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She held her hand out. He dropped the necklace into it. “I know you don’t give much for this day and think it’s sappy, so this I think will mean more to you than a stupid card or a bunch of flowers or chocolates.”
She looked at it. It was a necklace with “friends” scripted on it.
“I have the other half, it says, forever.”
She smiled slightly. “Thanks, Dan, this means a lot so much more than..”
“I know Red, just promise you’ll never take it off.”
“As long as you promise never to take your half off.”
“It’s already on.” He said, pulling his chin out from under his shirt. Reading “forever.”
She smiled.
“Right, sorry I’m late guys and gals, let’s get this lesson started.”
The bell rang and everyone put their belongings away and headed out of the class.
Connor slipped his arm around Autumn. “Hey babe, Dan.”
“Con.” They chorused.
They all walked out of school. They walked to the lake saying goodbye to Dan. Connor pulled autumn down onto the bench. “I know you’re not into the mushy s**t that comes with today, but I got you something anyway.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to. Turn around and close your eyes.”
“Okay.”
She turned closing her eyes. His arms went around her to put the necklace around her neck and clasp it together. “You can look now.”
She looked at the chain that dangled into his hand. Reading it. “Forever,”
“Thanks, Con, but there was no need I..”
“I have the other half” “Friends.”
“I..’
“I know I saw it, so who gave it to you or needs it, I ask.l
“Don’t get mad Con.”
“He got to you before I did. I wanted to make it special, and he just had to ruin it.”
“He didn’t Con. I like it. Don’t blame Dan. He didn’t know.”
“He knew I was getting you something special.”
“And it is, you’re both my friend’s Con. Please don’t be mad at him. I don’t want you two to fall out because, of me, there’s too much friction with the others. I don’t need any more please.’
“Fine.” He huffed. “For you, I’ll keep my trap shut.”
“Thanks.” She said, kissing his cheek.
He turned, smashing his lips on hers, kissing her passionately.
He moved away, placing his arm around her. “I don’t ever want to lose your Autumn.”
“And you won’t.”
“Friends.”
“Forever.”
He kissed her forehead. As they sat and watched the sun go down.
15th February
Mathew opened the door Autumn slipped in sitting down he closed the door walking over to sit opposite her. She cut her eyes. “What’s with the face Autumn?”
“How dare you!” She said, angrily.
“How dare I what?’’
“Send me this.” She said, slamming the card on his desk.
“It was just a little reminder, Autumn, of how not to forget our date on Saturday.”
“How can I forget what you keep pushing in my face?”
“And like I said. This wouldn’t be happening if you told the truth.”
“They’re my friends.”
“Suit yourself, Autumn, but I’ll leave you with something to think about. Would they do the same for you?”
She opened her mouth.
“Think about it.” He sighed, looking at her. “Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about yesterday.”
“What about it? It’s just another day for rich people to make money out of idiots that think they can impress others by sending cards anonymously. What a f*****g joke.”
“So you don’t believe in Valentine’s Day?”
“f**k no. The day is dumb and ridiculous. Why send someone a card and gifts telling you how much you want them and not even tell them who they are from?”
“That’s the excitement of the day, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think it will just end up in tears and heartbreak when you’re finally rejected.”
“I see you have new necklaces. Who gave them to you?”
“Connor and Daniel. They thought it was better than some dumb card, chocolates or flowers. And I’m glad they did its sorting. I appreciate more than something I would eat or end up throwing away.”
“I see.” He looked at her. “So your ex didn’t do any of this for you?”
“If you’re referring to Taylor, then yes. He made the day so perfect, so full of promises.”
“So tell me what happened to make you hate this particular day.”
“After a most amazing day, I realized that everything would go back to what it was like the day before, no matter the promise that he made it that it wouldn’t. I realized that the charming guy I was spending my day with who made me realize why I was in love with him would turn back into the same asshole, he was always there once the day was over and the new day had begun.”
“Now I understand why you hate the day so much. The guy you loved so much couldn’t keep the promises he made and thought he had to prove to his friends you weren’t making him a sap, so he treated you like s**t whenever they were around.’ He looked at Autumn.’ You should never have had to put up with that Autumn you’re worth so much more than that.”
“I know that’s what love does to you, I guess. We argued a lot. He promised things would get better.”
“But they never did?” He ended.
She shook her head.
“You deserved better, a lot better. You deserved to be loved, Autumn, he shouldn’t have taken you for granted.”
The bell rang.
“I’ll see you Tuesday.”
“Okay.”
She stood up and left the room. Closing the door behind her. Connor slipped his arm around her, kissing her cheek. Before they walked away to go to class she sat quietly. She knew Matt had been right. Taylor had always told her he loved her and would do anything to make her happy, and yet never did.
She always wondered if he loved her and if any of it was real or just fake.
“Are you okay babe?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You zoned out for a while.”
“I’m fine Con. I promise.”
He smiled and kissed her brow.
The day continued to go slowly. It was just her, Con and Dan at break and lunch. It felt weird just the three of them, but why could she do it? They were all hiding something from her, but what?
They all said goodbye. The last two hours of school were hell. The class was lucky they didn’t get detention in the mood that their teacher was in and Autumn was still pondering over what Matt had said. “I’ll leave you with something to think about. Would they do the same for you?”
But her answer would always be, “Yes, they would do the same for me, no doubt about it.”
- Writer
