Along the way

Chapter 01 MC POV I blame t****k for this. Everything started because I did this t****k trend; truth be told it was my fault but it’s better to blame it on something else than blaming it on myself because Lord knows how much I blame s**t that happened to me; without me instigating anything; or when I was helpless; or without any my control. I should’ve never done this, it wouldn’t have ruined my friendship with him, the friendship I need to survive, the friendship that pulled me through every bad, horrid thing that would happen to me, the friendship that stopped me from ending my life many, many times… he doesn’t even know because I’ve never told him that. It was because of the stigma around mental health; because I thought that my mental health would be a burden and would make me unlovable. A little note from the author…. I thought the same thing, and I blamed myself. As I grew older, I realized that it was not my fault and it was life that shaped me this way. I’m grateful at times because of the mental resilience I’ve had fortified ever since I was young, and I hate it at times because when I fall; I can’t get back up. Back to the story…. It was a popular t****k trend back in 2020…. It was kiss your best friend challenge, I thought that it would be great if I did that. I asked Alysha to stay behind the tv set and film me. It was a nice evening. Chris and I were in my apartment. Chris was on the phone texting someone. I was nervous. I gave a small smile and then winked at the camera. Chris was on his phone still. I walked towards him. He was standing near the kitchen counter. I didn’t notice me still; he was so concentrated on his phone. I kissed his lips gently and backed away quickly. He threw his phone to the counter and he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. It was intense. I felt like the world around us froze, time itself was frozen and we were in a moment where our passion was ignited to a wildfire. I backed away and placed my head on his chest confused. Alysha on the sidelines knew that I was in a dilemma and was in desperate need of saving so she emerged from behind the TV set and said, “That is going to break the internet.” I smiled and said to Chris, “That was good.” He smiled to hide the fact that I had hurt his feelings and then I noticed it and felt bad, “If you don’t want me to post it, I won’t.” He said, “No, it’s fine.” In the end, I didn’t post it because though he said that it was okay, I knew him… he didn’t want that to be posted. I kept quiet and didn’t bring up t****k or t****k trends ever again. And with that, my t****k journey ended. Omniscient third person view…. Let me go back and introduce the MC and her friends… Few years ago…. MC POV I was on my way to work as usual; heartbroken, depressed, and stressed out about my life. Why you may ask? My fiancé was in a terrible accident… he fell and tripped… into my best friend’s v****a… (Courtesy of Australian television, if you have seen it; you’d know) And also, to rub salt in my wound; it was our 5th anniversary… we’d been together since we were in high school; we were the OG couple in high school… most of the girls wanted a romance like that and they were jealous of me because of it, because I was living the dream. Trust me, if they knew the truth; they would’ve pitied me. I’d much rather be a b***h than a person to be pitied at. I hate it. And it was not the first time that his infidelity came out, it was with another chick he met in a bar when he told me that he was at home and chilling with his homies… I didn’t want to disturb him so I let him be with his guys and didn’t call him as usual and had an hour-long conversation on our phones which caused me a lot of backlash because I was spending a lot of data and I did have to do things I wasn’t proud of to get money just to talk to him. He apologized and followed me around for a month, and I eventually caved in. My advice for the fellow ladies out there is when you see a red flag; abort the mission… because you can not expect him/her/them to change. A leopard doesn’t change his spots though he changes his forest. (It’s a famous Sinhala saying; I don’t know if this is the accurate translation but the basic idea is what’s said above) I recently broke up with my fiancé who used to be my ex-best friend because he was not only having s*x with me but also with my other ex-best friend. I walked in on them a few months ago when I was going to surprise him for our anniversary. In the end, I was the one who was surprised but then again; I chose to look away when he did it the first time, so what could I expect? I hit rock bottom; because I needed somebody to love me since I didn’t love myself in the first place. So, I guess you could say that I was selfish and I was also cheating… but he was the only person who loved me… he loved me when my own family hated me. I made up my mind and said Adios to my old life and moved to New York, in the hope of a fresh start. Closing in on five months from my fresh start As I stepped out of