Landslide

A boy feels the pain of unrequited love when at a school dance. Best read if the song 'Landslide' by Fleetwood Mac is playing in the background.

I took my love and I took it down

I climbed a mountain and I turned around

And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills

Well the landslide brought me down

 

I’ve always loved this song. To be honest, I’m surprised they’re playing it at our dance. It’s not exactly a popular song these days. I blame Glee.

Swaying faintly to the music, I look around. Even when I’m not looking for her, she draws my eye. There she is, standing at the edge of the dance floor with her friends, laughing. I love the way the edges of her eyes crinkle when she laughs. And really, just seeing her smile so genuinely is such a rare delight.

Oh, mirror in the sky

What is love

Can the child within my heart rise above

Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides

Can I handle the seasons of my life

 

I find myself walking toward her, and I’m wondering what in the world is compelling me to do so. I know I’m just setting myself up for disappointment. But I don’t think I can help myself.

“Would you like to dance?” She seems startled by my abruptness. I can see she is going to say no. “It’s just a dance,” I say, and I hear how weary I sound. Can she not do this one thing for me? After all she’s done? Still, she hesitates. Her friend shoots her a meaningful look, and reluctantly she agrees to dance with me. I lead her to the edge of the gently swaying couples.

Well, I've been afraid of changing 'cause I built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Children get older

I'm getting older too

Well...

I feel suddenly self-conscious with her arms around my neck, and mine around her waist. She won’t look at me. She looks everywhere but up at me. I, on the other hand, can’t take my eyes off of her.

            Looking at her, I see not for the first time that she is beautiful. I trace the gentle curl of her dark hair, the smooth curve of her lips, the elegant arch of her eyebrows. Her hazel eyes somehow still shimmer even in the darkness of the gym, and I must stop myself from reaching up to brush back her hair, just to feel the softness of her cheek.

            She is so perfectly lovely that to look at her you would think that she is completely incapable of ever wronging someone. But I’ve gotten to know her, and I’ve gotten to know better.

Well, I've been afraid of changing 'cause I built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Children get older

I'm getting older, too

Well I'm getting older too

She’s such a strange girl. I know she can be a wonderful person, and it’s that wonderful person that I was attracted to. But then I saw a new side of her. A side that ruined everything for me.

I now know she’ll never care about me the way I care about her. Since that day I’ve finally seen that it was never me she had her eye on at all. I was a fool to think it was. Even now, I’m sure she’s wondering what he’ll think, seeing her out here with me.

            My friends are looking at me strangely. Maybe a bit disappointed. I can’t blame them. I’m disappointed in me too. I’m supposed to be done with this girl, and yet here I am, dancing with her. Having her in my arms is no consolation when I know that I’m just going to have to let her go.

Awh, take my love, take it down

Awh, climb a mountain and turn around

Finally she looks up at me, and for a moment her eyes are all I see. They are filled with what looks like regret, apprehension, and pity all at once. She looks away quickly.

And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills

Well, the landslide bring it down

I want to tell her that not looking at me won’t make me disappear. But it doesn’t matter now.

And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills

Well, the landslide bring it down

Oh, the landslide bring it down

She pulls away almost as soon as the song ends. I get an awkward half smile before she turns away from me. I watch as she walks back to her friends and shakes her head dismissively at their questions. I watch as she turns, eyes searching the dance floor as mine had only moments before. Watch as she catches sight of him. Watch her shoulders slump in something like disappointment when she realizes he hasn’t noticed a thing.

It’s like there’s a hook in my heart that is attached to her, and as she walks away, it digs in deep in a desperate attempt to hold on. I feel like my heart will rip clean from my chest.

I know that somehow I must dig that hook out. I know I must be free from her, because she won’t even look at me.

Reviews

[Nishant Gupta]

good one read my lines on"QUEST OF LIFE".

[((Teenage_Poet_Loser))]

I LOVE THIS PIECE!!! omw.. you had me on the edge of my seat the whole time... your use of words are almost perfect! you could have just decribed the girl a bit more, is she tall is she short? what does she have on, those stuff, but it is only my opinion =].. well done on this one! looking forward in reading more of your work! love it =]