Alyssa had had enough. Her stomach was constantly in knots, she always had a stomach ache, and she always had a headache that never seemed to go away. It when she had gone through a whole bottle of Tylenol that Alyssa figured she needed to talk to Ryan or she was going to kill herself. And it wouldn’t be intentionally. So she invited him over, sure that tonight was the night that she would finally talk to him about what was going on inside her incredibly fucked up head.
So that was where they were at. They were in the Morgan’s backyard. Alyssa and Ryan sat near the edge of the pool, watching the sun set in a brilliant blaze of purples, pinks, oranges and yellows. Ryan held her, arms around her body, stroking her hair, but Alyssa was unresponsive. The weirder she acted, the more Ryan chose to ignore it. He was still very much under the impression that she needed to tell him what was going on. He didn’t need to pull it out of her. So he ignored it every time she pulled away or grew cold. Even as he held her, he could feel the iciness in her body, the tension.
“Are you okay, Alyssa?” Alyssa nodded, swishing her feet in the cool, clean water. She was intently focused on her Blushing Lilac nail polish, looking anywhere but at Ryan’s imploring eyes. Had she been looking at him, she would know that he knew that something was wrong and wanted very badly for her to tell him.
“I’m fine.” The short response made Ryan irritated and he shrugged his shoulders when he pulled away.
“You don’t seem fine,” Ryan replied. “Usually, if my girlfriend pulls away from me when I try to hold her, that’s not really a normal response. You’re cold to me, Alyssa, like you suddenly stopped loving me. And to me, that’s not fine.” Alyssa sighed.
“I feel guilty.”
“Why?” Ryan asked, not wanting to let on that he already knew about Brian Klein. Alyssa had to be the one to tell him.
“I have a huge crush on Brian Klein,” Alyssa confessed. “I feel horrible about it, because sometimes, I’m thinking about him when I’m out with you.”
“Is that all?” Ryan gave her a tense smile, somehow sensing that feelings for Brian weren’t all there was to Alyssa’s iciness. “I knew you liked him.”
“You did?”
“Alyssa, I could tell by the way you would look at him. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We’re dating but you’re not dead. You’re allowed to look. I know that it’s me that you want to be with. I have no problem with a little crush on Brian.”
“Well,” Alyssa said, clearly surprised at his reaction to the crush. “I’ve also been re-evaluating our relationship. And I’m thinking about us taking a break.” Ryan’s heart dropped to the floor. Of course there was more. This he had known. But he didn’t think that it was of the serious nature.
“What?” came his numb reply. It felt like she was wrapping her hand around his heart and squeezing it full of pain. “When did this happen? Have you been thinking about this long?”
“I’m not saying we should, but I have been thinking about it. Think about it, Ryan. I have feelings for another guy. Not to mention the fact that we rushed things. We need a change. I’ve felt this way for a couple of months. We hardly know each other, Ryan. I just doubt our relationship.”
Ryan’s heart was squeezed tighter in a vise-like grip. And the grip belonged to his girlfriend. “Well, how about this.” He managed to make his voice sound halfway normal. “I’ll give you a week to think about it. I won’t call, come over, or anything like that and you can have some time to think it over. I think it’ll do you good to think without me around.” Alyssa nodded, past the point of talking. “I’ll see you at the end of the week then.”
He got up and paused, then kissed her on the forehead. The action left her somewhat numb. “I do love you, Alyssa.” She watched his retreating form and as he walked away, Alyssa made no reply.
She was left alone with her thoughts. Not a good thing. When Alyssa had too much time to think, she made huge mountains out of molehills. So she had a crush on Brian Klein. So what? It’s not like she had acted on it. It’s not like he even paid any attention to her. So what was her problem?
That’s right. Her relationship. Her relationship was her problem. She had meant what she had said to Ryan. They had rushed things. That much she knew. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that they needed the foundation of friendship before they could have a successful relationship. They didn’t have that. They had jumped into a relationship after only knowing each other for a week. What she felt for Ryan was not love.
It was lust.
The realization made her heart slam against her ribcage. She wasn’t in love with Ryan. She was just in lust. Without friendship, she couldn’t be in love with him. There was nothing to be in love with. Alyssa hardly knew him, even after six months. And despite how much she loved being around him, and she did love him, she didn’t know if she still wanted the lust driven relationship.
But could she really break up with Ryan?
