I was going to do it. After weeks of thinking about it and deciding that yes, it was a good idea, I was going to tell him. Perhaps it wasn’t the best time to tell him – we’d just spent the last hour in my room doing you-know-what – but when would there ever be a good time?
“George?” I cleared my throat before I spoke and my feet were rubbing against eachother.
“Yes hun?” He didn’t even look up from his cereal, just carried on watching the ancient TV in my kitchen that had recently been affected by the digital turnover, the Simpsons was coming out a bit fuzzy.
“I think we should take a break.”
Now I know usually these stories show the coming together of two people, and as they get over the awkward tension where they both want eachother but are too blind to see it, it seems as if they will live happily ever after with their “High school romance”.
Well no, it doesn’t, not always. My story was one of those – seen you around, thought you were cute, lets snog and tie down the player with my strange personality but hot bod – and it was meant to be going great. But it wasn’t, it was getting rocky. After 3 months of the same over and over my player boyfriend was getting bored. I myself was in love with the lad, always had been because one of my fantasies in life had always been “snag the player, snag the player!” To any outsider it would seem that he liked me just as much too. He didn’t care that sometimes my legs were hairy because I was half Italian and just couldn’t be bothered to shave that week. He didn’t mind my burping – in public as well – and in turn I didn’t mind that he enjoyed squeezing his spots (the very few he did get but hey, nobody’s perfect, we’ve all got to work it) or the fact that every Friday night was “Lads night” and being a year older meant getting lashed in town whilst I spent the night watching TV illegally on the computer.
However under the surface I knew what was up. I knew that he had gotten bored because the girl who kept him on his feet and never left a boring moment had gotten so comfortable that she was not keeping him on his feet. She was giving him boring moments – like every Monday he would come over and they would watch a kids film together. Whilst I loved this routine, George – being a Gemini – hated it.
So I thought hard and realised that soon after exams had finished for him and school had finished for me, we would be going away – George to Zante where the inevitable will happen and me to Italy that well the inevitable happens too – and after he would go to Uni where he would not want to tie himself down.
I hear you ask: why I am posing this “break” to him when it is him going to university? Well George sucks at confrontation, always has and always will. He waits for the other person to come to him or the girl to break up with him. And this did not come out of the blue, no siree, the signs were there, loud and clear that he was bored. George would be getting drunker and drunker on his Friday nights out with the lads. In the first 2 months he would ring me up just to tell me how much he wished I was there with him – how could I not love this boy? But after awhile no call came and it wasn’t till the next morning where I rang up his best mate Kieran, that I realised I was losing my boyfriend. There were even times where he wouldn’t reply to my texts for 2 days so I stopped texting him altogether. Then there was the fact that Kieran confirmed my doubts – George was flirting with other girls.
Before you get all “Why are you still going out with the twat if he is flirting with other girls?!” Well, I know who George was before, it is like it’s in his build up to flirt. It was turned down a bit in the first couple of months but now it was getting ridiculous. I didn’t want to believe he was going back to his old ways and that he would cheat on me – it’s not as if I didn’t put out, or didn’t give him what he wanted. But I realised that I was boring.
It was simple what to do then, we have a break and we come back together just before he goes away on holidays – 2 weeks. If by then he still wanted to go out with me even after realising what he misses from his player lifestyle and if by then I still loved the shit out of him we could make it work.
It seemed like a perfect idea but standing in the kitchen wearing his free 4K shirt after having sex, it really did not seem like the perfect idea.
His face was burrowed like it does when he really does not understand that he’s offended – it is one of the cutest things ever because he has a pug like forehead where the skin is wrinkled and all I wanted to do right then was kiss it.
“What do you mean “a break”?!” His spoon full of honey cheerios was halfway to his mouth but as he lowly asked the question the milk was sloshing everywhere.
“You know… a break.” I said whilst tugging on the ends of the shirt. “Just for 2 weeks and before you go to Zante. Then we can see if we really want to be together…”
“Wait.” He replied whilst holding up a hand and standing up. Now his green eyes were looking right at me. “Let me get this straight. You want to break up for 2 weeks then see if we really want to be together. Sofia, is this your way of breaking up without really breaking up? Do you not like me anymore or what?”
He was speaking lowly and it was freaking me the fuck out. He is naturally bubbly and loud so this collected and calm-like anger was so out of character and it caused me to back up and hit the kitchen counter.
“No, what! NO!” I spoke frantically whilst waving my hands in front of my face. “It’s just… Gosh I don’t know how to say it but... I- you are just, you’re bored of me.” I shrugged and sighed as it all poured out.
His brow was furrowed again and he stalked closer to me and grabbed my hand. I gasped as his pushed my hand against his trousers where he was still semi-hard.
“Bored? Really Sof? If I was bored I don’t think I would’ve been able to come twice in an hour and still be hard for you.” However arrogant his statement might sound there was no arrogant smirk on his face, just a furrowed brow and gritted teeth that sent spit spraying.
