• There they sat. That shy girl and her boy friend. They sat there in the dark looking out at the lightened city far below them. The sun had just set and the night animals were just coming out to play.
    “We shouldn‘t be out here this late.” The boy said when the sound of a coyote startled him. That’s what she got for bringing this momma’s boy with her. They both had permission to be out and neither had lied. She was with an honest boy who knew karate (even if he was younger and was only a yellow belt). He was out with an older good girl (neglecting to mention she was only older by a few months).
    “What? Are you scared?” She spat like the word was poison. “What are you afraid of?”
    “I don’t like the dark.“ He said defiantly.
    The girl playfully messed up his red hair. “Don’t be afraid of the dark, be afraid of what it hides.”
    “Hey, everyone has something that they’re afraid of.” He protested. “What are you afraid of Eve?” He asked.
    “Love,” She said wistfully.
    The boy laughed. “It’s not a joke!” She snapped at him. “It’s the only thing to be afraid of, in my opinion.”
    The boy shot her one of his ’why do I hang out with a psycho like you’ looks. “Love is the only thing that can hurt you that can’t kill you and isn’t foolish.” She explained.
    “BS, it is so foolish.” He protested.
    The girl shook her head. “You’d understand if you heard the story but, it’s a long and sad one.”
    The boy sat down pulling her with him. He looked at his watch. “We got time.”
    She sat herself down cross-legged and sighed. “You should know most of it. I mean, you were there when it all was happening.”
    “Tell me anyway. Your so good at telling stories.” He smiled.
    “Once upon a time in an elementary school over there,” She giggled pointing down at the school. “there was a cute little girl called Evey. Evey was an innocent little girl who loved everyone and in the beginning everyone loved her back…” The girl began.
    “I thought you said it was a sad story?” The boy interrupted.
    “Don’t worry, it gets much worse than this.” The girl explained. “Now where was I? Oh yes. Then one day in third grade Evey’s best friend Iza decided that Evey wasn’t ’cool’ enough to hang around with her and told all the other kids that Evey was stupid and ugly. So all the other kids started teasing Evey. Evey wasn’t used to this new thing so everyday should could be found singing to herself sobbing in between verses in the wooded area of the playground.”
    “Ah poor Evey.” The boy said hugging her.
    “Oh, the story is hardly over.” The girl interrupted. “So everyday Evey cried under the trees after another ordeal of the jackal kids’ torment. Though this happened at school she kept the teachers and her family in the dark about it and her few remaining friends barely seemed to notice at all.” She stopped to shoot the boy a dark glance. He smiled back innocently and nodded for her to go on. “She didn’t want anyone who still loved her to know what was happening in fear that they would turn on her too. So, in the summer of her going to middle school she was afraid that nobody would like her because all her friends she had left were going to different schools. So she spent that summer learning about fear and realized she had no fears she could think of that weren’t foolish or leading down to death. She wasn’t afraid to die having wished she could hundreds of times during those three years.” The girl paused to gather her thoughts.
    “Then at school she met the emo kids and it turned out that she was emo before she even knew what emo was and ironically when it was good to be emo around her friends she wasn’t anymore because she felt excepted by these odd saddened children. Then when her friends started to date she tried to too but found she really didn’t like anyone except those few boys who were kind to her and all them seemed intent on hurting her. So like the mean kids in elementary her first boyfriends only made into her heart to crush it from the inside and this hurt more from them because they had never heard the nasty rumors spread in elementary school.” The girl seemed very worn out and tired now but finished her story anyways. “So Evey gave up on people. She gave up on boys. She gave up on love and fears to fall into it without trying. Love is the only thing that can hurt you severely but can‘t kill you.”
    The girl sighed deeply and lay down on the grass. The boy smiled at her. He lay down next to her. “Please, Eve.” He said looking into her tear-filled eyes and stroked her hair gently. “Don’t be afraid to let me love you.” He kissed her then and she tried to not let herself draw back or cry out. Maybe she could let him have his chance at fixing her broken heart. Maybe, just maybe, he knew the secret the others didn‘t.