****************
Alyssa Morgan
Can I really break up with Ryan? I mean, I love him. At least, I think I do. I may love him, care a lot about him, but I know that I’m not in love with him. I can’t be in love with him. Not when we had nothing to build our relationship on. We rushed things. We should have been friends first. Once you have that foundation, nothing can go wrong. When you fall in love with your best friend, everything is right. Plus, I’m sick of being tied down. I want to date other guys. I think. God, the list goes on and on. And I only have a week to think about it. One week. Seven days. One hundred and sixty eight hours. Ten thousand eighty minutes. It isn’t enough time. I can’t make a decision in a week.
~~~~
Ryan Brennon
I cannot describe the type of pain that I was feeling in my chest when my girlfriend was telling me that we don’t know each other and that she doubts our relationship. I mean, what kind of shit is that? How is it that she’s been thinking about this for months and hasn’t told me about it? She thinks about Brian when she’s out with me. I think there’s nothing left of my heart right now. But there’s nothing wrong with us. I know her. We’re good together. She’s going to have time to think. And when she makes her decision, she’s going to decide to stay with me and we’re going to be just fine. We’re not going to break up. I’m not so sure anymore.
******************
Boxes were piled up all around Lynn Michaels, and practically the only thing that wasn’t packed was her bed. She angrily wiped away the tears that slipped down her cheeks as she continued to pack up her things. It’s so unfair, Lynn thought to herself. The whole situation was unfair.
“Lynn?” Her mother called out. “Are you almost done with the packing tape?” Lynn wiped away any remaining tears, walked to the tope of the stairs and threw the packing tape down. It landed on the floor with a loud clatter.
“Lynn!” Her father bellowed. “Don’t you be throwing things around.” Lynn stomped back to her room, surveying the packed boxes with disgust. There it was. Her entire life was packed, ready to be shipped to Arizona.
There was a knock on her door and she looked up to see her mom standing in the doorway, Lynn’s younger sister on her hip. “Lynn, what’s with the temper tantrums lately?”
Lynn stood up angrily. “Nobody asked me if I wanted to move!” Lynn spat out. “Nobody asked me if I wanted my life to change. Nobody cares that they’re completely ripping apart my whole life.”
“Lynn,” Her mother said carefully. “I know that you don’t want to move. But it’s something that we need to do. We need the money. Our new home is in a nice neighborhood. You’ll only have a year before you can go off to college. You can come back to Florida if you want. It’s not the big thing that you’re making it out to be.”
“Of course it is,” Lynn replied. “Florida is my life. I’ve known my friends since junior high. And it’s my senior year! I’ve been going to Orlando High for three years. I don’t a diploma from some stupid school in Arizona. I want to graduate here.”
“I’m sorry, Lynn, but that’s just not possible. And throwing temper tantrums isn’t going to work. I know that this is the last thing that you want, but it’s not always about you. I have to think about your brother and sister, what’s best for the family.”
“And it doesn’t matter what I want!” Lynn yelled, hating the tears that sprung to her eyes. “I hate you! I hate you and this stupid family!”
Her mother just shook her head and walked out of the room. Lynn just gave in to the tears that were threatening to overflow. It was so much easier that way. They would never understand. Her parents would never understand just how badly they were screwing up her life.
Like they cared.
********************
Josh Ridgely sat on the couch, idly flipping through the television channels, trying to find something that he actually wanted to watch. When the search yielded nothing but crap, Josh gave up and flipped the television off. He hated being stuck at home while his friends got to go out and do other things.
Josh was sidelined with a knee injury that he incurred while playing football. The sport had pretty much been his life, and the injury had severely cut his chance of going to college on a football scholarship. Josh was reasonably smart, but football had really been his chance of going to a good college.
“Hey Josh, you gonna play?”
“Of course,” Josh had replied. A couple of friends were throwing the ball around, nothing too strenuous.
One of his friends got a little too enthusiastic about his throw and Josh had to jump high to get it. He heard the collective gasp from his friends as he went down hard. The hard dirt of his backyard was unforgiving on the sensitive tissue and ligaments in his knee. He knew something was wrong, that the crunching he had heard could not be a good sign. Josh could remember the tearing he felt, the searing pain that seemed to run from his knee to his hip, radiating pain that seemed to get worse and worse.
His friends were all around him, and then he could vaguely hear the jumbled voices.
“Josh? Can you hear us? Josh?”