I blushed in reply and tried to pull my hand away – this is not how I wanted this conversation to go.
“I don’t mean in that way – I mean…” I struggled to find words as his scent filled my space; I hated the reactions he got out of me. “I’ve had doubts, okay? For the past month you’ve been distant and our relationship is slowly crumbling. SURE! We have sex and that’s great but affection? No way, you are bored of me and Kieran can see it too.”
“No affection?” He still wouldn’t stop using the quiet tone of his. “What does that even mean? And what the fuck does Kieran have to do with anything? He knows fuck all about our relationship.”
“Yeah well, he might know nothing about our relationship but he sure does see you flirting with every girl you come across and not making it seem as if you are taken.” This time I was angry – so yes, maybe I was hurt by the fact he flirts with other girls, how could I not be?
“Right first off, Kieran is a piece of shit that stirs shit up and you know it.” He put his hands on both sides of me and he was really getting up in my grill right now. I crossed my arms in defence. “Secondly, I thought we established that even though I flirt I would never touch another girl like I touch or talk to you, we’ve been over this-”
“Yes, we went over how you flirt,” I spoke acidly back not afraid of the fight, “but it’s getting to the point where soon enough it will lead to something else, George, before it was harmless but now it isn’t.”
“Don’t interrupt me; you know how much I hate it.” His knuckles were squeezing the countertop so hard that they were white. “And I really don’t have any clue where this has come from. But it seems like you’ve been thinking about it a lot and I don’t understand why you don’t just dump me.”
“Because I don’t want to dump you! I don’t want to break up, I just want a break.”
“Well it really doesn’t seem that way and I don’t want a break.” We were still stood there tense and rigid – him leaning down so he was level with my face (he was 6ft1) and my arms were still crossed. Yet as the time ticked on I backed down and with a sigh I dropped my hands and a frown marred my face.
“You just don’t get it, do you?” This time I put my hands up into his brunette hair and with my thumbs ran over the hair on the top of his ears. It was cut close to his head leaving that buzz cut feel I love. “Whether you know it or not George, our relationship was crumbling because you were getting bored. It’s not that I don’t still like you, I really, really do. And that is why I am doing this. I don’t want to see you be trapped in a relationship you didn’t like just because you feel that it is the right thing to do.”
He wasn’t looking at me now, instead staring at the ground. I waited for some sort of response and I got it with a nod of the head that confirmed my fears and caused my eyes to well up a little.
“I guess- I guess you are right.” His voice soft and calm as he looked up and our eyes met again but this time I saw acceptance – he knew what I was saying was right.
“So, we take a break and we can see, flirt, kiss or do whatever with other people and if by the end of the two weeks we still want to be together and try our best to stay together, then we can make that decision. If you decide that we are better off separate then so be it.” With the last sentence I took my hands away because the thought of not getting together by the end of this whole debacle made my heart ache.
He looked at me, I guess searching for some sort of sign that yes, this is what I was saying and no, this isn’t some a late April fools.
“Are you sure?” He rested his hands on my hips and the warmth left my nose tingling - that feeling I get just before I’m about to cry.
“Positive.” I surprised myself with how strong my voice was and it seemed to surprise him too. “Please don’t think that I am doing this because I don’t like you, I do. I think I always will. But because I like you so much, I know what is best for you.”
With a sigh he dragged his hands away and stepped back. “If that is what you think.”
He raised his hand to my wavy brown hair that reached my mid back and dragged it all the way through, snagging on a few tangles here and there.
“I’ll miss you, you know?” I almost didn’t catch his voice as it was that quiet.
“Mmhmm.” I shut my eyes savouring his touch that was on my neck seeing as it might be the last time I ever feel it.
His other hand slid onto my waist and round my lower back and slowly he pushed our bodies together and, as if we always knew right where the other was, I met his lips with a soft sigh. It was smooth and soft, with him taking a lazy pace with his movement. No tongue was involved because that felt too intimate for a maybe-last-kiss. But it had me sighing and my heart was sore as I brought my own hands up to touch the hair at the base of his neck. I could feel his heart beat on my chest and this made tears gather round the rims of my eyes and in a last rush of heartbreak, our bodies were pressed even tighter together. I kissed him hard and long with a desperate need to feel him. Our tongues touched once before I pulled away, my breath laboured and cheeks wet. I opened my eyes to look into his and as always I read what he was feeling – it mirrored my own. He in turn searched my eyes and whatever he found made him grab my face in both hands and press a peck to my lips, it was forceful but short as if a final full stop to whatever was happening.
He let go and stepped back, across to the other side of the kitchen. There we stared at each other and took one another in. He was in his boxers and plain faded t-shirt that he came in. Staring at him gave me that same buzz of attraction that I felt when I first saw him. He wasn’t incredibly toned but his broad shoulders and heaving back muscles showed his evident love of basketball. He did have a hard chest and stomach but it was not the 6 pack that most girls gagged over. However he was perfect for me. I loved his dark hair, specially his dark leg hair that just made him a man. He had a snail trail that went all the way down the middle of his stomach with a circle of hair surrounding his belly button. By now you should realise that I loved a hairy man and George was not lacking in dark hair, his tense and muscular forearms showed dark long hair but it was not carpet-like.
