Stuck in a Moment

She slowly closes her locker door. The weight of the bag she slings on her shoulder could not compare to how heavy her heart felt. Looking up, she suddenly sees him standing at the end of the corridor gaily chatting to his friends. Seeing the wide smile on his face, her heart breaks a little more. She quietly turns on her heel and walks down the opposite end of the hallway to her classroom.

Plumping up the pillows on her bed, she settles herself comfortably back down and turns her attention back to her half written paper. It is 10pm, and she still had loads to finish on the assignment that was due tomorrow. *beep* He was online. All of a sudden, she found it hard to concentrate. Questions swam in her head; if would he message her, what would they talk about, how was she supposed to react... As she prints out the last pages of her assignment 2 hours later, she takes one last peek at her messenger. He was still online. No message. With a deep sigh, she shuts the lid of her laptop.

She stares at the screen of her hand phone. She had just spent the past 20 minutes figuring out how to write a simple, non-combustible message (without betraying how she felt) to him just to request for a copy of the project guidelines that were handed out in class that afternoon. The instant and short reply of just 'Sure.' made her sad, like he couldn't be bothered with her. Gone were the 'dear's and 'miss you's that always accompanied his messages.

It had been a pleasant day, with much shopping and laughter as she whiled away the time with her best friend. As they speed past the beach, she suddenly falls quiet leaving Mindy to chatter on. She looks at the sunset, at the crashing waves, the long stretch of white sand, the couples walking along hand-in-hand and she suddenly feels a terrible hollowness within her. He had promised to take her for that long awaited beach trip, which now seemed never to be.

She had tried her best to fill her time; buying novels to read, organizing outings with friends, chatting on the phone, keeping up with her studies... but at every free moment, he crept into her thoughts. And at the of the day, when everything was over and she had locked her front door behind her, she was always haunted by the emptiness of her house and the crushing loneliness of just her.. and she would weep.