That was the last thing he remembered. Josh didn’t know whose voice he had heard. He woke up hours later in the hospital where the doctor had told him that he wouldn’t be returning to the field in September to play his senior year. He had torn several ligaments in the area surrounding his knee, making it a pretty bad injury. He was done for the season, if he could ever play again. The team was counting on him to play his senior year, but Josh had failed them in the worst way. Football might have been completely over for him. He closed his green eyes in frustration.
Josh was a normally calm person, just by nature. He was the one that his friends could always count on to be calm, cool, and collected should anything bad happen. He was the guy everyone came to talk to about all their problems. He was the all around nice guy. Sometimes, it was really frustrating being the nice guy.
Tired of sitting on the couch, Josh stretched his lanky, six foot frame and reached for his crutches. Technically, he was supposed to use the crutches only to do the things that were necessary. The doctor had confined him to the house until his knee started healing a little bit more. He wasn’t supposed to be going out to see his friends, or doing much walking on the leg with injured knee.
Screw them.
Julie Holland’s house was just down the street and he could get there by walking. Or crutching as the case seemed to be. A smile crept to his lips as he thought about Julie. Julie with her long blond hair and tanned legs that seemed to go on forever. Sure, Julie was gorgeous. More importantly, Julie was his best friend.
They had known each since junior high, and had instantly bonded. They were sarcastic, witty, and completely off the wall. They both tried to fix everyone’s problems. So it made sense that they would become the best of friends. Josh couldn't imagine what life without Julie would be like. It was like picturing the day without the sun or the night without the moon. Without Julie, Josh’s days just wouldn't be complete.
So many people speculated that Josh really had a thing for Julie. It was completely absurd. Julie was nothing more than a friend, someone who usually shared a common point of view and made for interesting conversation. She was the one he was closest to, the one who he would give his life for. Nothing more than a friend.
Josh thought about the group of friends he had come to love as he slowly made his way to Julie’s house. He had been friends with Ryan, Alyssa, Trista, and Lynn since the beginning of high school. They were tight, there for each other through everything. Now that Lynn was leaving…what was going to happen? Was Alyssa right? Were they going to pretty much self destruct? Or would they be okay, survive as the group minus one?
Josh was a lot closer to Alyssa than anyone else in the group, save for Lynn. Josh always provided a deep sense of calm for Alyssa, who was always bouncing from one problem to the next. They had spent many a time just talking and laughing and Josh had come to really love Alyssa, much as he did his own family.
He rang the doorbell of the Holland house and waited patiently for someone to answer it. He saw an eye peek through the peephole and then the door was flung wide open. Julie’s little sister, Lacey, stood in the doorway. She immediately threw her arms around his neck, making Josh almost lose his balance.
“Hey, Lace. Is Julie around?” She nodded before turning back into the house.
“Julie!” Josh didn’t hear the answer. “Josh is here!”
Julie came into view and Josh managed to catch the look on her face before she had a chance to hide it. Julie always had a scared look on her face when she saw him on his crutches. For a moment, Josh had a flashback to her face when she saw him at the hospital. The fear on her face had been unmistakable and it hurt Josh’s heart to see her so scared for him. Since it had only been a couple of weeks since the event had occurred, he cut her some slack.
He got the same hug as he had from her sister, but without the force. Her arms were intertwined around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. The two of them stayed that way for a couple of minutes, before Josh pulled away. Something about that whole thing had felt so right, it scared him.
“What are you doing here?” Julie asked. She was wearing a short jean skirt and a white tank top that showed lots of tanned skin. “I thought you were supposed to be resting at home.” Josh rolled his eyes.
“I’m so tired of ‘resting,’” Josh replied. “Do you know how much it sucks to have to just sit at home all the time? I should be out partying, hanging out with friends…”
“And playing football?” Julie asked softly. Josh looked at her, afraid to voice what was on his mind about the absolute failure he saw himself to be.
“And playing football.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Football is pretty much all I’m good at Jules. It was my one chance to get into a good school where I didn't have to pay for it. I know I can get in but how am I supposed to pay for it?”
“You’ll get scholarships,” Julie said, coming outside and shutting the door. She helped him to the swing seat Julie’s mother had put next to the house, one arm protectively around his shoulders even though he was six foot one. “You’re smart Josh, and if you work a little harder, I know you can find a way to go.”
