Empty ApartmentA Story by Undying GloryA story inspired by Yellowcard's song "Empty Apartment". About a geek and a girl...Hope you like it!Empty Apartment It’s getting
late. I walk back
home, the red skies falling in around me, the wind whistling through the trees.
The world is so much quieter now. Not to mention, so much more lonely, now that
she’s left. Left to face a whole new world, with new friends, a new life in a
different school, even whole new neighbours. She’s left everyone else here, for
the big city. For her big shot at success. She’s left me here, hanging all
alone. No, we
didn’t break up. Far from it. We weren’t even boyfriend and girlfriend in the
first place. I mean, look at me. I’m nerdy, thin, and really bad at sports.
There’s probably not a single sport which I haven’t found a way to screw up. Hardly
anyone gets what I speak half the time, and throughout my life, every bully in
the world has sought me out as a prime target. Lovely. It’s really
ironic, I think, that one of the most beautiful girls in the school even
bothers to take a second glance at a geek like me, let alone talk to me. But
she did. Sarah did. It’s absolutely stunning, the way her brown hair just falls
into place all around her face. Her eyes, ever so bright, and her smile, her
stunning smile, really just lights her whole face up. Like she’s smiling just
for me, to give me hope after being beaten up yet again in school. I still
remember how she first talked to me. It’s so vivid, like it was just yesterday
when it happened. “OW!!” “WEDGIE!! HAHAHA!” They whooped by me, laughing and
high-fiving each other. Everyone in the cafeteria laughed along with them. I’m
just another geek after all, yet another guy with an imaginary target board on
his back. A target board that says “Hit me! I’m a nerd!” As I staggered to an
empty table, still reeling from the pain, she walked over to me and just helped
me up. She smiled at me, and at that point I just forgot all the pain I was in. “Don’t worry about these guys, I can
handle them,” she whispered. As I watched, she picked up her drink and walked
to the table where the jocks were sitting. She gave them a sweet, innocent
smile that the jocks returned with leers. Just then, she “tripped”, spilling
the hot tea all over one of them. “What the f-“ “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Her hands flew
to her mouth in mock surprise worthy of an Academy Award. As everyone in the
cafeteria gasped in shock, she turned and smiled sweetly, and I knew that was
just for me... And now I’m
passing by her house. Her old house, actually. The “For Rent” sign on her lawn
is new, hammered into the ground by her father just before her departure. It’s
not big, quite the contrary, but it’s quite beautiful for a house. The
whitewash walls hardly ever seem to lose their colour at all, along with the
streaks of blue and green she painted along the sides of the house, all
converging towards the front door. Just before
she left, things hadn’t been going well for her. Or for me, for that matter. She
had not being doing well for her exams at all, and everything was just catching
up to her. As for me, the punks had doubled their attacks on me, now that she
wasn’t always there. I really hated it to see her so angry and sad. Not to
mention of course, the way she yelled at me. Worse, it was on the day before
she left. “I can’t believe it! I studied so
hard for this test and I still got a C. It’s just not fair! And with
cheerleading practice all the time, I hardly ever get to study! What am I gonna
do now?” As she walked away, her expression
that of near despair and dejection, I ran after her. “No...wait...stop. I can help you
study. I’ll show you how I study and what I do to remember stuff. Like you
know, for everything you’ve done for me. She smiled sadly at me. The
expression of a dejected girl. “Thanks, Sam...if only you were in my
shoes, you’d know how I’m feeling right now. About everything...” “But I do...Of course I get how you
feel...” “No, you DON’T!” Her tone surprised me. I took a few
involuntary steps back. She looked me straight in the eye, a pleading expression
on her face. “But I do, I really do...” “No!” She shook her head, her eyes
filling with tears. “Why don’t you try studying after hours of sports? Oh yeah,
I forgot, you can’t play sports. You’ve got your asthma and your two left
feet!” I was really taken aback. “Okay,
wait, I’m really sorry...” She shook her head again. “If you’re
really sorry, then be a man, huh? Why don’t you stand up for yourself for a
change? What’s the matter? You need me to defend you?” She turned on her heels
