Colorful Love

Ex Loves

I keep my head down. I hear the whispers about the scar on my face, but I have to get used to it. It will be there forever.

I try to ignore the stares and points from my classmates as I walk down the hall. I see Rhidian walking in my direction, but his eyes aren't set on me. I follow his gaze and see... Oh. Asher is leaning against the wall of lockers, his hair stylishly tousled, his eyes focused on Rhidian approaching.

I walk faster. I don't want him to see me with this scar, though I'm  sure that he will eventually. I walk even faster, and I'm almost out of his line of vision. But then I hear, "Hey, Scarface!"

Great. I turn around and see a sneer on Asher's face. "Um, he-hello, Asher."

"Can you not keep your lying tongue from stuttering around me? So, Ky, how'd you get the scar?" Asher sneered. Tears welled in my eyes. Using that nickname to mock me was a low blow, even for him.

"Why don't you just leave her alone?" Rhidian said to Asher, stepping up, trying

I spoke up. "No, Asher. I can speak perfectly clear for myself. I don't want to talk about how I got my scar."

"Oh. It must have been bad, then." Asher grinned. His smile was so perfect, but I didn't like it like like this, taunting me.

"Just... Leave me alone, Ash."

"Ooooh. Trying to throw that at me. But guess what. I don't care. You can throw that at me all that you want, but it will only hurt you."

I couldn't cry. Not here. I walked away, whispers following me. I ran into the woods, to the Riverbed.

I say by the creek and cried. I didn't know how he did it, but he managed to hurt me, over and over again. It didn't matter how many times he had mocked our relationship. It hurt. Every time, without fail.

I heard a rustling of leaves. I looked up and saw Rhidian. I put my facein my hands, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. "Just go away. I need to be alone."

"No," he replied, sitting across from me on the damp grass. "Is that why you hate him so much? Does he bully you a lot?"

"I wouldn't call it 'a lot.' I mean, he does it sometimes... When he's bored and such. And I wouldn't say that I hate him. Hate is a very strong word."

"Does he do that to everyone? Is he a bully? Is that why you didn't want me to be friends with him?" Rhidian seems honestly concerned. He deserves to know the truth about his friend.

"No. I'm the only one who he bullies. He calls me out on purpose, to humiliate me. But this goes deeper than just that." I started.

"Did you guys used to be friends?" He asked hesitantly, as if he didn't quite want to know the answer.

"We used to date, Rhidian. 'Ky' and 'Ash' were our pet names for each other. I have him a year of my life. We were Homecoming Prince and Princess. He was there in a really hard time in my life. He comforted me when my dad started to get sick, and he was there when he died. He was the only one who cared about me, and what I was feeling. Except for maybe Paisley, my ex-best friend. He was the only one who cared. We were so close, so..."

"And then what happened?" Rhidian asked softly.

"It was the night of the Spring Fling. I went alone because he said that he was sick - cliche, I know - but I saw went. They were there. Asher and Paisley. Together. United, against me. I confronted them, in the middle of the dance floor. I wasn't angry, I was just... Disappointed. That they didn't care about me enough to stay with me. But anyways, I confronted them. Asher turned it on me. He accused me and yelled at me in front of the entire school. Everyone thought that it was my fault. I lost all of my friends, my best friend, and my boyfriend, all I one swoop. So I faded into the background to make people forget. But teenagers never forget the bad stuff about you, and never remember the good stuff.

I didn't want to see you hurt like that. That's why I didn't want you to get involved with Asher."

Rhidian had a pained look in his eye. "Kya? Did you... Love him?"

I answered truthfully. "With all of my heart. He was my everything, and if he would have let me, on the night of the Spring Fling, I would've forgiven him. I would've gotten back together with him."

"Kya, this one's even harder. I see something in your face when you talk about him. Do you still love Asher?"

I had to answer truthfully. I let words pour out of my mouth without thinking them through first. "Rhidian, when I see him, I still see everything that made me love him before. I see his kindness and compassion in his actions towards other people. In his eyes, I still see his love, which was once directed at me. But now, it's for other girls. For my best friend, even. I loved him so much, and I don't think that's the type of thing that I can give up easily. So even though he might bully me, the answer is yes, because he is more than what he shows towards just me. Yes, I do still love him, no matter how much he hurts me. Even if loving him hurts me even more, and loving him gives him the power to hurt me. I still love him. More than anything."

Rhidian stood up suddenly, and walked in the opposite direction, towards the school, without another word. Did I do something wrong? "Rhidian! Wait!" I yelled, but he was already gone.