Sometimes, Julie’s faith in him unnerved him. Julie thought he could anything and everything. Sometimes, it was her faith alone that helped him get through tough and sticky situations in his life. Julie was the only thing that was keeping him sane while he was supposed to be recuperating.
Josh hugged her again. “Thanks, Jules.”
“You’re welcome.”
When Josh left her house, he had renewed faith in himself.
*******************
The sun was beating down on Trista Morgan as she stood outside of the seedy looking building. The garish sign shouted “Rick’s Tattoo Shop.” The paint on the outside was peeling in strips and revealed the color underneath to be a dismal looking gray. It did not look like a place that Trista wanted to have anything done to her in and she looked at her boyfriend warily.
Michael was looking at her with that mischievous grin, the one that he knew she just couldn’t resist. It was the one that he used to get her to do the things she normally wouldn’t do. Compared to Alyssa, Trista was practically a daredevil, but she usually didn’t do anything completely nuts.
The first step in what she referred to as the ‘transformation of Trista’ was when Michael talked her into getting her bellybutton pierced. It was no biggie, as Trista had always planned on getting that done anyway. The second step had been when she had gotten her tongue pierced. And man had that hurt like a bugger. The piercings were really nothing big. They could always be taken out. But, this, this was definitely something much bigger.
“I don’t know, Michael.” She cocked her head to the side and glanced at the building again. “This place looks kind of shady.” Michael shook his head.
“The guy who owns the shop, Rick, did my first tattoo. He’s really good, clean and professional.”
Michael himself had two tattoos: a tribal band around his arm and a skull tattoo on his right shoulder. If Michael had gotten his tattoos here, how bad could the place really be? She gave the seedy exterior one last look before she allowed Michael to drag her into the establishment.
It looked pretty clean, very much an office, save for the two women at the front counter who had tattoos up and down their arms. Trista walked over the flashes on the wall, deciding that something already drawn up was probably good for her first tattoo. And it had to be something that wouldn’t hurt too much.
It took her less than twenty minutes to pick out a beautiful, intricate sun that the flash selection had in brilliant shades of yellows, oranges and reds. It was medium sized, and was posted as one hundred and eight five dollars. Eh. The price to pay for something that cool looking.
The woman who showed her to the room where Rick would do her tattoo was nice. This might not be so bad. She signed the forms, showed the woman her driver’s license and waited patiently for Rick to come in. When he came into the room, he had her design made into a transfer to put onto her skin.
She laid over a small stand that was upholstered and had nice padding on it. Rick lifted her shirt, swabbed her down with disinfectant and then set out all of the supplies that he would need. Trista watched him get out the ink, the needle, gauze and the like. She watched him hook the needle up and saw him put on his gloves. Trista felt very safe, but felt a sliver of fear starting deep inside her belly.
“This is going to hurt,” Rick told her. “I’m gonna be upfront about it. You’ve picked a painful place to get your first tattoo. Just remember to keep taking deep, normal breaths. Let me know if you have trouble breathing.”
Trista took a deep breath and slowly let it out. The buzzing of the needle started, and Trista took another deep breath just as the needle touched her skin. Yeah, it hurt. Son of a bitch that hurt. Of course, there were so many nerves in the back and it was right on her spine so of course it was going to hurt.
It took him only an hour and he chatted the entire time but by the time he was done, Trista’s back felt like it was on fire. When he was finished, he gave her a couple of mirrors so she could see what he had done. Trista was impressed. It looked freaking awesome.
She forked over her one hundred and eighty five dollars and Michael was grinning at her when they left the shop. Her back was hurting like hell, but she loved it and Michael loved it so it was absolutely worth the money and the pain. It’s a bitch to be beautiful.
The only cloud to settle over the excitement over getting the tattoo was the fact that Trista’s parents were probably going to freak out. Forget the fact that her father had two tattoos and her mother had three. They were definitely not going to be happy that their sixteen year old daughter had gotten one. Michael, being the only one of consenting age, also had to sign some papers for her to get it done. As Trista walked with Michael back to the condo she thought, my parents are going to kill me.
Trista was going to be in trouble.
Jane Morgan was the bitchiest of all bitchy mothers. Of her three daughters, Mira, Alyssa and Trista, which one was thought to be the biggest screw-up? Trista. In her mother’s eyes, Trista couldn’t seem to do anything right. Trista was always the one who really didn’t care about her grades or schoolwork. Trista was always the one who was getting into trouble, talking back and doing things that Jane just didn’t like. Her sisters got all of the attention.
