A Timely Bomb

I tapped on Blake’s open door, peering in. Her room was dark and she was hunched over something on her desk.

“Hey, babe.” I slid a bouquet of flowers on a few open books. When she looked at me, though, I knew something was wrong. She started to say something, but instead, she just looked back at this book in her lap. There was a blank page and she was holding a sharpened number two pencil.

“Is everything okay?” I knelt down and turned the chair to where she was facing me. Her brilliant red hair was slipping from her ear’s grip. I tucked it back and rested my hands on her knees.

“I’m writing this children’s book and, in the end, everyone dies.” Her eyes met mine and in that instant, she fell into me, her book slipped sideways. I caught her, guiding us both to the floor. Her legs were wrapped around my waist and she was heaving with sobs, her body shaking with tears.

“Nellie, honey, talk to me.”

“It’s his fault.” She managed.

“Who’s?” I could hear the anger in my voice. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” I pulled her out of my shoulder with my large hands wrapped around her small elbows and peered into those crying eyes. “What happened?” She sniffled and turned, pulling a folded piece of notebook paper out of a book. I took it from her small fingers and opened it violently. I scanned the note. It was from some boy in ninth grade. She was crying over something that happened a little over a year ago.

“I loved him.” She whispered. “He broke my heart.” Her lip quivered and she covered the bottom half of her face.

“Shh, shh. Please, don’t cry. He isn’t worth your tears.” I pulled her close to me and we rocked back and forth. She cried for a solid ten minutes, but the sobs slowly died out to soft whimpers. I glanced around her room, remembering the first time I walked in here. Every surface imaginable was covered with something. It could be a poster, a post-it note, or a sticker. You name it, it was there.

            A minute later, Blake was kissing my ear lobe.

“I love you, Jared. I really do. We go through the toughest times, but you mean the world to me.” She had pulled her head out of the crook of my shoulder to look at me. Her beautiful blue eyes were so distracting.

“Nellie Blake Rylan, you are my world and I love you more than anything else in it.” I held her face on both sides. She rested her hands on mine and waited. I pulled her face closer to mine. Sadly, after our lips met, I couldn’t keep my hands on her face for long. My fingers found the edge of her lacey tank top and I started making circles. Her hands gripped the back of my neck. We swapped breath equivalent to the Arizona heat. Her skin was so soft, it reminded me of velvet.

“Don’t stop loving me.” She whispered.

“Only until you tell me to, but until that day, I promise I never will.”