Ways to Mend a Broken Heart [WattpadPrize14]

Five

                                    Five

Friendship often ends in love; but love in friendship- never.

“So I was wondering if we should just order pizza or something, honey?” Mum barged into my room unannounced.

I just gave her a nod signaling that I was fine with it before turning to my closet. I had spent hours thinking about this and I felt as if I needed to do it.

According to the list I had acquired days back, the next step in getting over a heart break was to burn all the old photos and return all the stuff that was a gift from the other one.

The door closed behind me and I finally found what I was looking for. Dragging the huge, dust-covered box from the back, I placed it on my bed. Wiping away the thin layer of dust bunnies off the lid, I unlatched the top and popped it open. The casket was filled to the brim with small, completely useless looking trinkets to the world. But to me, they were the most valuable things ever.

Picking up the pink album that I had filled with our photos for the last year, I flipped it open. The first photo was of us taken by the lake about nine months back. The smile on my face showed how happy I was. Looking back at it, I noticed how Randall’s eyes showed happiness like never before. There was a raw feeling of pride as he looked at me. That night was the first time he had asked me to be his girlfriend, but I had denied. He had promised to never hurt me, ever, and would forever show how much he cared about me. I was flabbergasted by such strong, unwavering feelings of his, but I wasn’t ready to jump into a relationship with someone whom I barely knew. I had then said that I just wanted to stay friends, but that friendship had turned to love very soon.

Flipping the photo to the side, I saw the one that was taken eight months back; the one that meant the most. I remembered the day like it was yesterday.

The sun was just setting behind the tall mountains in the distance and the sky was covered by a burning colour of red. Randall had called me earlier in the day and asked me to meet him near the bench in the park where we first had met.

As I waited there, the clock ticking by, I was getting tired and flipped my phone open to call him. Just as I was about to press the call button, a ruffling noise of the bushes behind me made me stop dead. The park was almost empty, except the few elderly people dotting the corners of it. The intensity of the shuffling increased and so did my heart rate. I was about to run away from there but a lone shadow sprung out of the bushes.

“Randall?! You scared me!”

“Ta da…?” he tried, hesitantly.

I hit him on the shoulder for scaring me like that, but a smile automatically erupted on my face. He grinned from ear to ear and his hand lightly brushed mine. My eyes travelled down to see the skeptical movement of his hand. It was as if he wasn’t sure whether this was the right thing to do. I had known for about a month now his feelings towards me and I knew that I felt the same. But was I ready for all this? As my mind flashed with the answer, I took the leap and thread my fingers through his and let it lay there.

“So? What did you want to say?” I questioned Randall. He was yet staring agape at our entwined fingers.

He seemed a little distant when he said, “huh?”

“Randall?”

He shook his head and jumped back into the conversation. “Right! Um, Alex,” he cleared his throat. “You see, I’ve tried asking you this thrice already and as expected, I’ve been shot down again and again. I mean, I know I’m not that special and all, but—”

He had started rumbling, something both of us had in common when we were nervous.

“Randall—” I started. “You’re kind of scaring me.”

His eyes widened and he started to apologize profusely.

“It’s okay, calm down. Now what did you want to say, again?”

He took a couple of stabilizing breaths before continuing, “I wanted to say that, you’re the most beautiful girl out there, Alexis, and anyone would be lucky to have you. And I’ve liked you for ages now, though you already know about that,” he mumbled the last part. A faint blush had risen to cover my cheeks and I could feel the heat emitted by it.

“And, I am going to ask you again till you say yes,” he said, getting down on his knees. “Alexis Sophie Pire, I’m not the most perfect guy out there, I have many defects. I love video games more than my life, and I love my Mum, too, but that’s not the point.” He shook his head. “My point is, though I’m not perfect and you deserve someone way better than me, I’m going to try to ask you to be my girlfriend till you get so bored of this that you’ll have to say yes. So, what say? Are you going to make this rather stupid-looking arse on his knees happy or sad, hm?”

I couldn’t hold back the giggles that were threatening to erupt back in. I looked into his brown eyes and simply nodded. His hopeful face instantly turned to glee and he jumped up. He enveloped me in a hug and I couldn’t resist hugging him back.

“Okay, so this is the best day ever. Seriously!” he breathed out.

I hadn’t realized that I had been smiling continually during this time. I wiped away the tears forming in my eyes, but for the first time in ages, they weren’t tears of sorrow, they were tears of happiness that couldn’t be forgotten.

I placed the album carefully to the side and picked up the next thing in the box; the charm bracelet. Seven tinkling charms were hanging there, shining in all its’ glory. One for each month. Randall had made it his responsibility to get me a charm to attach to my once empty bracelet every month on our anniversary. The first month, he had gotten me a daffodil charm. It depicted the daffodils he would get me every day. He knew how much I loved those flowers.

The second was a book. That month, I had taken it upon myself to become the Shakespeare of reading. I had made it my goal to read all the books ever written by mankind. Needless to say, I failed rather drastically.

The third was an ice cream. Long story short, it was summer and I was addicted to ice creams. The fourth was a pair of slippers. I had lost a pair when we went to the beach and Randall lent me his while he walked all the way home barefoot. The fifth was a lock and key for the day we got locked in school and I freaked out. I was hyperventilating and kept on repeating that it was the end of the world. Well, it was the end of the world till the gatekeeper heard my wailing and came rushing in thinking there was a cat who was trapped somewhere in. Those were the worst thirty minutes of my life.

The sixth was a band aid that reminded me of how I tripped over my shoelace and fell onto the graveled road. The seventh was a small album depicting the album full of all our photos and memories.

I put that aside and swiftly went through everything else. The box only kept on refreshing those months and although I tried to hate Randall for breaking my heart, I couldn’t. My soul refused to hate someone who gave me so many memories to live for. I just couldn’t.

I threw everything back in and picked the box up. I had to get this somewhere, and I had to do it today.

I stealthily climbed down the stairs, hoping I wouldn’t trip. The casket was heavy and it was draining the strength out of my muscles.

“Mum, I’ll be right back,” I told her.

“Alex, the pizza will be right here. Where are you going?”

“To give all this away.” I showed her the box and the slight hesitation in her eyes portrayed how much she didn’t support my decision.

But I had to follow the list.

 ~~~~~~~~~

Vote and Comment if you like it.

Have an uber awesome day, amigos!