Mira was five years older than Alyssa and Trista. She had just graduated from UCLA with a degree in interior design. Alyssa’s older sister had always loved designing things. Unfortunately, her degree came at the cost of her family. Mira had been desperate to get out of the house and away from Jane. It didn’t matter that their mother heaped great big piles of praise on Mira for every little thing. It was such a burden being one of mom’s favorite daughters. Yeah, right. Trista thought little about Mira, since phone calls and visits were few and far between.
Alyssa was their mother’s other perfect child. Alyssa got reasonably good grades, though she paled in comparison to Mira. Mira was the really smart daughter. Alyssa was the pretty smart daughter. Alyssa didn’t focus as much on school as Mira did, but Alyssa got the good grades and kept out of trouble. Alyssa didn’t bring home the bad boys because Alyssa hardly dated. Ryan was the boyfriend that Jane adored. Alyssa rarely ever got grounded because she rarely did anything wrong. With Alyssa and Mira for her sisters, Trista had to get into trouble. If she didn’t, who would? The only problem with Alyssa was that she was never really that popular because she never got out and did anything. Trista was the popular one who partied and sometimes blew off schoolwork; Alyssa and Mira studied and got good grades. Ergo, Trista was the screw-up. Well, screw them all. Let them think that she was a screw-up, that she was going nowhere.
Trista was the only one who knew how to live.
******************
Sam Wilson angrily threw a rock against the tree in his backyard, taking delight in the resounding thunk that it made when it hit the bark. He was angry, pissed and completely hating the world. He hated that he was at his house, he hated that he had to stay there for another year, he hated his parents.
He hated that his girlfriend was leaving.
Okay, so that’s what the anger was really about. All the anger was centered on the fact that Lynn was leaving. Things had just started go really right with her and she was leaving. It was unfair to her, it was unfair to him, and it was unfair to their relationship. Because really, Sam wasn’t the type to do long distance relationships.
Hell, Sam wasn’t the type to do relationships at all.
Sam had what some called relationship issues. He wasn’t the commitment type of person. Sam was infinitely more interested in sex than he was in a relationship. That was just the way that he was wired. But Lynn had changed that. With Lynn, Sam wanted everything. He wanted to be whatever she wanted him to be.
They had known each other since junior high school, but had only decided to give dating a try their junior year of high school. It was a volatile relationship at its best, but he loved her and she loved him so they tried to make it work. Sam was one of the four core members of the group, along with Alyssa, Lynn and Trista. They had known each other the longest.
Getting Alyssa and Ryan together had been Sam and Lynn’s brain child. Sam had been friends with Ryan for years. They went back even to grade school. They had both known that Ryan and Alyssa would hit it off and become the great couple they were now. Only they weren’t so great. They were headed toward trouble.
There were some stormy times that were coming, Sam could see. Without Lynn, Alyssa’s strongest confidant, Alyssa was going to head for melt-down city. She always kept things bottled up inside her until she blew up at somebody. It was an unhealthy way to deal with problems but Sam didn’t foresee that changing anytime in the near or distant future. And Sam didn’t know what he was going to do without his girlfriend.
“And what did that tree ever do to you?” Sam smirked when he heard Ryan’s voice in the darkness. Sure enough, his best friend stepped out of the shadows into view.
“It just pissed me off,” Sam replied flippantly. “Damn tree.” Ryan laughed and sat down next to him on the back porch step.
“What’s up?” Ryan asked after a moment’s silence.
“I was thinking about Lynn,” Sam said. “And I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do when she’s gone.”
“You’ll move on to the next girl,” Ryan replied. Off Sam’s look he followed with, “What? You’re not the long distance relationship type. You need to have someone to screw around with or you’ll get too bored. I know you love her, but you’ll definitely move on.”
“What if it were Alyssa?” Sam snapped. “What would you do if she were the one who was leaving?”
“It would tear me apart,” Ryan replied honestly. “I’m also not you. I don’t get into relationships that don’t have the potential to last a long time. I’m the serious relationship type. Let’s face it, Sam, you’re really not.”
“You’re making me feel so much better, Ry.” Ryan shrugged.
