Give It a Chance for Our Love to Start

I was staring at Bethany. It all made sense now. Finding someone who loves you back isn't always easy. She turned back to the stuff she was looking at. If I had, would you have written to me as lovingly as Tinsley? What are you studying? Music. Music? Tinsley likes music too! Maybe you need to get to know Tinsley more. Knowing someone from online is different from knowing someone in person. Sometimes, the person online is really a totally different person. All of a sudden, all her messages, her riddles, her words all made sense.

She smiled at me, coming out of the booth. "Wow that was so much fun," she said, grinning. "Thanks."

I just continued to stare at her, not knowing what to say. She had lied to me. Everything I had thought to be true was a lie. Every dream, every wish, every thought of my life and of my future had been a lie.

"So what do we do now," she asked awkwardly, obviously not getting why I wasn't answering.

I got up, walking up to her, my eyes boring into hers. "Pancakes, the label, the pride & prejudice you always read, every Sunday you go to church, music, all of it. Tinsley knows none of it. All this time I was wondering why Tinsley was so different from her letters, why she didn't know anything about any of our conversations, like she didn't remember. But now I see. Tinsley wasn't different from her letters. Tinsley was different from your letters. It was you. It was you?"

She looked away. "Joe—"

"Tell me it's not true then Bethany," I said, taking her chin and making her look at me. "Tell me I'm wrong."

She didn't say anything. She just continued to look into my eyes, not saying anything. "Joe—"

"Tell me Bethany," I repeated, cutting her off again. "Tell me it wasn't you."

"Joe—"

"Because you know what I think," I cut her off again. "I think that you just like toying with people's minds. First me, then Tinsley, Nick. How many people Bethany?"

"No," she whimpered. "No, it wasn't like that."

"Then tell me what it was like Bethany," I said, still angry. "Tell me why? Why the lies? The deception? Why Bethany?"

"I'd recognize you anywhere," she said quietly after a few moments. "Isn't that what you wrote?" I didn't say anything. I waited for her to say more. "Didn't we agree Joe, didn't we say we'd look for each other's hearts, not each other's faces?" Her eyes were brimming. I still didn't say anything. "I waited for you Joe. I waited at the airport, hoping you saw me. I recognized you the second I saw you. I waited. And you walked right past me. Your eyes only saw Tinsley. There was no way that I could ever be Tinsley. Because she's the most beautiful, the most special."

"Bethany," I said, feeling the guilt run through my body. I looked at her, seeing the soft, helpless look in her eyes. She was beautiful. She was special. And she was the one I loved. "She'll under—"

"No Joe," she cut me off. "None of it matters anymore. Because it's too late. It's way too late. Tinsley wouldn't admit it but she's falling for you. She's already in love with you."

I touched her face softly, running my thumb down her cheek, down her neck, down her arm, resting on her waist. "It's not too late. She'll understand. That love I had, the feelings, they were never hers. They were for the girl who wrote those letters. That's who I fell in love with. But it was never Tinsley. It was you." And my lips met hers.

---

I felt his arms wrap around my waist tighter, pulling me closer, our lips moving in sync. My own arms wrapped around his neck, getting tangled into his hair, pulling him closer to me as well. I felt him smile into the kiss. His lips were soft, just as I had always imagined. And in that moment, it was just us. There were no letters, no lies, no deception. And most importantly, there was no Tinsley. I pulled away. Tinsley. Even if it had felt like she wasn't a factor, the truth was that she was. And she was head over heels for this boy. She had lost so much in her life, and now I her supposed best friend was about to take another? "Joe, I – I can't."

"Bethany," he whispered, holding me still close to him. His face was so close to mine. I could feel his breath on my face. "Bethany, I love you."

"I –I love you too Joe," I admitted quietly, not believing I was finally telling him. "But so does she. It's too late Joe."

I felt his grip loosen on me as I turned and started walking towards the door. I knew he wasn't following me. As my hand gripped the door handle, I heard him humming. "He, he, he, heee, ha, ha, ha, haaa."

I turned back to look at him. His back was to me, facing the booth. I loved Joe. But could I just take him away from Tinsley? I had to fight every fiber in my body to stop myself from running back to him while I pondered it. My head was telling me to walk out that studio. But my heart was telling so much more. I didn't know what to do.