The Art of Romance

The door finally opened, and the wait was finally over. Streaks of sun rays hit every corner of the room and a smile cracked up on my face. The entire room lit up.

“You know how long I’ve been wait-” I was interrupted by a face I wasn’t expecting to see. It wasn’t someone I was waiting for, it was the last face I was hoping to see right now,

“Aiden, what are you doing here?” I said, sighing.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? What are you doing here, all alone, in a barely lit classroom? It’s been an hour classes ended,” his voice deepened with a curiousness, he looked at me as if I had wronged him or something,

“Nothing you need to know,” I said, rolling my eyes. Somewhere between disappointment that Chase didn’t show up yet and annoyance that I had to put up with this guy right here,

That was the deal between me and him. To put it in simple words, he was someone who didn’t like it when he didn’t win. It maybe anything in this universe, but never make a bet with this guy. He can’t take it well. Though he was a hot topic among the female population of our college, I somehow, never understood what made him stand out,

“Well, judging by the way you look, you’re waiting for Chase, right?” He said smiling in a sly way,

“Yes, I am,” I said with a nod,

Me and Chase weren’t that popular, but people close to us knew how much he meant to me, and why not, he was my boyfriend after all,

“Why are you still dating him?” Aiden didn’t sound irritated, he sounded somewhere between agitated and disgusted,

"Still?"

He didn’t budge,

“Because he’s someone who genuinely cares for me, loves me for who I am and supports me in every way,” I said,

“And you believe that,” he scoffed,

“Why wouldn’t I?”

He sighed and shook his head as he took a step forward. He looked up at me, his eyes were the thing that bothered me the most right now. He was looking at me like he pitied me. Like I was someone he can look down on. I hated the way his eyes were looking at mine.

“You’re so...innocent, no, actually...you’re just stupid,” The look on his face had started to irritate me, there was a smile playing on his face, but that smile was the one that would really make you want to go and punch him. That smile really just showed me how supposedly stupid I was looking, and I had no idea why,

I decided to ignore him. All I’ve to do is wait a few more minutes. Chase must be running his way to me. After college was over, we had decided to meet here in this classroom,

“I really don’t know how someone can be this dumb to not notice tiny little things,”

“Aiden, I really would love if you leave. I’m not in the mood for your bullshit,”

“My bullshit?” He raised one of his brows, “Okay, I guess we’ll have to take the tougher path,”

“What?”

He sighed again, “Where do you think your boyfriend is right now?” His voice shifted from sarcastic to a tone higher up, “Why isn’t he here yet? Did he forget you?”

“I don’t need to answer anything to you,” Mine shifted to sarcastic and my eyes narrowed down as I folded my arms,

“Defending someone without knowing anything...” He stopped midsentence and started walking towards me. Distance kept decreasing between us. His eyes hooked to mine,

His voice depicted the way his eyes looked at me, “Look at you defending that son of a-”

“Aiden, that’s enough,” I said not letting him finish that damned sentence,

And his eyes now were making me worry. I don’t remember seeing him so worked up like this in so long,

“I don’t what’s wrong with you, but I’m not dealing what that right now. Please leave, Aiden. I’ve got somewhere to go with Chase,” I said turning away, ignoring him again, walking back to a chair,

He caught my hand and pulled me back to the place I was in with a jolt,

“What the-”

“Chase. Chase. Chase. Stop being so damn delusional, Ashley Madison!” He yelled; his deep voice made me jump and flinch. The way he took my name, it made me so anxious that my hands trembled.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I yelled back, no way was I going to let Aiden see my weak side,

“Does Chase even know how adamant you are about him? He didn’t seem to take you this seriously,” he said tilting his head and arching his brow, there was still pity in his eyes and that had really started to irk me,

“What do you m-mean,” I stammered. I hated that I stammered,

He grabbed my wrist, opening the distance between us, “He’s out there putting his face in someone else’s and you’re here annoying the crap out of me! I know you won’t believe me, so I’m going to make you see it for yourself,”

Before I could say anything or even form any sentence in my head, he dragged me out of the room. He was really enraged. Asking him anything would only make his anger answer and not him, so it wouldn’t even be worth a try.

He was walking faster than me, and I was trying really hard to keep up with his pace. His grip on my wrist kept getting stronger minute by minute. “Aiden, stop. You’re hurting me,” I said, but he didn’t flinch,

My brain had started to flood with too many questions. And too many emotions. I couldn’t think straight. “At least tell me what happened?” I said, this time a bit louder. Yet he kept walking faster,

We stopped in front of another classroom, and he let go of my hand. My wrist was a hint of red and had impressions of his fingers around them. “Open the door,” he said in a flat undertone,

“Why, what’s inside?” my stomach had started to churn,

“A surprise. A surprise you really need right now to open those damn eyes of yours,” He was sarcastic and irritated at the same time,

“Aiden. This is not funny.”

“I just can’t see nonsense things for long, it’s a habit,” he shrugged and then gestured towards the doorknob again, “Open it,”

My heart was beating so fast, I could feel it galloping off my chest. My mind had all sorts of thoughts running through like an open hose. He looked at me and gesture to open the door again, as if he was waiting for me to see whatever was inside,

I was really hoping, wishing, and praying to not see what he wanted me to see.