“I know it’s hard. I imagine that it really sucks. What I don’t understand is how everyone is making it sound like we’re never going to see her again. We will, you know. And we’re definitely going to keep in touch with her. I’m going to miss her too, but I think it’s going to be okay.”
Sam couldn’t find it inside himself to believe Ryan’s words.
***********
Julie had just finished another poem and closed her composition book. For some reason, every time Josh came over, Julie wanted to write a poem. Some of her best poems seemed to come right after Josh had left. Julie didn’t want to dwell too much on why that might be so she tried to just let the feelings flow and go with it.
No matter how hard she tried, the sight of Josh hobbling on his crutches clutched at her heart every single time. It would take a long time for her to get used to the sight of her once able bodied best friend being incapacitated like that.
Josh was a typical male, into every sport imaginable. He was a football star, basketball, baseball, and wrestling. Yep, Josh was an athlete. There was never a time when Josh wasn’t active in some sport. It gave Julie lots of games to go to and cheer for him. She loved to watch him, loved to be his cheerleader and root for him to win. So to see him sidelined from one of his favorite sports hit Julie right where it hurts.
She had known Josh forever. Well, maybe not forever, but since junior high and that was going on six years. They ate lunch together, hung out, did practically everything. Things were limited now, what with Josh having to rest at home. Of course, he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing. Typical Josh.
Julie was trying to find a place to put her composition book without much success because her desk seemed to have been hit by an atomic bomb. Frustrated, Julie just threw it on top of her Good Charlotte CD case. Her cordless phone rang and she frantically searched for it under piles of junk finally getting to it on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey.”
“Oh, hey Alyssa.” There was a pause. “What’s up?”
“The ceiling. I have a week to think about breaking up with Ryan.” Julie sat down on her bed, and sighed internally. Time to pull out her counselor’s hat.
“I really think you should reconsider this, Alyssa. You and Ryan are SO good together it makes the rest of us sick to just think about it. I know you love him. I know it deep down and I think you do too.”
“It’s not a question of whether or not I love him,” Alyssa protested. “It’s the fact that we completely rushed things. Think about it, Julie. How long did I know him before he asked me out? Five days. How long was it before we both said that we loved each other? Three days. I had known him a little over a week and had decided that I loved him. I had no basis whatsoever to go on except for the fact that he didn’t think I was a complete dog.”
“I get that,” Julie said calmly. Calm really was the best way to go with Alyssa. “But you’ve come to love him, haven’t you? I mean, maybe you’re not in love with him, but you love him. Right, Alyssa?” There was silence on the other end. “Oh, Lyss....”
“I don’t know!” Alyssa cried out, her voice constricted with stress and uncried tears. “I think I love him. I’ve never been in love. I don’t know what it’s like. But I’m not sure I can love him. It’s just not possible after only knowing him for like a week before we started going out. And we weren’t even friends first. That’s the basis of everything, Julie. Friendship. Without that, you’re just two people lusting after each other. I just…I don’t know.”
“I don’t know either, Alyssa. All I can tell you is that you need to really think about it before you do anything. Once you do it, you can’t go back. What’s done is done and the first cut is always the one that hurts the most.”
“Yeah,” Alyssa said quietly. “I know.
“Call me if you need anything, Lyss.”
The dial tone was the response that she received. Wow. Who would have known that things really were THAT bad? Alyssa had seemed so happy for the past six months. Her friends had never seen her smile the way she did when Ryan was in the room. He made her blush, glow, laugh, kid around and be a MUCH happier person. If that was all an act…what was the truth?
Had Alyssa really misled herself? Didn’t she love Ryan? Was she even capable of it? She had told him so many times that she loved him, had profusely proclaimed to her friends that she was going to marry that boy someday. Was she outwardly doing that and inwardly cringing at the idea of a future with him?
Julie had never Alyssa to be afraid of a serious relationship. Maybe that was because Ryan was her first serious one. There had never been a guy like Ryan, one who was willing to stick around and have something substantial. Julie wasn’t even going to get started on Brian Klein. He was an ass and that was all there was to it.
The fact that Alyssa was willing to throw away a good relationship with Ryan over a stupid crush on Brian was unfathomable to Julie. Ryan was a good guy, who genuinely loved Alyssa and wanted her to feel every bit like the goddess he believed her to be. The sun set and rose with Alyssa in Ryan’s world. If Alyssa really was planning on breaking up with him, she was going to shatter Ryan’s heart.
And in the process, hers as well.
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