Death's Contest Entries

Five Minutes (Valentine's Contest)

I wasn't planning on spending Valentine's day like this.

I had let my neighbor Andy talk me into this ridiculous speed dating thing.

Who came up with such a stupid idea anyway? I thought to myself as I sifted in my seat.

There's no point in this. Just a couple of lonely strangers attempting to talk to each other and then miserably shuffling home alone. It was depressing really.

I sighed and caught a glimpse of Andy, sitting on a round table a little far away from mine, as she fumbled with her thumbs, trying to strike a conversation with the guy from across her. I smirked, knowing that she too was regretting her actions.

Someone sat down on the seat opposite to mine and I locked eyes with the person who was going to bore my brains out for the next five minutes.

And I stiffened. "C-Calvin?"

"Penelope?"

Calvin and I hadn't seen each other in months and now that we were actually sitting together, things got awkward fast. I was at a loss for words and he seemed to be in the same position as mine. What were you supposed to say to your ex when you haven't spoken to them in so long?

"Penny, what're you doing here?" He asked me, his body tense and his hazel eyes guarded.

My fingers clenched slightly. "Don't call me that," I whispered slowly, the little nickname causing chills to run down my spine.

He nodded, understanding as his thick mob of curly hair bounced on his head. He glanced around, showing his obvious discomfort. I looked down at the hands on my lap and closed my eyes.

These are gonna be the longest five minutes of my life.

"Where's Jesse?" I couldn't believe that the tone of my voice could sound so emotionless and dead.

He scratched his cheek as he took in a deep breath. "We broke up. It didn't work out..."

"Of course it didn't," I scoffed instantly. He stayed quiet.

After a few seconds of silence, I started to grow fidgety. All the locked up memories came pouring out and the old images flashed in my mind like a movie.

A movie in which the characters fell in love and danced till the early hours of the morning. Characters that thought they couldn't even function without each other. But like in every romantic movie, there's a sad twist. And for me, that twist was when Calvin called it off. But unlike in movies, we didn't wind up together at the end, we simply broke up and I resented him for doing that to me. I never even knew the reason why he called it off.

"You wanna hear a story?" I asked him suddenly, looking up at him. He jumped a little and gave me a puzzled look.

I didn't wait for his answer as I said, "Once upon a time, a girl stopped believing in happily ever afters..." 

All that bottled up anger, the consuming frustration and the immense heartbreak and betrayal was finally giving way and I wanted to let it all out. I hated feeling like this and the person responsible for making me feel that way, was right in front of me.

"Pen-"

"I'm not finished with the story," I interrupted him, as I placed my hands on the table and looked at him dead in the eye. "The girl was a bit of a dreamer. You know, cliche and stuff. But she truly believed that this was her knight in shining armor. She was mistaken. Her beliefs were wrong. I mean, boo-hoo, right?"

"But you know what?" My voice shook a little and I strained to control myself. "Thank you for shattering this stupid illusion for her. An illusion where true love wins against all odds. And what is up with Valentine's Day anyway? It's just another lie."

I realized I'd been shaking a bit. I wasn't sure if it was from anger or the fact that I was close to tears.

"I loved you..."

My eyes widened as I registered his words and looked up at him slowly.

His hazel eyes were tender as they stared back and he gave me a sad smile. "You were my world, Penny. I loved you so much."

My lower lip trembled. "Then why did you end it?"

He sighed and leaned back in his seat, shaking his head sadly. "Because we were falling apart slowly. I didn't want us to end up like an old couple who felt like they were forced to stay together."

He gave me another smile. "I really did love you. I loved you so much that I was afraid of making you feel that way."

The tears had started rolling down my cheeks but I hardly noticed.

He was right. I realized. He was always right and he'd always be the one looking out for me. I remembered how he would make sure my car always had gas in case I'd forgotten to fill it. I remembered the time when he would always wake me up in the mornings when my alarm wouldn't work. He'd always been that way and that's why losing him hurt so much.

"Penny... I'm sorry."

I nodded at him, as I watched his eyes glaze over with tears. And then the bell rang and it was time for us to switch partners. I wished that I had gotten more than five minutes with him. But still, this was good enough. At least, I had gotten the closure I needed so badly.

Calvin stood up and sighed. "Goodbye, Penny. Happy Valentine's Day." And then he walked away and sat down in another seat at another table. I looked away from him.

"Hi."

There was a new guy sitting from across the table and he was smiling pleasantly. "Wanna tell me why you're crying on Valentine's?"

I chuckled dryly. "Well, once upon a time, a girl stopped believing in happily ever afters but..."