“I just think we should be just friends for a while.” That sentence he had heard far too many times before resonated in his ears. It felt as if the entire world was coming crashing down on his shoulders. He should be used to it by now, the never-ending cycle of friends becoming lovers who become nothing in the end.
He stared blankly back at her, not saying a word, not even a nod in agreement to acknowledge the fact that he had understood what was just said. He didn’t get the chance to recite his eloquently prepared speech about love and how she didn’t need to be scared anymore, the speech that he had practiced so many times in his head. The words that he was going to say were all written down in the margins of his notebook, they all amounted to nothing. He naively thought he could change her mind; he never even got the chance to.
After a good minute of silence he walked toward the door, not even muttering a sound. As he reached the end of the hall, the doorstep where he had kissed her goodbye so many nights before this, he turned to face her; turned to face the girl who he finally thought wouldn’t do this to him and said simply “don’t forget about me.” With that he stepped through the door and slammed it shut. With the door closed he repeated what he had just said to himself. “Don’t forget about me?” he whispered, “who am I kidding? They always forget.”