alright ↠ dylan o'brien

thirty two.

Tell a lie

To hide the bruise

You fell like a stone

Spit blood on my shoes

~The animal by Richard Walters

Dylan

    It pained me to see her now. I understood that what I did had betrayed her, but all of this over one stupid kiss that didn't mean a thing? Lacey showed her smug face in the halls now, and working with her after school was becoming a chore. I found myself staying after class one day to see my English teacher about a month after Lola and I had fought.

"Mr. Barlen," I said in front of his desk when the class had cleared out to go to lunch. "Is there any way I could switch partners? I know it's late into the project, but I can't work with Lacey."

    Mr. Barlen chuckled. "Sit, Dylan," he said. His tan skin was covered by a blue button-down shirt and khaki pants. He had a short, dark beard and mustache and long black hair that reached his shoulders. Today, it was in a bun. He was young, twenty-seven or so, so it suited him well. I sat on top of one of the desks . "Now, tell me what happened."

    "I did something stupid, and I think it ruined the best thing that's happened to me in a while," I explained, needing to tell someone.

    Mr. Barlen nodded with no surprise written on his face whatsoever. "I heard you kissed Lacey and Lola hasn't forgiven you, huh?"

    "How did--"

    "News travels fast, kid, especially with the teachers," he grinned.

    "Oh. I mean, Lacey kissed me and kind of twisted the story around," I said, defensive. Mr. Barlen threw his hands up in the air in surrender as he stood up. "Sorry," I added quickly.

    "You know what, Dylan?" he said to me as he began erasing his whiteboard which was full of notes from the day and homework assignments. "I happened to make the same mistake back in Britain when I was a few years older than you. In college," Mr. Barlen began. His white board was cleared now, so he came over to the front of his desk and sat on it, facing me. "Now, this is a story I'm probably not supposed to share with you as your teacher, so I think it would be best if we kept this a secret, yeah?

"I was dating this beautiful girl, Karen. I had had my eye on her for almost a year and it was a wonder when she actually said yes to going on a date with me. One night, I found myself in a situation with another girl that I didn't think I could get out of. I mean, of course I could, but I just wasn't thinking. You see, if you don't think, your brain doesn't lead you to the right places. That's our downfall. And so the next day, word had gotten out and it had crushed Karen. I felt so guilty, but I knew that I was responsible for it.

"I tried everything I could to get her to forgive me, but she just wouldn't have it. And so I told her that no matter what, I would always be there and that I would wait until she was ready to forgive me. I wouldn't be seen with any other girl but her. I waited for almost a year until, eventually, Karen came back to me.

"You can't expect Lola to forgive you right away, even if it was just a kiss. You have to trust her to go with her instincts and if her instincts tell her that you're not the one she wants, then that's that. You have to respect that decision. Let her know you're there, but let her come to you. She will, I promise you. Love is the one thing the soul wants more than anything in the world. That's the beauty of it all."