Giving My Heart Away: part 2

The next morning I woke up late, so I had very little time and forgot to do my hair, or my makeup. I had yet to make any progress on the Jake issue, so I took the long way to all of my classes, and was sure to sit as far away from him as I could during the classes we had together.

                I was sitting in my seventh period college English writing class when the realization hit me. I wanted Jake to be mine, not some other girls’. To be the one he wants to spend his time with, the one he stays up late texting, the one that steals his sweatshirt, the one with his last name on my back all his games. Yeah, I want to be that girl. I want to be his girl.

                When the bell rang, I jumped from my seat, grabbed all of my stuff, and was out the door before anyone else even moved. I quickly went to the place where we normally met after school, but he wasn’t there. His good friend Kyle walked by, so I ran up to him and asked him if he knew where Jake was.

                “He’s probably getting ready for his game. It starts in half an hour.” He said.

                “Oh!! I completely forgot! Thank you!” I said, giving him a huge hug.

                “ Uhm… you’re welcome?” Kyle laughed as I raced to the football field.

                Upon reaching the field, I scanned the team, trying to locate number ten. I couldn’t find him. I heard cleats walking the pavement behind me, so I turned around to see who it was. Standing there, eyes wide, mouth hanging open, was the varsity quarterback, Jake.

                “Riley…. What are, I mean, what, how…” he stumbled through many words that didn’t make any sense whatsoever, trying to figure out what to say. To keep him from losing all his focus for the game, I walked up, gave him a quick hug, and told him we would talk after the game. He smiled down at me then walked out onto the field.

                There was one last thing I needed to do before the game started. I quickly located my good friend Sarah.

                “Do you have any puff paint or eyeliner?” I asked hurriedly.

                “I have both,” she said with a knowing smile. “Does someone need the number of a certain quarterback on their cheek?” I nodded in response and we darted off to the bathroom together.

                After many “hold still”, and other comments from Sarah, we emerged from the hallway and went to find our seats up in the stands with our friends. During the game, we cheered on our team as they defeated the visiting team.

                With two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the score was 52-0, the Loggers leading. In the last fifty seconds, Jake made a 57 yard touchdown, making the final score 58-0. The undefeated Loggers had added another victory to their list.

                As was always the case, all of the Logger supporters made their way down to the field where the players were gathered together, getting notes from the coaches. Once the coaches were through talking, the players raised their helmets to the sky and did their team chant. The surrounding crowd began to cheer as the players broke apart and each went to greet their special group of people. Normally I would give all of my guy friends hugs, but tonight, one in particular was the object of my attention.

                Making my way through the throng of people, I stood on my tiptoes looking for Jake. My whole body was shivering, but from nerves or the cold I couldn’t tell. Finally, I asked Brady if he could see where Jake was.

                “No,” he responded, “but watch this! JAKE! GET OVER HERE MAN! Your girl is waiting!” Boy do I sure like the sound of that!!

                Finally, I saw Jake, pushing his way through the crowd, all the football players crowding behind him to what was going to happen. Jake dropped his helmet on the ground and I rushed into his open arms, locking my arms around his neck. He spun me in a circle, my feet off the ground, just like you see in all the movies. A subtle hush fell over the crowd as he sat me back on my own feet. We were both grinning like idiots.

                “So Riley…” Jake began, a new sparkle glinting in his eyes, “would you be interested in, oh I don’t know… being my girlfriend?”        

                “Hmmm…. Why Jake Green,” I said teasingly, “I’m not interested. I’ve been yours for a long time.” He lifts me up again as our surrounding friends cheer.

                “Finally!” Someone shouts out as Jake and I begin walking hand in hand towards his locker room.

                “Usual spot?” He asks.

                “Usual time.” I say with a smile.

                “You’ll be waiting.”

                “You better hurry,” as I push him playfully towards the door.

                As I walk out to my car I can’t help but smile. Tonight has got to be one of the best nights of my life so far. Once I reach my vehicle, I unlock the door, climb in, and start my truck. The radio clicks on and to my surprise, “Write You A Letter” begins to play.

                “Write you a letter, let you know what you mean to me. Write you a letter, tell you that I need. To be in your arms there goes a shooting start, I hope my wish comes true. That we’ll be together, maybe forever, like we should be yeah. Oh one of these days I gotta find time. To write you a letter.”

                Driving down the road, singing along with the radio, I felt like I was on top of the world. I pulled into the small store parking lot and went inside to the arcade. Lots of my friends were already there, and the girls all squealed and rushed me as soon as I entered through the door.

