I pass by you in the hall and I'm hit with the scent of nostalgia. You smell like that time you tucked my hair behind my ear and told me I was your first love. Your skin still smells like that time we kissed in the backseat, when I was certain that you still loved me. Only me.

Then your clothes started having hints of girls perfume. Perfume I'm familiar with-- my best friend's. Just like that, I knew you loved another.

-- I never thought it would end like this.

I pack all your handwritten letters, the jacket that makes me feel like I'm in your arms, and all the trinkets you have given me and shove them inside a wrinkled paper bag.

I see you and try to muster all the strength and pride that I have left in my numb body and hold out the paper bag. My face resembled that of sheer determination and grit but my heart screamed "please tell me you love me, only me".

Just when I thought I could never suffer more emotional pain, I was wrong. You stood there with a neutral face and grabbed the bag.

As the sounds of your fading footsteps echoed the halls, I left my heart behind with you. The strings detached.
© vee_v