The moment she’d been dreading had finally arrived. The one she tried to deny to herself that was going to be the end of her and Lee. To say goodbye to the boy who have changed her days and made her teenage anxieties more tolerable than before she was with him.
He was breathtaking. How could she have taken for granted how breathtaking he was in the past few weeks that their relationship was going through rough waters? And on those last moments that he was still with her, she noticed all of those things clearer.
His olive black hair and porcelain skin. The way some strands fell over his eyes, and the way he swung his bang to cleared them. The curve on his lips, his gentle voice when he spoke, the row of earrings on his earlobe, and that dimple. He glanced at her shyly. He caught her staring at him, he smiled and blushed away.
Lee said something to his family and walked over to Hazel. It was time.
Hazel swallowed hard, there was a huge lump in her throat.
He stood in front of her and held both her hands. They looked into each others’ eyes while waiting for any word to form.
Hazel pressed her lips together. Her vision of him was starting to blur. Tears were filling up her eyes, and she couldn’t hold it any longer. She pulled him and wrapped her arms around him. His scent, his warmth, they way his body felt against hers, he was everything, and he was leaving.
She felt his hands caressing her hair. “Don’t cry Hazy … you’ll make me cry too,” his gentle voice in her ear. Which only made her cry even harder.
He let her sobbed on his shoulder. He was holding back his own tears. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you too,” her reply almost inaudible. She wet his jacket with tears and snot and she didn’t want to let him go.
He took her face in his hands and wiped her tears with his thumbs. He forced a smile though his face was wet with tears too, and then he kissed her.
Salty, bitter and painful. The kiss went on because it was going to be their last. The way their lips locked together, they didn’t want it to end. They didn’t need to say it in words, their kiss said everything.
Their eyes were closed. He pressed his forehead against hers. Their nose touched. He kiss her forehead long and hard. “I’m going to miss you the most,” he said.
He watched her face. Her eyes were still closed. She didn’t want to open them and face reality, but she had to eventually. They heard the announcement. His flight was boarding. Her heart sank.
“It’s time to go,” he said.
She nodded. Reluctantly. “I have to let you go,” she said.
He nodded softly, “Will you promise to keep in touch? Tell me everything that’s going on with you here?”
“Of course, will you promise to do the same?”
“Of course, I’ll text you when I get there … I don’t want to lose that too Hazy … you’re the only person I tell everything to,” he laughed lightly.
She looked at him in the eyes with a smile, “You’re going to be amazing … the world will stop for you.”
He blushed and hung his head down, “Well I don’t know about that …”
“I know … I’m sure you’re going to do great … I wish you will get everything you ever wanted,” she held his hands.
He looked up at her. His expression turned solemn, “I wish you the same thing.”
“Lee? Are you ready?” his dad called out to him.
He turned to his dad, “Yeah … I’m coming.”
“I’ll text you … and call you when I can … take care Hazy …” he said.
They hug one last time and fought the urge to hold on then let go of each other’s hand, one finger at a time.
She could feel something died inside her as she let him go. She watched his back walking further and further away from her. He turned to look at her before he went up the escalator as if a confirmation that it was the last time they would look at each other in that state. The next time they meet again, things will be different, nothing will be the same ever again. And maybe that’s what hurts the most.
She went home. A part of her life had came and went. There was an emptiness that was left in its wake. She realized she didn’t just lose a boyfriend, she had lost a chunk of her life, a whole experience was stopped abruptly, and the days to come will have to be endured without his presence. And all her future adventures will have to be lived without him. That was what it means to lose a person.