18The title was inspired by a quote I read, and find very true. Real love stories never have happy endings because real love stories never end.
Without any further ado, I present my one shot.
A Real Love Story
Invisibility. She longed for it. At one point, months ago, she hadn't been able to escape the torment of it. Now, the sweet memory of going unseen down the halls of Astoria High School taunted Alaina. Every girl she saw, and many of the guys, whispered to each other.
Rumors of the break up had filtered around already, and yet Alaina attempted to ignore them all. None of them knew the truth, and the few of her friends that did waited for her near her locker.
"Hey guys," Alaina said softly, turning the combination of her locker and opening the door. "How was your weekend?"
Brooke leaned against the locker beside Alaina's. "Quiet."
Alaina raised a brow as she pulled out her Chemistry book. "You? I don't believe that for a second," she said softly. Brooke was a party girl through and through. A weekend that was quiet was an impossibility for her.
Brooke shook her head. "No it was."
Alaina nodded after a moment, having realized that she meant. "What about the rest of you?"
Mariah shrugged, as did Tina. Paine only shook her head. Alaina didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. The five of them had been friends since the third grade. Words were unnecessary.
"Thank you," Alaina said as she closed her locker. "You haven't told anyone the truth, have you?"
They all shook their heads. "None of us would do that to you," Paine said softly.
"Good. I'll see you guys later, okay?" she said as she began to walk to her first class.
Alaina stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath. This was the first time she had seen him since it had happened, and she wasn't sure if she was prepared.
Alaina opened her eyes and walked confidently into the classroom. The few people that were already in the class were talking, but it stopped as soon as she came in. Alaina walked pasted them, taking her seat in the front seat of the far right of the classroom.
Landon came in right before the bell rang, and he sat down in the back of the room. Alaina wasn't surprised, and avoided looking at him, though she was aware of his presence.
"All right class, today we're going to…"
Alaina breezed through her class, doing the required assignment, and getting done with time to spare. She noticed that, though he did contribute a few answers, Landon stayed quiet for the most part. Alaina was surprised, but kept it to herself.
Instead, she got out an extra credit assignment for her Literature class and began filling in the answers. When the bell rang, Alaina was the first one out of the classroom, and she went straight to her second hour class, not bothering to return her Chemistry book to her locker.
The rest of the day went by quickly, except for her lunch period and sixth hour class, both of which she shared with Landon. Though he hadn't spared her a glance, whenever her back was turned, she felt eyes on her back. When she turned around, he was busy doing something else.
Alaina thought it was sad really. She wanted him to be looking at her, but then she didn't.
Their relationship had been cliché from the beginning. The school bad boy, the one all the girls fanaticized about, the one that had gone through too many girls to count. The invisible nerd, content to stay that way.
When Landon had begun to talk to her, Alaina had been amazed, but had assumed that it was a joke, and had been civil, but quiet. Only after weeks of continued attempts did she begin to actually talk to him. They became fast friends, and it had thrown Alaina into the spotlight. All the girls had wanted to be her "friend".
Their relationship changed quickly, and they became more than just friends. They trusted each other completely, and Alaina had learned more about him that she had ever learned about anyone, even her friends.
She had given him everything, her heart, her soul, her love, hell, even her virginity, and still he had broken her heart. The thing that maddened her the most was not what he had done, but her own actions. She still loved him, and she knew she always would.
Alaina drove home quickly, parking her car and going inside with a sense of purpose. In reality, her only purpose was to go to her room, do her homework as a distraction, and go to bed. At some point, she would probably eat something, but her parents wouldn't bother to try and get her to have dinner with them. They knew what had happened and were giving Alaina her space.
It went exactly like that. For the next two weeks. Except for at school. The rumors finally began to die down, and Alaina could go down the hall without having everyone stare at her. Classes with Landon were still hard, and painful, but Alaina did her best to ignore him.
To her surprise, someone approached Alaina after her fourth period class. She was supposed to go to lunch, but she wasn't in the mood to eat.
"Alaina?"
Alaina blinked, turning to see who was addressing her. It was Daemon, a good friend of Brooke's, though Alaina didn't know him well.
"Hey Daemon," she said, turning back around and walking again. Daemon matched her steps. Neither said anything for a few minutes, then Daemon spoke.
"The prom is next week," he said softly.
Alaina almost froze, but she managed to stop herself. She'd completely forgotten about prom. Instantly, she knew where this conversation was headed. She stopped, turning to Daemon.
"I'm sorry Daemon, but if you're going to ask me, your answer is no. You're a very nice guy, but I'm not going to prom."
Daemon blinked. "Oh. Well, okay… I guess I just hoped you'd be over him."
Alaina turned and began walking again. "I'm sorry." Deep down, she knew she wasn't. The fact that he'd even asked her made her mad, especially because he knew exactly what had happened. The truth had come out and now everyone knew. It had started a fresh wave of rumors, worse than the first, especially because no one knew who had been the girl Landon had been with was.
Alaina went to the roof, closing the door softly behind her. Only one person knew she came here, and he wasn't going to come looking, so she was safe. Sitting down, Alaina leaned her head against the small rock wall she sat against, meant to stop people from falling. She let her mind flow completely, and a single memory hit her like a fist in the gut.
