I Fell Too Fast, and No One Could Catch Me

The path of unrequited love never did run smooth.

Photo by Chansereypich Seng on Unsplash

You were that boy every girl wanted. I knew that from the start. Your kindness was your greatest selling point, and you never said a bad word about anyone. You avoided all the teenage games we reveled in. The petty gossip wasn’t a stain on your history.

I kept an eye on you, at least from afar, as if I were waiting for an elusive magic trick of yours. I’d seen the way you could defuse a situation with just a few words. Why didn’t I have that same calming effect on my easily-upset mother? My home wouldn’t have felt like a ticking time bomb if I had had an ounce of such power.

You were a friend of a friend — as was the way of things — but I never stepped into your circle.

I liked imagining there would be a breakthrough someday. Maybe I’d say something witty, and you would be charmed right away. But instead I stayed quiet, bottling up my words and waiting for the moment when an epiphany struck.

I waited too long.

Soon, another girl caught your eye, and I witnessed your romance in glimpses.

The way your fingertips trailed up her arm, the softness of your expression, the breathy laugh you emitted when she said something cute — these were the…