I caught hold of the doorknob, there wasn’t enough courage in me to turn it and open the door, I prayed to every God I knew. I was going to pull it back, turn around, and just leave,

Please don’t prove Aiden right, God. Please.

Just then Aiden put his hand on top of mine and twisted the doorknob, opening the door. “At this rate, you might open this door tomorrow,” I looked at him just to see him looking at me as the door flung open,

“See it for yourself, Madison. This is your caring, lovely, and genuine boyfriend, the one you were waiting for. This is him,” he said sarcastically as he gently pushed me in the room. The light blinded me at first, but when my eyes adjusted to it, I saw it.

I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to accept it. I wished I never met Aiden in that room a few minutes ago. I saw Ruby, my best friend sitting on top of Chase.

My head went numb, and I couldn’t think straight as pain started pounding in my chest. I took deep breaths as I saw both of them get off each other and button up their shirts. Sweet memories of the past three years started playing, one after the other. The first time he held my hand, when we went on our first trip together, our first kiss, all our firsts.

“Ash, I’m sorry, let me explain. This isn’t what it looks like...just hear me out once, I’m really sorry,” He pushed Ruby off him and walked towards me. My legs walked back, as if they had a mind of their own. There was nothing left to explain. Ruby was fixing her shirt and putting her shirt buttons back in place, there was fear on her face.

“Listen to me, give me a chance. Hear me out, just once, please.” He kept repeating,

Then he caught hold of my wrist. The same wrist that was aching because of Aiden’s grip. I hissed because of the pain and yanked my hand away from him. He didn’t ask why my wrist was hurting, he just wanted to ‘explain himself’. He was the one who noticed the tiniest of things. He looked so desperate to prove himself right, it almost disgusted me and impaled a million daggers in my heart at the same time,

Was I not enough?

“There’s nothing left for me to hear from you,” My voice was almost emotionless, vague, and lost, “Excuse me,” I was about to leave when Ruby stopped me, holding my wrist,

“Ash, wait!” she called out and tightened her grip around my wrist. It pained so much but there was no air in my lungs left to yell,

“Please give us a chance to explain. It is nothing what it looks like, I swear. Trust me, just this once,”

“The last thing I want to hear is you covering for this, Ruby,”

“But Ash-”

I interrupted her, “And don’t ask me to trust you. I don’t care what happened and what it really was like. All I know is, if there was any problem Chase had, he could’ve come to me. I was his girlfriend, I should have been his first priority,”

She didn’t say a single word after that.

“You were my best friend, Ruby. I didn’t cross your mind even once before you…” The words stopped themselves. Saying that incident would just tear me apart, so I just stopped talking,

Both had their eyes glued to the ground. I knew this was it. This was the end of the fairy tale I’d been weaving in my head, like a fool. All my dreams, hopes, and emotions came crashing down to the same ground they stared at, clouds of guilt raining over them. At that moment, all I wanted was to get back home, away from this place.

Chase and Ruby were my best friends, the only people who knew everything about me, from the tip of my hair to the end of my shadow. They were the reason I was always excited to come to college. They pulled me out of my loneliness and gave me hope. They were the only source of my happiness.

And now? It’s all over. The back of my throat had started to hurt from holding back a flood of tears. Slowly I walked out of the room. It became difficult for my legs to carry me, but they were giving their best. There, I went back into the oblivion I feared the most. It had been difficult to be where I was today, and the only source of my sanity decided to run me over.

I had always wondered, what it would’ve been like if the ending of a fairy tale would’ve been its beginning. I think this is why they don’t make such fairy tales anymore. Main reason being no one would want to read it. No one reads this type of a story till the very end. And why would they? Nobody likes sad beginnings.

I felt each and every hidden emotion of fear, anger, disgust, disappointment, and oblivion take over me in no time. I hated the fact that I let Chase have so much control over me and my emotions. I didn’t realise, but he had the power of making and breaking me apart. I had never felt so defeated. I felt like I had lost a battle that wasn’t even mine to begin with.

I didn’t know I deserved a harsh slap of reality across my face like that.

I couldn’t stay in there any longer. I turned back and walked out of the class. My legs felt like jelly, any minute they would crash me on the ground. The only thing I feared now was, being left alone. For the first time in my life, I had people who actually liked me for who I was. I fell in love with someone who took care of me and made me look forward to each day, someone who made me laugh on my worst days. Someone who didn’t make fun of my insecurities and made me feel grateful for everything.

What would I have possibly done if not give him power over me? It subconsciously happened. It was the little things he did that kept building their empire inside of me without me knowing. I am not even sure if I hate the both of them now, it scares me to hate them. The worst part was that this wasn’t a dream that would be gone by tomorrow. It was a wide-awake reality.

I wasn’t ready for this, but this is where my fairy-tale ended.

As I was walking, someone caught hold of my wrist. I took my hand away as the pain woke again and turned around. It was Aiden, “Where are you going?” he asked. His voice did show genuineness but that did not matter to me, not right now,

“Home,” I replied and started walking again. There was nothing I could do about this anymore. I lost the two most precious stars of my sky and now the same sky seemed darker than it ever could be.

People keep saying the art of romance is magical. It’s bullshit.