Meet The Coach

Lesson 24: Be True About 'I Love You'

Lesson 24: Be True About 'I Love You'

"Let me get this straight. You made up lessons whilst you were out there?" Sandy asked as she tied up her dark hair into a bun and lay down onto a checkered blanket. She easily luxuriated in the hot sun as I applied masses of sun cream on.

"In my head, yes. I don't know why, it just seemed adequate. It didn't feel right without them," I admitted and lay my blanket down onto the soft sand before chucking the sun cream bottle to the side.

"What did you make up?" She asked curiously. I clicked my tongue and tried to remember the three basic lessons I had made up.

"Be stranded at sea, wash up on an island, return from Neverland..." I listed slowly.

"Wow and you say mine are bad. But I like the Neverland one, care to explain?" She chided. Again I clicked my tongue, this time in thought of an explanation.

"Neverland is a place where you never grow up right? It's  hhaven of just you and whoever - there's not a thing called reality to stop you from doing what you want to do," I explained softly and looked up to the light sky through my dark shades.

"It's kind of like being a kid right?"

"That's why I miss being one. The world used to be so big and everything was... magical. Now, I'm in reality and I'm mopping about - mopping in Hawaii while I'm at it."

"That can change Bree. Yes, as a teenager everything isn't as simple but we're teenagers. We make things harder than they are. We tend to perceive things ten times worse than they are because we're teenagers. But Bree, honestly, you don't have to mope in Hawaii."

"How can I not? Carter said that he doesn't want to be my friend - it's like saying he wants nothing to do with me anymore and that's it," I croaked - my voice betrayed me and I felt like crying again, but I couldn't. I closed my eyes and tried to stop my throat from constricting.

"You know that's not true. You know he loves you."

"But he doesn't know that I love him..." I trailed inaudibly but, of course, Sandy heard this. I could almost hear her surprise.

"Huh... you what?! Why didn't you tell me?" Sandy was happy. Her plan worked. He fell for me; I fell for him.

I didn't look Sandy way though. I couldn't. I expected her to cry in happiness but instead she pulled me in into a hug.

"Oh Bree. Why didn't you tell him?" She asked softly.

"He didn't give me a chance."

"Have... have you embraced it?"

"I... wouldn't say so, but he deserves to know."

"You need to be honest with yourself before you tell him and you probably want to slap me when I say this, but lesson 24: be true about 'I love you'."

Instead of slapping her, my lips tipped up slightly. Even with the dull ache in my heart I would positively say that she'd never change.

*

"Bree!" A voice called out. I hoped it was one person but I quickly knew it wasn't, because a female ran towards me.

"Emilee?"

"I need to talk to you, if that's okay," she said as she approached me. I stopped walking and nodded.

"Yeah that's fine," I informed her. She smiled at me, like she used to.

"Today's my last day in Hawaii," she told me. I furrowed my eyebrows and wondered why I needed to know that.

Does she want to spend her last day with me?