the coffee shop, I bumped into a cute guy which made me drop my coffee, to be fair it was his fault, but it was one of those days where I just didn’t care or have the energy to deal with it. He apologized quickly, “Oh my god, I am so sorry.” I said after a sigh, “It’s fine, probably.” He said after offering his hand for a handshake, “Hi, I am Alex and you are…” I said with a slight smile on my face, “Scarlet.” He asked, “Would you like to grab a cup of coffee with me sometime?” I replied after having a slight glance at my phone, “Why, not now.” I was pointing with my eyes to the dropped coffee. He said after letting out an awkward laugh, “Okay sure.” We talked for a while, and then I realized that we were two completely different people who were unwilling to make compromises or changes and, after going through a trainwreck of a love life… I didn’t want to go through another while ignoring that we were different because I would be setting myself up for heartbreak, and I couldn’t go through another. I said at one point, “I don’t think that this will work out.” He was stunned by her brutal honesty but he also agreed, “Yeah, I thought so too…” After a few minutes of awkward silence, he said, “You know, I think I might have the perfect guy for you.” I asked with a hint of a condescending tone, “Really? Perfect?” He said, “You wouldn’t be saying stuff like that if you had met him.” I said, “Fine.” I gave him my phone number and said, “Text me the details, I gotta go to work.” Work was boring; nothing new. The usual stuff that goes down in an office. I am 19 years old; so, I think that I would be in a better place after a few years. My wish was also just to be happy, and I hoped that I would have a brighter future; a happier future. I got the text with the details; I was genuinely impressed by it. I saved his number, with the name‘ mystery guy’ since I had no idea who he was. I spent the rest of my work day in a chipper mood because guess who's got a date tonight… ‘Aha, you guessed right, it’s me’ ‘I got a date’ ‘I got a date’ I did a small victory dance because I scored a date and also secretly hoped that he would be better than her ex. Alex POV “Dude, I met this girl… I think she’s good for you.” He instantly texted him the moment he left the coffee shop. Knowing that he was busy he continued the one-sided conversation. “No, it’s not because she dumped her fiancé.” “You both like geeky shit.” “I’m not saying that you are a nerd.” “You love Star Wars; she loves it too.” “She has a Chewbacca keychain for her door.” “This is her number.” He sent him her number and finally ended his one-sided conversation, “You have to move on from Jessica, man. She’s toxic as hell.” “Just do this for me. Just this once.” Mystery man POV I went to the bathroom shortly after I got to work. It was another day, another week, and another month without Jess. I know I might sound whiny, but I was planning on marrying this girl. I thought she was the one, it hurts man. It hurts so bad. It’s been a year exactly… but it still hurts that she threw it all away for a hot night with somebody she met a few moments ago, just because we got into a disagreement to just get back at me. It wasn’t a big deal. She was insecure about a girl I worked with. I reassured her, that I turned her down so many times; I don’t even talk with the girl just because an exchange of words encourages her shenanigans. It’s hard to work with someone like that, like it or not; I tried my best to not talk to her. Everybody knows that I’m uncomfortable around her, so some get in our way just so I can escape, while some try their best to trap us together for it to be done with. The moment she got to know the news, she tried to flirt with him more. I tried my best to keep my cool and reject her. One day, she made a horrid mistake; she started to badmouth his ex-girlfriend right in front of me. I held it in, as much as I could. I was gritting my teeth, but then I finally snapped. I yelled at the top of my lungs at her, I was pissed… “No means f*****g no.” “GET THAT s**t INSIDE YOUR f*****g HEAD.” “I DON’T WANT TO f*****g SEE YOU EVER AGAIN IN MY f*****g LIFE.” “LEAVE ME THE f**k ALONE.” I regret it so much, I never wanted to show my ugly side in front of people, and no matter how much s**t a person says he never wanted to cause a scene. Now she goes out of her way to avoid me. I thought back in my mind, I should’ve done it before. I returned to my desk and saw I made so many messages. I was slightly startled because I thought there was an emergency but it was just Alex’s one-sided conversations. I always told that i***t to send one message, than several messages. I never went into his mind and I eventually gave up because he was never going to change. He was trying to set me up on a date. He was determined to set me up with someone. I always said no, but then I saw that she loved Star Wars and I thought why not, how bad could it be? He called one of his friends, he was a manager in The High, it was a new place so I thought why not check it out?