Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 52 - AND I LET HER GO...

The next day, I went to school wearing a shirt with a huge picture of Mojo Jojo printed on the front. I knew it was stupid, but she used to laugh at it. I waited at the school gate, fingers clutching my backpack straps like a prayer I wasn’t sure anyone heard. Then she came. Her burgundy hair glowed beneath the sun, catching fire with every step.

“Good morning, Buttercup,” I beamed.

She walked past like I was invisible. I stared at her as she is walking away, her heavy footsteps, her shoulders stiffened. I can feel her anger emanates from her body. I sighed. "This is gonna be hard."

At lunch, I stood on a table.

The room hushed. Forks froze midair. My guitar felt heavy in my hands, not from weight, but from everything I wanted it to say that I couldn’t.

I looked only at her. And I sang Don't Give Up on Me by Andy Gramer:

“I will fight, I will fight for you
I always do until my heart is black and blue…”

She didn’t flinch.

(Montage)

“And I will stay, I will stay with you
We’ll make it to the other side like lovers do…”

Her notebook slipped from her arms as she passed. I bent down and picked it up with a smile. She snatched it and slammed it into my chest, then walked on.

“I’ll reach my hands out in the dark
And wait for yours to interlock
I’ll wait for you…”

She sat in the library, rummaging through her bag. I approached slowly, silently offered my pen. She took it, stared, then hurled it out the window.

“’Cause I’m not givin’ up
I’m not givin’ up, givin’ up
No, not yet…”

One afternoon, the sky broke open. She stood outside, bag over her head. I ran up, held my umbrella out between us. She took one look, and flung it across the school field before striding into the storm.

“Even when I’m down to my last breath
Even when they say there’s nothin’ left…”

She struggled with a stack of books. I tried to take them gently. She shoved the entire weight into my arms like it was a punishment I deserved. And maybe I did.

“So don’t give up on…”

I bought her lunch. Fried chicken, her favorite. I placed it gently in front of her in the cafeteria. She didn’t speak. Just walked to the trash bin and dropped it in.

“I’m not givin’ up
I’m not givin’ up, givin’ up
No, not me…”

I yelled down the hallway once:
“I love you, Betty!” She turned around, face blank, and threw her notebook at my face.

“Even when nobody else believes
I’m not goin’ down that easily…”

One day her heel broke as she stepped down the stairs. I held out a pair of clean white slippers. She looked at them. Looked at me. Then she snapped the heel of the other shoe and walked taller than ever.

“So don’t give up on me…”

She’d fallen asleep in the library, head resting on open notes. Eyes smudged with tired ink. I draped my jacket over her shoulders and walked away before she woke.

“And I will hold, I’ll hold onto you
No matter what this world’ll throw
It won’t shake me loose…”

We were on the field. A soccer ball flew toward her. I sprinted. It hit me square in the nose. I staggered back, blood running down my lip. She never noticed.