Love at First Stoplight

He was on the other side of the pedestrian lane, waiting for the light to turn green just like I was. He was so preoccupied with her that he didn’t even notice me. I felt like the air got knocked out of me, and the only thing I could do was clutch my phone harder and try not to let the tears spill as the few drops of rain started pouring.

As the light turned green, I walked along with other people. I looked down, letting my hair fall effectively covering my face as I felt the tears starting to fall along with the heavy rain that was already drenching me. People were opening their umbrellas and others started running but I remained unfazed by the rain.

When I crossed the other side of the street, I looked back to see Chad and the woman running and laughing until they sought shelter at the bus stop. My heart broke at the sight of him so happy knowing I wasn’t the reason behind it.

I couldn’t help the sob coming out of me. I was full-on crying in the middle of a busy street and I couldn’t care less what people thought of me right now. I forced myself to look away and started running towards home.

When I managed to arrive at my apartment, I lifted the little chicken statue and took the key, letting myself in. As soon as I opened the door, I slammed it shut and felt all the energy draining as my body leaned on the door with a thud. I let myself slide down until I was sitting down, resting my head on my knees.

“WHO’S THERE? I HAVE A BASEBALL BAT AND I’M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!”

Startled by the shouting, I looked up to see my best friend in all his muscular glory with only a pair of boxer shorts, holding a baseball bat ready to swing.

Did I forget to mention I live with my best friend?

“Camilla? When did you—” Hugh’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of me.

I cut him off and ran to him, throwing my hands around him sobbing.

“What the hell, Cami? What the fuck happened?”

I buried myself deeper in his chest as he put his arms around me, patting my head.

He guided me towards the kitchen island and without saying a word, got a blanket for me and started on the kettle. A few minutes later, he placed a hot cup of chocolate with marshmallows in front of me.

“What happened, Cami? Your flight isn’t until next week,” Hugh asked as he placed the baseball bat on the counter and leaned his elbows on it.

Reaching for the cup with trembling hands, I took a sip, and my body was instantly warmed.

“C-Chad,” I answered, my voice quivering.

“What about Chad?” Hugh’s tone was becoming dangerously low.

“I wanted to surprise him for our anniversary,” I answered quietly.

“Then what?” He said, urging me to continue.

“I was on my way to his office when I saw him from the other side of the street. I was just about to text him when I received his text,” I answered, playing with the rim of the mug.

“He dumped me, Hugh... He fucking dumped me through a text!”

“He did what?! Oh, that bastard is going to get it,” Hugh spat as he reached out for the baseball bat.

My eyes widened in alarm because I knew Hugh wasn’t kidding around. I immediately reached out for the bat and took it away from him. He was trying to reach it from the other side when I cut him off.

“I’m not even done, Hugh...” I hiccupped, the tears threatening to fall again.

“He had a woman with him, and she... was undeniably pretty. I’m talking about model material, Hugh, which we all know I’m far from being,” I finished, sobbing.

Hugh went around the counter and hugged me from the side, placing his chin on top of my head.

“You are fucking gorgeous, Cami, you just don’t see it, but I do. If I weren’t gay, I’d totally shag you,” he said.

I laughed at what my best friend said. Count on Hugh to tell things like that at moments like these. But that’s why he was my best friend and I loved him for it.

“I need to change, I’m drenched,” I said as I remembered I was soaking wet in the middle of September.

“Yeah, you should. And while you’re at it, take a bath, you stink,” Hugh said, scrunching up his nose teasingly.

I playfully slapped his chest and made my way to my room and headed straight to the bathroom. I turned the knob to the highest heat and let the tub fill with water. I added some bath bombs into it and watched as the ball started dissolving away.

When I was done taking a bath, I threw on my comfiest clothes, my favorite white knitted sweater paired with gray shorts, and my favorite striped fuzzy socks.

I sat in front of my vanity and started lazily combing my hair. I stared at my reflection wondering what was wrong with me. I finally laid down on my bed staring at the ceiling wall, a million thoughts running through my head. This wasn’t how I planned my day to go.

I went home earlier than what was planned hoping to surprise Chad. I just completed my last year at Pastry school and had our graduation yesterday. My parents came but Chad didn’t, saying he was caught up in work. I was sad, but I understood, I know how important and demanding his job was at this big-shot company.

I silently walked down the stairs and went to the door. Slipping on some flip-flops, I opened the door and carefully locked it to avoid waking up Hugh. I trudged down the small steps and went around to our makeshift garage.

Rolling down the windows to let the cold air seep in, I drove off through the quiet night, remembering how this all started.

Chad was my first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first everything. He was a typical jock and I won’t lie, I was no queen bee. I was just a regular girl who happened to get lucky and snatched Richfield High’s trophy boy.

We were headed to different universities; he was going to take up business while I enrolled in culinary school. And even though that was the case, we promised to stay strong. We endured the whole drama of ‘staying strong’ ‘we’ll make it’ ‘you’re the one’, you name it, we went through all that shebang. And let me tell you, looking at it now, I can confidently say it’s nothing but a complete load of utter bullshit.

Before I could even stop it, the waterworks started again. I wiped the tears away with my sleeves but the tears kept on coming, blurring my view of the road.

I settled my forehead on my steering wheel, repeatedly banging it as I counted down the seconds on the stoplight.

“It’s going to be a long countdown, you sure you’re not hurting your steering wheel?”