Love's Crushing Blow

I stand in admiration, gazing at my reflection in the mirror. The silver crown adorned with blue pearls sits perfectly atop my head. My black hair cascades down my neck, with two highlighted tendrils framing my face.

The sun is just an hour away from peeking over the horizon, but I’m already hyper-thrilled; it's my birthday!

Today marks a milestone I’ve been eagerly waiting for: I’ve finally reached the age where my curfew extends to 10 p.m. Mom had promised that once I turned seventeen, I’d get the extra freedom. She also said I’d be allowed a little privacy with my boyfriend of two months.

The first month of dating him was bliss—no fights, no arguments, just endless smiles. Of course, all our moments of joy were shared in secret; I dreaded what Mom might say if she found out. To me, he was perfect, and I wanted us to last forever.

I met him while running errands for Mom. That day, she asked me to deliver a package to one of her online friends from her book club. Mom, an avid reader, had joined almost every book club she could find on Facebook.

The sun was scorching that afternoon, its blinding light bearing down on me as I walked to the delivery station. My throat burned from thirst, and with my vision slightly blurred from the intense sunlight, I didn’t notice the hedge ahead. I tripped, and the contents of the box I was carrying scattered everywhere.

Embarrassment washed over me as I lay sprawled on the ground, my face burning with humiliation. Before I could pick myself up, a hand appeared in front of me. I looked up, curious about the Good Samaritan who didn’t seem to judge me for my clumsiness.

Our eyes met, and I was completely stunned. He's like the most gorgeous person to ever walk the planet.

His hair, a sandy brown, was perfectly trimmed. His eyes, green like the color of the ocean mom and swam in on our last vacation, matched the color of his hair. He looked like the beach and I loved the beach. Then came a gentle gust of wind, rendering me completely useless as it wafted his perfume right into my nostrils.

The embarrassment goes up a notch when I realized I'd let his outstretched arm hang for a while. Pretending I wasn't taken about by his physique, I push off the ground without taking his arm but I still mutter a “thank you.”

He smiles. It's the cutest smile I'd ever seen on the opposite sex but I look away because my heart was shamefully pounding in my chest. I bend down and quickly pick up the books from the ground. He joins in by taking the last one left and placing it gently in the box.

“I'm Lucas,” he's staring deep into my soul and I could feel the weight of his gaze on me because my legs wobbled when I tried taking a step. “Hailey” I said immediately when I found my tongue. He took the box from me, helped with the delivery and got me ice cream. That was the most embarrassing and happiest day of my life. And, as the universe would have it, Lucas and I bumped into each other more often after that day hence the flowering of our two months relationship.

Turning away from the mirror, I looked at the black dress, straightened out on one side of my bed. It's a short ruched dress with glitters on the breast area. A smile curved my lips up but faded out the moment thoughts of how distant Lucas had become crept up my mind.

To be continued.