It had been Six months since He had fallen for me. But all I could see in front of me were my goals and ambitions. "I am going to a bigger city now", I said reminding him once again. We had been good friends since school and I cherished the current relation of friendship between us. He replied, "Its gonna be polluted and dirty...breathing the air there is like smoking 10 cigarettes each day". I instantly replied, " Oh c'mon! the place at my grandma's is surrounded by flora and fauna", I grinned. "Believe me I've been there once", He said, "And I won't go there again...The air is so damn thick!". "Blah blah! but admit it, the city is the only place where dreams come true," I said. After that we remained silent as the reddish-orange sun faded into the sky and the cool ocean wind blowing onto our faces.
Three years had got by in a swift. The quote 'Time waits for none', made a lot of sense now. I expected to reach the top but getting there was harder than I thought. The City wasn't all that easy after all. I began to feel desperate and lonely with the sudden bend in my life. All I craved for was a faithful friend and a patient ear. We kept in touch with each other. I texted him about all the things I was going through. He encouraged me,"It's gonna be alright...come back home soon". Eventually, My heart began to skip a beat everytime I read his text. Any time I texted him or received a text from him, my heart throbbed. Yeah, it's what you call, 'Butterflies in my belly". "Why didn't I see it earlier", I said to myself, "We share a lot of things, we could actually be a perfect match. Even our zodiacs made a great pair".
It had been four weeks since then. I did not know how to confess. Since the three years he never uttered anything about his feelings towards me. There were many unanswered questions of which I couldn't just guess the answers. And than finally I mustered up courage and texted him, 'I like you'. There was a long pause after that text. There was no reply for quiet a while. I was anxious, "Did I do something wrong, but all I did was tell him how I felt". And he did reply...but when he did my heart felt weary. 'I'm sorry!' he texted,' I'm dating a girl now.' I replied, with a sinking heart heart,'Why didn't you tell me about it before?'. He texted back a reply not related to my question but it did make me angry and sad, 'It's because of you, I did it to get over you'. I didn't text back. May be because I was angry or may be because I was embarrassed.
My birthday was next week. He texted me by wishing me. I replied with a 'Thank You', but than immediately I texted back again, 'Forget what I said Okay, you move on...Don't do anything stupid because of me', he texted back with the letter I hated the most, ' K '... I don't get it, is it really difficult to write ' OK '. I wanted to believe it was a bluff, but unfortunately It was true. The next day I lost my phone, and all my contacts. I really missed him. I couldn't concentrate on my goals. I didn't earn enough to buy a new phone, I needed the money for our basic needs. I used my Dad's old phone, which he was about to discard...It lacked all the social networking apps neither could I share that number with anyone as it was Dad's private number.
Three months passed. I managed to get a hand-me-down phone from my uncle. I installed the messaging app and texted him first. We were both excited to text each other after a long time. And we chatted the whole night. It was just like the old days. I didn't want the moment to pass. And then I asked him (Just because I was curious whether his gf and him were still together), 'Howz ua gf?'... he replied, 'Shez fyn'. And there was a pause again. I was disappointed though. I immediately changed the topic to something else to get rid of the uneasiness I had created. Back in my head I could only repeat the words saying, "Why couldn't it be me?, Why couldn't you wait a little longer?"...I sunk my tearful face into the pillow and dozed off.
Time passed, I realised He was happy, and even seemed like a different person but deep in my heart I wished It was me. All I could do was cheer him up, as the friend I've always been. I tried to get over him. It was really hard. But then my situation in the city worsened. I had to pull myself together and make things right for me. I realised I was changing as a person too. Then one day, when I thought I was over him he had broken up. All he said was, "She hooked up with another guy, I'm not gonna forgive her". That's when I realised he seemed like a different person. We chatted normally...but less frequently now. "Being single is much more fun", I told him. He replied, "Ya but we do feel lonely sometimes". I wanted to tell him he wasn't alone but I knew his feelings towards me had changed, his thoughts about life were not the same as they were a few years back and he wasn't the same. Our lives were getting busier. I began to regret the distance between us, that turned our situation around. Thoughts like 'What if I hadn't left my hometown? What if I had stayed by his side than? I wish I was the one close to him!' troubled my mind. But I couldn't turn back time. All that's left is what we have now. May be one day in the future our eyes would meet. And He'd remind me of the pizza treat I promised him when I said "Good Bye!". Either way this Love was Unrequited.