together.

Time doesn’t stop for sadness.

Eventually, he moved on. Everyone did. Senior year came, and with that, graduation. Jaime got into a state school and was staying in the city. Avery got into some party school in Arizona, far away from San Diego. The night of graduation was the last day Avery saw Jaime. She made eye contact with him across the room at a party; he nodded, and then left. He couldn’t bear to talk to her. It broke Avery’s heart.

Truth be told, the only reason Avery had applied to the school that she did was because all her “friends” did.

“Avery, we HAVE to go here! They have the best parties!”

Avery couldn’t stand to think about spending another four years with the people she claimed were her friends. But she couldn’t stand to be alone either.

In the beginning of sophomore year, counselors and teachers drilled it in their heads that they needed to start looking at colleges. Jaime didn’t want to go to college but Avery changed his mind. She needed him with her. They were going to apply for a school upstate and get an apartment together.

Avery still applied to the school, even got in. Jaime didn’t. He didn’t even want to go to college anymore. But even if Ava wasn’t going to keep her promise to be his best friend forever, he was going to keep his promise to go to college.

College was hard. And boring. Avery’s life started to become routine and it annoyed her. Party, drink, sleep, class, homework. In that order. She didn’t necessarily like the partying lifestyle she was getting into, but she met some interesting people. They didn’t leave her alone. They didn’t abandon her. If she had to drink a lot to get them to like her, so be it.

She even had a boyfriend for a while. He was a tall, muscular blonde who was in a fraternity and played rugby. He wasn’t really her type, but what was? She never told him that he had been her first boyfriend. He claimed that he had eyes for her and only her, but they both knew that wasn’t true. After a few months of dating, she caught him in a room with another girl. Not only could she not trust herself, but she also learned she couldn’t trust other people either.

Avery got her degree in philosophy, knowing full well she wasn’t going to do shit with it. Jaime got his degree in music theory. He always had a soft spot for music. It got him through everything. He loved how a simple melody could change someone’s life forever. He wanted to be the person who created those melodies. He wanted to change the world someday.

During his second year, Jaime met a few friends who loved music just as much as he did, if not more. They became best friends, finally filling the gap that his Ava had created. Jaime was happy. Had a few girlfriends, never quite settling down. He was young. He had fun. He learned the only things he needed to be content were his mom, his friends, and his music.

Time still showed no sign of slowing.

Avery stayed in Arizona for a while, living with various friends, having various jobs, hanging out with various social scenes. She got sick of it. She stopped going out. Partying and her friends weren’t making her happy anymore. She needed a change. She needed to move back to San Diego. And that’s just what she did.