We met when we were young. I had been sitting around in the same place for well over two years. She picked me out when she was fourteen, out of a crowd of hundreds of different suitors. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but the feeling stuck. Her warm embrace every morning and quiet goodnight every evening became a routine that I would soon realize that I wouldn’t want to live without, or share for that matter.
Her name was May. I had her all to myself for about two and a half years. We played around, and sometimes I would look really goofy just to tick her off a little, giving her a head tilt and something to laugh about while we were at it. She told her friends that before me, things were harder, like life had a filmy veil over it. She could see okay without me, but with me, everything was clearer. I made her life easier and the world a prettier place. I was there to guide her. Before me, things were a blur. Now, they were crystal clear.
Her friends said I looked stunning with her, like I was made just for her. I thought it was the other way around. We made quite the pair and complemented each other well. When I was with her, I didn’t feel as cold and stiff as I did alone. We were a cute couple. She would try to make me stay away from her when she cried, and of course, there were the times where I irritated her and she would rub her face and look away, but she always came back for me. She needed me, and without her, I didn’t have a purpose.
It was after our first two and a half years that she met someone who changed her mind about us. His name was Derek. He told her she looked better without me. She found him mysterious and spontaneous. No girl will admit it, but all they want in a guy is that and stability. I would know, I’ve heard enough girl talk to give you the low down on all things male, pink, or related to Channing Tatum.
Anyways, he got her to try new things. She liked nearly everything he suggested, including the smelly Chinese place down the street as well as staying up way too late to focus on that one star that they could both see from their houses. Fortunately for me, she didn’t enjoy the new contacts he insisted she try to befriend, which left more time for me. Sure, he kissed her lips every once in a while, but it was nothing compared to what I had with her. We were nearly inseparable. She even slept with me right by her every night. Her parents didn’t even mind. But him staying the night? That was completely out of the question. I thought I had the upper hand.
Then there was the day that he gently pulled me away from her and set me to the side. He picked her up in his arms, and suddenly they were all over each other. They did this on the couch for a solid half hour. I would know, I watched them and the clock, praying for one of them to say enough is enough. She didn’t let me put my arms around her again for another hour after he left. Once she let me hold her again, I didn’t want to ever let her go.
Time passed and they began to argue. They reached that stage of tolerance in a relationship, where they either make it work or give up and take a step back from each other. They didn’t really talk much ever again after that. I can’t say I wasn’t happy when she said goodbye to Derek, but I also can’t say that she was. She would push me away and cry for long periods of time, and, my God, I never knew women thought that eating ice cream with sprinkles, chocolate syrup, and Oreos were that great of a combination until I saw her guzzling it down while watching A Walk to Remember. (As if she hadn’t already seen enough of Channing Tatum.) Every time she let me put my arms around her again, I’d squeeze tightly and kiss her nose, and promise to never let her go unless she wanted me to. Derek had his two years with her, and now I had her all to myself again.
One day, she moved to this giant school with lots of other students and she shared this one, cramped room with another girl. They had two bunk beds and a futon on the floor. Her roommate, Paula, was a pain, and we didn’t get a whole lot of alone time together anymore, but we had to make do. Her roommate once knocked me off of the small table I was sitting on, and another time, completely sat on me. I felt violated. May told her that she ought to be more mindful. Paula threatened to snap me in half like a twig. I’ll admit, I have a small frame and I’m not that strong, but that was crossing a line.
A couple months later, we moved back home for three months and came back to the same school for another year, and requested to not have a roommate. We got a single dorm. Her parents complained about it costing extra, but May told me and all of her friends that she thought it was for the better, and I agreed. We spent more time together. We stayed up late reading big books and writing. It was like we were becoming more creative together. She sometimes fell asleep while we read and woke up in a panic. Each time this happened, I would always tighten my arms around her and whisper in her ear that it was all going to be okay, but she never listened.
During the next few years, many guys like Derek came in and out of her life. It wasn’t until Adam came around that I knew I should worry. They did a lot more than she and Derek ever did, but they also had a deeper connection. There was more than what met the eye, and that’s what really matters. I would know, I’ve read every romance novel that May has.