Giving My Heart Away: part 1

Everyone around me is screaming, clapping, whooping, and whistling. After all, our JV football team did just score the first touchdown. The score for the second game of the season is 6-0 in the first three minutes of the game. Wait, make that 8-0.

                Ever since school started, I thought I was over the weird feeling I got when he came around. I hadn’t seen him much over the summer as our lives had taken over our schedules. We hardly talked because of the fact he had gotten his phone taken away for getting completely wasted early on in the summer. While drunk, he did stuff with a girl from our school that he shouldn’t have, and of course, he blamed the drinks. If he hadn’t been at the party, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

                “Hey,” says a very familiar voice from behind me. Without even turning around I can tell who it is. The boy I spend all day and every night dreaming about. The one that I snuck my phone to bed for, the one who had me completely won over. It was Jake.

                I turned to look at him. Since it had been a while since I had seen him, I was sort of shocked by how different he looked. Believe me when I say it was a good different… Very good. He’d grown taller, lost his baby cheeks, his hair had grown out a little, but his eyes were the same brown eyes that I had fallen for back in June. Not to mention that heart stopping smile. Oh, and did I mention his killer abs? Yeah, those are a definite plus.

                “What do you want?” Wow… That was a good one! Let’s just scare the boy away! Idiot.

                “Gosh Riley,” he said, “Why do you always have to act so mean to me whenever we’re around other people?”

                “Because if I’m not they’ll think we’re… ya know… Dating.”

                “And that’s bad because…..” he drowned off.

                “I’m a good girl.” I replied.

                “Don’t tell me,” he said with a harsh laugh, “You’re still ticked over the whole party thing.”

                “Psh…. No….”

                “You are the worst liar I think I have ever met.” He chuckled. I started walking away, and just started to realize how cold it really was.  Obviously he didn’t take the hint that I was walking AWAY from him, because he followed me, talking the whole way.

                “You know, it’s just sad that you never like anyone. Seeing as so many guys would love the chance to date such a pretty, sweet, caring girl like you. And even though you act so tough, I know you care about one of them for sure, but what I can’t figure out is why you won’t just give in and let someone care about you for once. I mean, yeah, you dad never really gave you the chance to learn to trust guys, but we aren’t all like him Riley. You need to give me- I mean us guys, a chance to show you that we aren’t all stupid buttheads like your dad was.”

                “Will you please just shut it? First of all, I am not pretty. Secondly, I only know of one guy that likes me in a more than friends way. Thridly….” I paused. I really couldn’t think of another good reason.  “Yeah that’s all I got.”

                “You are blind as a bat!” He laughed. “But you’re right about the first part. You aren’t pretty.”

                Ouch. “Point Pro-“

                “You’re beautiful.”

                “Oh you are hopeless!!” It took all I had not to smile, so I masked it by smacking myself on the forehead with the palm of my hand.

                “Maybe,” he says with a grin, “but I’m right. Anyway, I have to go, but I do have a game tomorrow after school… If you want to come.”

                “Eh, I’ll think about it. I need to check my schedule and make sure I don’t have anything else. Plus I have an English paper due… Soon…” Just tell him you’ll be there!! That paper isn’t due for two weeks, and it would only take you 20 minutes to write.

                “Sure you do. See ya Riley.” Says Jake as he walks away.

                Smooth Riley, smooth.

                That night I laid in my bed, the evening with Jake replaying through my mind. I just can’t bring myself to trust guys after my dad leaving. Maybe I need to just start over. You know, pretend that maybe not all guys are like my dad. They might not all hurt me, and leave me like he did. Sometimes it’s just so hard to understand why I can’t accept the fact that someone might actually care about me. Even crazier is the thought that people actually think I’m pretty, or as Jake says, beautiful. Someone as cool and popular as Jake could do so much better than dorky old me. Aren’t jocks supposed to date cheerleaders? I am most definitely not a cheerleader. So many questions and not enough answers! What am I supposed to do?! 

                Finally, after fighting for what seemed like forever, I fell into a fitful sleep, my dreams pagued by the all too familiar face of Jake Green.

              

Spellbound

                “Spellbound” by Emily Bronte may be a short poem, but is packed full of challenging insight for the reader. It casts a spell upon the reader, making them lust for more. Every other line of the poem rhymes, “round me, bound me, bending, descending, above me, move me.” The rest of the lines end with an “o” sound, “blow, go, snow, below.” The author also repeats her argument of “I cannot go” at the end of each stanza. She repeats herself when she wishes to drive into the readers mind what it is she wishes to convey.