As I moved up from his muscular legs and blushing a little as I realised he too was getting a reaction from looking at me in just a t-shirt, I realised that even if we did break up, I would still love this man. I looked at his olive skin face that needed to see a bit of sun, stubble dusted along his cheekbones and his lips were red from our past kiss. It made me question whether I should finally confess my feelings. I then berated myself for ever thinking that, “Let’s take a break where by the end of it we may break up – by the way I love you!” was a good idea. But it took a lot for me to hold back as I looked at his brown hair that was short at the sides but long at the top, messily pointing upwards and forwards that still looked good even after rolling in the sack for an hour.
“So this is it.” His voice shocked me out of my pensive state and I joined our eyes together – his green, mine blue.
“Yeah, I guess it is.” This sense of finality was killing me and him as he struggled to loosen his knuckles from the counter top and stop his jaw from ticking.
A long pause followed where my chest rose up and down as if I had just ran a mile before I walked away to my room to change, his soft footfalls following me up the stairs. Silently I pulled on underwear not realising he might see. And as I snapped my bra on in front of the mirror he came up behind me and resting his large hand on my hip.
“I’ll see you around then.” He said connecting our eyes together through the mirror.
With no ability to reply with words I nodded and he hesitated, his eyes focused on the love-bite on my neck that he had given me not even 45 minutes before. But with no follow up, he removed his hand and left the room. Shutting my eyes I heard his steps go down the stairs and the door shut behind him. It was then that I allowed myself to finally let out the sob that was stuck in my throat.
The following days after that Sunday were a killer. As per usually Kieran opened his gob and told all of those in our friendship circle. Being a year below George and Kieran meant I still had to go to school even after my a-levels had finished. The fact that I went to a different school made it a little bit more bearable but news still got round fast.
“How are you doing?” A female voice reached over my shoulder and as I turned around I saw it was Dianne, one of my best friends.
“It’s hard but...” I shrugged showing her that it had to be done.
“You know that even if you two do break up, no one will blame you, okay?” She was looking right into my eyes as she said it – her blue ones trying desperately to solidify her statement. I knew she was wrong; everyone would blame me because I suggested the break. Everyone thought we were the perfect couple and I was the one to ruin the image.
“Yeah, thanks.” I smiled tightly and gathered my last few things from my locker and together we shoved ourselves through the packed locker room.
“You know what? I think you need to get your mind off it.” Dianne was always loud and unforgiving with her words, it was refreshing after everyone treated me as if I had broken up with him and all I wanted to do was scream “WE ARE ON A BREAK” a la Ross from friends.
“How though? Everyone seems more stuck up on it then I do.” I was being very self-pitying but the constant reminders everyone was giving me didn’t exactly help.
“You are on a break too, aren’t you?” I nodded in reply. “So… Let’s go to a party. Let’s get drunk and you can flirt with a few boys. Hey, you never know, maybe this break will make you realise that maybe you don’t want other boys, you just want him.”
I nodded again, it made sense, I was on a break too and it sounded like he had taken it seriously.
George was on his school holidays which meant parties and drinking and from what I heard along the grapevine, he had been getting busy.
Which yes, did hurt a lot but I mean, this is what I wanted. Right?
“This Friday Alicia is having a party and you and the girls are getting ready at mine.” She smacked her closed fist into her open hand and I really understood why this girl wanted to be a lawyer.
“Alicia’s?” I shot Dianne a look, this didn’t sound good. “That means that the whole bunch will be there.” Including George.
“So?” This time she whirled round in front of me stopping me from moving and shrugged very dramatically. For such a short girl she really did know how to dominate a conversation. “This is what it is going to be like if you break up. It is also a chance for you to implement your plan and see if you are attracted to other boys even with George being there.”
“Why does the midget always have to make so much sense?” I said it loudly enough for her to hear.
“Oh so I see you’re back to your old jokey ways eh?” She nudged me hard in the stomach getting me back for calling her midget. “That’s more like it!”
I laughed and I realised how stupid I had been wallowing in self pity whilst George had been gallivanting about. This is what I wanted and my being depressed was not very Sofia at all.
“Alright, I will go. On one condition!” I help my pointer up at her and loomed over her – using my height to its advantage.
“What?”
“I get to borrow your leather shorts.”
“Deal.” Clasping our hands together we grinned wickedly at each other.
“I missed you, Sofia!” Clasping her hands round my neck she pulled me down a couple of inches making me chuckle.
I was going to enjoy myself and I was not going to let George Valdez have all the fun.
~~~ Author's Note! ~~~
I'm a bit of a noob so excuse any roughness and awful skills with Wattpad!
No cast list, sorry! I prefer leaving it up to your imagination :)
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