Picking Up The Pieces

ch.12

Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable.

– The Wizard of Oz (Fleming & LeRoy, 1939)

♢

It was late in the afternoon, Chelsea and Phoebe had plans to go to the carnival which was a few blocks away from campus. Phoebe changed her looks too blue jeans and a jersey dark-green tank top. Her hair was down and she added some jewelry on her ears and hands.

The two left campus and walked with a group of people walking to where the carnival was. Two guys went with the girls who previously asked them out before the carnival. Ben and Oliver.

Ben is about six feet tall, a southeast Asian boy with a beautiful smile and bright brown eyes. His hair was brown and he had a small facial hair on his mustache and his chin.

Oliver is about six feet tall himself, ginger with the most radiant blue eyes. Unlike Ben, he has a babyface and clean-shaven but that doesn't take away his handsome features from Phoebe.

They all met in their art class when they had to be in pairs to work on an assignment. Phoebe worked with Oliver and Chelsea worked with Ben. Since then they have been hanging out often now and then but no sign of commitment yet to these ladies.

The four paid their way at the gate and went in to play some carnival games. While they were having fun, Theo was on the other side with a few of his guy friends and some girls he picked up back on campus. Diana was there too but she wasn't too happy to be there.

Diana and Theo's relationship was never great. It has been rocky between the two. At this point, it's not healthy for the two of them to even be with each other again. But, I guess Theo and Diana can't help themselves but be sucked in back to square one.

Diana's hair was flapping rapidly at the pace of the wind and she decided to tie her hair in a bun. She pulls Theo to the side to finally take the second straight about their relationship. She needed to know where does Theo stand. Are they in love? Or this is some f****d up s**t that she has to put up with? At this point, she was fed up. She needed some answers.

The two were by a bench near a bridge that oversees the long river.  The river came with calmness from its core to the ripples that danced and it reflected the night sky.

It was beautiful to be up there, watching the view from there. The two stand against the pole and looked over at the river.

"-- I'm probably not the best guy to ask. I'd be happy enough just to have you at all. I wouldn't need anything extra."Diana's head whipped towards him. He hands up defensively, "I mean if I was into you. If you were more than a friend, you know."

She nodded and looked away, her hopeful heart deflated once again. Yeah, that sounded about right.

"Great. Well, thanks for nothing," She said. ''I guess it's over.''

Theo takes gum out of his pocket, unwraps the paper, and begins to chew then lets out a sigh. ''Yeah, Di,'' he responded in a dry tone. ''It's not easy to tell you this, you know that.''

Tears piled onto Diana's eyes and she knew who exactly he was talking about Chelsea. ''You still have feelings for her? Chelsea?''

Theo takes a step back and shakes his head. He didn't even bother to say it out loud because he knew it'll be worse than it was. Diana's lips trembled at the thought of him still having feelings for Chelsea.

She couldn't wrap into her mind why waited until now. What was so special about Chelsea Bailey that Diana didn't have? Was it her curvy body? The kinky hair? The smile? Her eyes? Or was it that Chelsea has been into Theo's life since they were kids, that may be for the longest time Theo was always into Chelsea.

Theo looked at Diana who exhaled slowly and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Di. But if we continued to do this with each other, we're just going to end up hurting each other. It's toxic, you and I both know that. So, I'm letting you go.''

''That means you don't love me anymore.''

''I never said that, I do love and care but I have to learn to love you from a distance, and that's the choice that I'm willing to pay. Plus, going back together just after our messy relationship in the summer doesn't make any better.''

She sniffed quietly wiping the extra tears that were running down on her nose.  She chewed on her lower lip softly. "But you love her, right?"

"That's a very complicated question, Di. One I'm not sure I even know the answer to." Theo's phone ringed in his pocket and he checked to see who it was. He realized that it was his mother calling him.

He looked at it he sighed. "It's my mom. She's wondering where I am."

"Okay, well, I guess you should get going."

'' Yes," He confirmed. Lightly kissing on her cheek, he left her alone feeling a weakness that was squeezing against his chest. This was the first time Theo was experiencing his heartbreak. He'd never thought the day would come but it was there, happening quickly.

Going to the parking he starts up his motorcycle and he saw Chelsea in a distance standing next to Ben. She giggled at Ben's dad jokes as the two sat on the bench and were eating cotton candy together.

Ben gently taps Chelsea's chin and kissed her softly.

Theo felt Cheleas's eyes were on him so I looked down, hiding with his helmet. He restarts his motorcycle and droves away from the carnival.

He spent the rest of the night dreaming about what should've happened between him and Chelsea.