Two years passed, and suddenly she’s putting on a big white wedding dress and removing my arms from around her. She smiled at her friends. They were all wearing blue dresses, except one who was wearing silver. She held an extra-large bouquet of flowers. May took the bouquet and handed me to her friend in the silver to “hold on to for safekeeping.” May had often let her friends hold me like she does, but it has never been the same, and that day was very different from those other days.
May didn’t let me see her again until very early the next morning. The sun hadn’t even risen, and this time someone else was sleeping near her, Adam. I may get to hold her all day, but now he holds her all night, and it hurt to watch them together like that. I couldn’t sleep anymore, and the whole world seemed to be going out of focus. May must have noticed, too. I could tell because she was squinting at me all the time. Every time she let me hold her again, I kissed her nose as hard as I can, and I squeezed my arms around her and promised to never let her go. She complained to Adam that I was becoming a nuisance and that I was too uptight for her. That hurt more than the time Paula sat on me.
Soon enough, May brought me to the store that we met in. I started reminiscing about the first time we met. This was over ten years ago. She had grown so much since then, and I am still so proud of the woman that she has become. I was gazing all around the store when I noticed she wasn’t holding me anymore. She was looking at other suitors. My heart dropped, and I began to panic. I saw her hold others the way she had once held me. Was this some cruel joke? It couldn’t be. I watched her grab a new suitor, and she carried him home with me. After she brought me home, she never let me hold her anymore. She had found a more feminine friend. My world felt as if it was growing dark. I could still watch her everyday life, and occasionally we would interact, but we were not what we used to be. May put me away in a case, and I did not get to see her for a while after that.
Three years later, there was a sudden burst of light. She had opened my box. I looked around and took everything in. There was a young girl in the house. The child was about one year old. I looked around to see what had happened. May’s last suitor had broken down and left because of some mangy mutt that was locked in a giant metal cage, whining to be let out so it could tear apart the house once more. May leaned against me, and I gently caressed her and kissed her nose. She sighed and smiled while I hugged her warmly.
Things were great until they weren’t anymore. A couple months later and I was back on the sidelines of her life. I did not get to be a big part of it again for about three more years. I was ecstatic when she opened the door, but it was not May’s face I saw. It was that baby, except the baby is bigger now. She must be about four. She was wearing a feather boa, an oversized dress, a floppy sunhat, and now she wanted me to be her suitor. She gazed into a mirror. I heard her babble something that was supposed to be the word perfect, but it came out as “POWFACT!” I couldn’t help but chuckle. She straightened me out, and then we decided to play together.
The child turned to a smiling May, who rolled her eyes and kissed the child on the cheek. I smiled, too, and gently hugged the little girl. I love May’s family. Soon, this child and I became more and more fond of each other. I soon learned that the child’s name was Kylie. She wanted me to play with her all the time in this game that May referred to as “dress up,” but that Kylie referred to as “DWESS UF!”
The last day we played that was six years ago, and of course, when we were done, she yowled, “POWFACT!” Now we read books and finish trigonometry together. I tend to be pretty helpful with that subject. I would know, I’ve done the advanced stuff all the way through Calculus BC. If the Pythagorean Theorem freaks her out now, I’ll have to take care of her an awful lot further down the road. I don’t mind. I’ll be here to help for as long as she needs me.
I’m not leaving for a while, I hope. Her friends tell her that we look “vintage” and “chic” together. Whatever that means. I’ve learned not to take the world so seriously anymore. I think it was the child in Kylie that really let me see that. She chose me out of any other person out there, and boy, am I glad she did. It’s nice to have a friend, and May visits occasionally, she and Adam are no longer together, but she’s happy, and that’s all that matters to me. Perhaps someday I’ll get another chance. Of course, Kylie and I get separated from each other every now and then, but I don’t worry too much anymore. I know, undoubtedly, that by the end of the day, I’ll always hear a certain someone shout, “Will someone help me find my glasses?”
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