Depending on who is reading it, different meanings can be inferred. As “the night is darkening” around the author, her life is all but consuming her. She can’t run away from it, but as the poem comes to a close, she simply has lost her will to do so. A spell has bound her, and she cannot go. Her plight is fast approaching just like “a storm is fast descending.” The weights of her burdens have taken their toll, and her heart is bare from the aftermath.  The poet is stuck in the middle of a place that she cannot escape, with the “clouds beyond clouds” above her and “wastes beyond wastes” below her. She no longer has the will to leave, and accepts her helpless fate.

The author has reached her place. A place where a spell has bound her, and she cannot, will not go.

Simplicity to Elegance, Diminished to Poverty

                She dreamed of elegance. Of a place where her fantasies of tapestry adorned walls, of silver cutlery, and guilty pleasures were her true reality. Throughout “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel wishes she had numerous prestigious jewels and clothes for “these were the only things she loved.”  She wanted everything she did not have, and yet when she begged and pleaded for her husband to give her the money to buy a lovely gown for the party, it only made her want the splendid jewels to go with it. This greed was the snare that would lead Mister and Madame Loisel down the path of poverty and deceit, in her grand quest for elegance.

                Looking around, we see things that we lust or long for, as if it were a life or death situation. We want to be desired, wanted, and loved, just like Madame Loisel. With her beautiful gown and her dazzling, barrowed, diamond necklace, she walked into the doors of the party with her head held high, eyes glistening with pure confidence.  Sadly, the night ended in tragedy. Madame Loisel, in her anguish and shame, lied to the friend from which she had borrowed the necklace, and bought a new one to replace the lost.

                This was the first of many life changing lies and deceptions. As time wore on, the pair was forced to become accustomed to the toil and struggle of the poverty stricken people. They worked endlessly until they had repaid every debt. In the end, unfortunately their toils were to no avail. The necklace Madame Loisel had lost was simply an imitation of the true stone.                                                                                                                

                Greed, deceit, and consequence play key parts in giving readers the story that we act out every day of our lives. We want something, we see something, and we lie, or do whatever it takes, in order to achieve what we long for. Sadly for us, most of the time our quests end much like Madame Loisel, in utter defeat and indifference. We are always wanting more than we have; it is simply the human way.  Greed destroys us, and sometimes consumes us. Why can’t we simply be happy with what we are already blessed with? It simply is not the natural way.

                Finding complete satisfaction is a key part in our lives, but do we truly ever achieve such a lofty goal? Whether it be finding a girlfriend or boyfriend, finding a great job, or having the nicest car, we all wish to be the best at something, or have the most fascinating thing out there. But what are we truly longing for? Trust? Love? Longing for something that we can’t achieve? If you want something, deceit is not the answer. Being truthful with others, and staying true to yourself, is the most important thing ever. No matter what we long for, it is guaranteed that someone in the world is wishing on the same shooting star, for the exact same thing.  

Trick Or Treat

The gloomy Rauchester Mansion sat at the end of the long, dreary alley, covered in spider webs, and complete with broken windows. Screams of unsuspecting victims pierced the stillness of the crisp night as the group of high school students made their way through the alley.

                Valerie and Michael led the group, walking hand in hand. The rest of the teens were chattering and laughing excitedly, while the couple spoke in subdued tones.

                “So do you think it’s actually haunted?” asked Valerie.

                “Well,” replied Michael, “I honestly don’t know for sure. Supposedly some kid went in there last year and no one has ever seen him again.”

                “You know what?  I think I’ll stay outside while you guys go through. I really don’t much care for this stuff anyway,” said Valerie in a tight voice. As soon as the words left her mouth, a terrible, ear splitting scream filled the night, followed by a spout of evil laughter. Valerie squealed and wrapped her arms around Michael, burying her head in his sweatshirt.

                “It’ll be okay,” said Michael while stroking her back soothingly. As the group drew closer to the haunted house, Valerie felt as if there were eyes watching her from every corner.

                They had made it to the house.  It was time for Valerie to face her fears and walk into the dimly lit hall. Knights in armor lined the hall, fog swirled around her feet, and as the group progressed through the house, the fog became thicker and thicker. Valerie began to cough, and urged Michael to go on ahead while she caught her breath after a particularly bad cough. She sat in a nearby chair, but as she did this, the fog began to creep nearer. It became so thick that she could no longer see anything. And then it was gone.