and walked away sadly. I caught a glimpse of the tears falling down her face... I finally
reach home, her last few words echoing in her head, even though she’s left two
weeks ago. As I crash on my bed, I reach for my iPod. For once, I chuck all my
textbooks, science books and science fiction books aside. I set the iPod on
Shuffle mode and place the headphones in my ear. I immediately hear the singing
by Ryan Key and the strumming of a guitar. I look at the screen. It’s “Empty
Apartment” by Yellowcard. How appropriate, I think. “Call me out... You stayed inside, One you love, Is where you hide... Shot me down... As I flew by, Crash and burn, I think sometimes, You forget where the heart is...” At those
words, I remember Sarah. Everything about her comes rushing back, and I almost
see her face in front of me. Yet she’s not smiling, and everything about her is
full of sorrow. I see her deep blue eyes, the sadness reaching out to me from
within. It’s all in my head, but I can remember her almost perfectly. Maybe it’s
true. Maybe I have forgotten where the heart is. Have I? “...Let her go, Learn a lesson... It’s not me, You’re not listening, now, can’t you
see? Something’s missing...” It’s all
coming back to me now. I close my eyes and listen to the song more intently.
Maybe the missing thing for me now is her. But would she still want to talk to
me now? Is she still angry at me? And then the
chorus plays. “Take you away, From that empty apartment you stay, And forget where the heart is
someday, If ever you loved me, you’d say, It’s okay...” As the
bridge plays, I shake my head. I never realised how much I missed her, until
today. Only now, too, I remembered how her smile could bring me back on my feet
again, and how I dreamed of her laughter. As I open my school yearbook, I find
a picture of her. I stare at her face, now one I may never see again. “Waking up, From this nightmare, How’s your life? What’s it like there? Is it all what you wanted to be? Does it hurt When you think about me? And how broken my heart is...” A small
smile grows at the corner of my lips. All the good memories of me with her come
back, us laughing along at each other’s jokes, her putting on my glasses and
pretending to read my textbooks, us having our revenge on the bullies. But all
those are over now. Now she’s gone, for good I think. I hum as the chorus plays
again. “Take you away, From that empty apartment you stay, And forget where the heart is
someday, If ever you loved me, you’d say, It’s okay...” And then come the lines of the song which
really reach deep inside me. At those lines, I press the picture of her to my
face. I hope no one sees the tears welling up in my eyes. “It’s okay to be angry, and never let
go, It only gets harder the more that you
know... When you get lonely, if no one’s
around, You know that I’ll catch you when
you’ve fallen down... We came together but you left alone, And I know how it feels to walk out
on your own... Maybe someday I will see you again And you’ll look me in my eyes and
call me your friend...” As the
violinist of Yellowcard starts to play, I reach for a handkerchief and wipe
away my tears. I’m feeling really weird, like I’ve just woken up from a very
strange dream. I vaguely hear a knocking at my door. I chuck my handkerchief to
one side and look myself in the mirror, just to make sure my eyes aren’t red. The chorus
plays one last time, and I smile to myself as I put the book down and close it,
and pick up a comic I’d been reading as yet. Somehow, the knocking grows louder
and louder. “Take you away, From that empty apartment you stay, And forget where the heart is
someday, If ever you loved me, you’d say, It’s okay... It’s okay...” As the song
dwindles to a close, I finally open the door. To my surprise, I see my mum standing
in the doorway, pointing to the cordless phone on the table. “Whatever
were you doing inside, Sam? Someone called and asked for you, someone called
Sarah Andrews. She sounded really nice and was really eager to talk to you.
You’ve kept all of us waiting.” At those
words, I dropped everything and ran for the phone. © 2010 Undying GloryReviews
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Added on January 8, 2010Last Updated on January 8, 2010 AuthorUndying GlorySingapore, SingaporeAboutThe average guy you'd meet on the street, only with a hidden streak. Or several, for that matter. 24 year old, 4th year medical student, studying in Dundee, Scotland. Never underestimate the pow.. more..Writing
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