"I'm sorry. I just… I can't do it anymore. It's over between us."
Alaina's eyes were wet with unshed tears. "Why Landon?"
He hadn't met her eyes when he had replied. "I'm with someone else. I… don't love you anymore Alaina. You know who I am. You couldn't have expected this to last."
She had, but didn't say that. Instead, she had turned away from him. "Fine. If you don't love me, go," she'd managed to whisper. "I don't love you either Landon."
He hadn't moved for a moment, then she had heard his footsteps fade away. As soon as he was gone, Alaina let her legs fold under her.
She cried.
Alaina blinked as fresh tears rose to her eyes. She blinked them back. She refused to cry over him again. He had taken her heart and shattered it. She'd stayed in her room for the entire weekend, then gotten up on Monday with dry eyes. She'd managed to construct a façade; it was weak, but only those who truly knew her would see through it. She knew he could.
"No Alaina. You will not cry," she commanded herself. And she didn't. She got up, gathered her stuff, and went back into the school. She walked out the doors, got in her car, and drove home. She didn't care that she'd ditched her afternoon classes. Her parents would be mad, but they'd recover. Alaina would probably get detention, but she could live with that.
When she got home, Alaina went straight to her room. Methodically, she took everything he had given her from her room and dumped it into a large garbage bag. The picture of them together, gone. The small stuffed dog, disappeared. Too many things disappeared into the bag. She had put off doing it, but it was time.
When she got to his class ring, Alaina's hands trembled. It sat on her desk, where she had put it the night they'd broken up. She picked it up and, ever so slowly, raised it and dropped it into the bag.
Last, Alaina turned to her closet. Opening the door, she looked at the large shelf. The dozens upon dozens of glass fairies that sat there stopped her breath. As soon as they had become friends, Landon had discovered her love of fairies. He had bought her all of the ones from the set she'd began collecting as a child that he could find.
She turned away, closing the door again. She would keep those. They would be her reminder of her greatest mistake…
Alaina woke hours later. Her room was dark, and rain sounded on the roof. It was pouring, but it wasn't unexpected. Rain happened all the time in Washington. So what had woken her?
Another small pebble hit her window and she knew. Amazed that she could hear the sound over the rain, Alaina stood shakily, going to the window. Only one person did such a thing…
He stood outside, in the pouring rain. His black hair plastered against his head from the harsh water. He saw her and gestured to her.
Alaina stared at him, speechless. Why was he here? After a moment, she moved away from the window and quietly left her room. Making her way downstairs, she opened the door and stepped outside, the rain hitting her instantly. It was pouring, but the sound was quiet and Alaina smiled softly, until she remembered why she was outside. Rain had once been her favorite sound, but now she only thought of tears when she heard it.
Alaina turned, slowly making her way around the house. She wasn't sure why she'd even come out, but before she could rethink it and go inside, she'd make her way to the front and stood a few feet from him.
"Landon, what are you doing here?" she asked softly.
He stared at her, his eyes soaking her up. Despite her anger towards him, she felt heat sear across her body.
"I watch you everyday. I can't stop looking at you," he whispered, coming to stand directly in front of her. Alaina met his stormy gray eyes, eyes that could see past all of her barriers, all her fears.
She broke the contact. "And?"
"Lai… I… I'm so sorry."
"About what?" she hissed, her anger bubbling to the surface. "Breaking my heart, or being stupid enough to tell me about it?"
Unless she was mistaken, his eyes shone with tears. Alaina blinked, sure she was wrong, sure it was something else.
"I broke your heart, but that's not what I'm apologizing about. I… lied to you."
Alaina laughed. "Of all the things, you apologize for a lie. Probably something I don't ever care about." She amazed herself with how bitter she sounded.
"No." Landon took the last step, putting his arms around her. Alaina couldn't pull away, she craved his touch too much. "I lied to you about the other girl. There never was one. I just… I don't know what I was thinking. I guess… I never thought I was good enough for you. So I did the only honorable thing I've ever done. I hurt you to free you."
Alaina pulled away from his grasp. "You what?" she asked, both amazed and stunned. She wanted to believe him, but she wasn't sure if she could.
The rain caused her to shiver but she didn't move to go inside. "You what?" she repeated.
"There never was another girl. I lied to you so you'd hate me. I was holding you back. Your parents told me about you deciding not to go to college and I just couldn't let you ruin your life over me."
Alaina almost cried, not from pain, or sadness, but joy. "They never did like you, you know that right? I'm still going, but I'm staying in the area."
Landon sighed softly. "God, this is completely fucked up… Only two things matter right now. The first is that you believe me."
Alaina sighed, and nodded. "I do."
Landon smiled, pulling her into his arms. "And I love you so much Lai. That's why I came back. I can't live without you."
Alaina pulled him towards the house. "Come on, let's go inside."
They made their way to the house, and inside. When Alaina had closed the door behind him, she smiled. "I love you too."
"Just for the record Lai, I never stopped," he said leaning down to kiss her.
"Me either," Alaina said, meeting his lips.
Some of this story is true, some isn't. I'll let you, the reader, decide.
-Only Daughter of Ipswich