                Not only was the fog gone, but so were her friends. Valerie bolted from her chair and raced down the hall in the direction that the group had gone. Panicked, she called out to them.

                “Michael? Michael! Taylor? Trevor? Michael! Where are you?” she called. Lost in despair, and scared beyond compare, she crumpled to the floor and began to rock back and forth. Suddenly, she heard many footsteps coming towards her. She screamed as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

                “Shhhhh. Valerie it’s me! Michal! Are you alright?” asked Michael. Valerie threw her arms around his neck and held on tight.

                “What happened? The fog got so thick and then it was gone and I couldn’t see where you all had gone!” sobbed Valerie.

                “It’s ok. It’s ok. We’re all here now,” said Michael.

                “Um… I hate to ruin the moment guys, but someone is walking this way..” said Taylor. The group turned to find a hooded figure making its way towards them. Trevor grabbed Taylor and pulled her back behind him. Ray did the same with Trish, and all of the teens watched and waited to see who the stranger was, and what he wanted.

                The hooded figure came to a stop right in front of them. He looked at them; then he spoke in a raspy, evil voice. “Tonight, Valerie, your worst nightmare has become a sad reality. One by one your friends will vanish before your very eyes. If you refuse to play my game, they will die.” Then, the figure vanished.

                The group turned towards Valerie, fear written in all of their eyes. Taylor, Ray, Trish, and Trevor all were now huddled in around Valerie and Michael. Questions flew from all of them.

                “What is his game?” asked Taylor.

                “What’s your worst nightmare Val?” asked Trevor.

                “What are we going to do?!?!” panicked Trish.

                “Guys? Where are all the other people?” asked Ray. The group looked around them. No one else was anywhere to be seen.

                “We need to split up and find others. This guy is crazy!” said Michael. “Guys, take your girls and look around. We’ll meet up after about an hour. Call or text us if you find anything.”

                Each couple went their different ways. After about 15 minutes, a scream filled the house, followed by an evil laugh. “Michael! That was Trish! I would know that scream anywhere!” whispered Valerie. Michael simply shook his head in agreement. He opened his mouth to say something when the voice of the hooded figure ran through the house.

                “Valerie, I warned you that if you did not play my game, your friends would die. There were six, and now there are four. Why won’t you play my game?” The voice faded as the evil man laughed. Michael looked at Valerie. He was scared, she could tell.

                Michael grabbed Valerie’s hand and together they ran in the direction that the scream had come from. They reached a side hall and looked down it. There, standing at the end of the dark hall, were two knights. “They must not have gone this way,” said Michael. But Valerie wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes were glued to the knights, who were now making their way toward the pair.

                “Michael!! RUN!!” screamed Valerie. Michael glanced back in time to see the knights, and the couple dashed down the corridor. It seemed Trevor and Taylor had the same idea, as they collided in the hall.

                “Remember those knights that were standing by the doors? They’re following us! They are actually ALIVE!!!” shouted Trevor.

                “We have to find our way out of here!” said Taylor.

                Then, as if the house itself had come alive, the doors down the hall in either direction started to slam, locking as soon as they banged shut.

                “The only way out is to play my game,” said the evil voice, echoing through the hall.

                Lights flashed, the house moved, everything went black. Two more screams bounced off the walls throughout the house, and when the lights came back on, Michael and Valerie were alone. They raced through the hall, trying every door. Then, the hooded figure appeared at the end of the long hall. With each step he took, terror surged through the couple. The fog was back, and it swirled at their feet, climbing it seemed, up their bodies.

                “Val, stay here. I’ll go deal with him,” said Michael. Valerie was too scared to do anything. It was as if her feet were rooted to the carpet beneath her. Michael walked forward, the fog swirled. He disappeared, she screamed.

                “I told you Valerie. Tonight, your worst nightmare has become reality,” the man said. He came closer, and closer, until finally Valerie could see his face. It was the face of- her scream pierced the silence. Then, everything went black.

                Valerie awoke with a start. Glancing around, all of her friends were surrounding her, asking if she was alright. She had passed out from an allergic reaction to the fog. They had called the paramedics, and they were soon to arrive. From the corner of her of her eye she saw a dark figure approaching. Her glass shattering scream pierced the night, as the figure approached, drawing her ever closer to her unforeseen fate.