REM

Cut Out

The score of the game didn't matter, it was just a coed soccer game. It was a hot and humid day and the referee even gave us water breaks just to make sure we stayed hydrated.

I finished taking off my cleats and then placed them in my bag along with my goalkeeper gloves then said good bye to my teammates. As I walked across the artificial turf toward the parking lot I noticed a girl waiting at the corner of the field. She didn't look familiar at first, but as I got closer I realized who it was.

"You're an asshole, you know that right?" She prompted as I came to a stop to address her comment.

"Excuse me?" I replied with a bewildered look upon my face, one eyebrow lower than the other.

"You heard me," she insisted. "You cut Becca out of your life for no reason. She doesn't deserve to be treated that way. She still likes you."

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but how does leaving someone on Valentine's Day at 7am via text message deserve anything?" I stared into her brown eyes after asking the question, wondering if she was going to defend her best friend. "Well?"

She sighed, seemingly flustered by what I had said.

"It doesn't matter what she did Ryan, she's sorry and she wants you back."

I chuckled and then exhaled.

"She's sorry? Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"Yes," she replied. "Why wouldn't you?"

Furling my brow, I brought my hand toward my face in disbelief and wiped sweat off with my arm.

"Really, Chrissy? There's no reason for me to believe anything you say about her. She screwed up, she treated me like crap after I made Valentine's Day special for her. I put in the effort and she has the nerve to text me at 7 in the morning to break up with me? She doesn't deserve me, she never did as far as I'm concerned. I've moved on and I'm going to be happy. I am going to give myself some time to heal alone and then maybe one day after this crazy summer is over I will get back into the dating world. Until then, I will be single and focus on myself and save my creative and romantic ideas for the next person. Someone will appreciate me for who I am and love me unconditionally like I did her. I don't know when I will find that person, but I know that if I stay true to myself I will never have to wonder if I'm the wrong person for someone else. So long as I am kind and caring and continue to be my romantic self, some amazing woman is going to see the effort I put in to make a relationship last and they are going to want to marry me and have my kids. They are going to want a life with me and they won't make excuses or run away scared on the worst day possible."

The words flowed from my mouth as if I had been practicing them and saving them for that exact moment in time. Chrissy stood there dumbfounded by my response. She was at a loss for words and so I walked away from her toward the open gate to the soccer field.

I knew things weren't going to change for Becca in time for her to apologize and try to win me back. When someone screws up that badly and nearly ruins the most romantic holiday of the year for me, they don't deserve a second chance, even if they come begging and promising they have changed. If someone truly sees the value in me and knows I am going to stay loyal, they would never leave to begin with, especially in the fashion that Becca did.