heartache before, sure, but compared to the pain I felt then, they were mere schoolboy bruises. She kept saying something along the lines of “this will only last the summer. After summer ends, everything will change.” It’s kind of sweet that the day we really began to fall in love on the last day of summer.
I don’t remember the exact day Kriselle told me she loved me, nor the exact day she told me she was in love with me (two different things, I’ll come back to that later). I can tell you what I was doing, what she was doing, where we were, when she said those things. I have the exact details on my old cell phone; I kept notes of our relationship landmarks on it, but sadly, the battery has died and I don’t know if I can access it. Anyways, she first told me she was in love with me over the phone. I was propped up against the foot of my bed, reading a book, my head on my shoulder, with my phone sandwiched between. She was reading as well, on the other end of the line. It was one of the Hunger Game novels. There was silence for a few moments, and then she said “Miley, I’m in love with you.” And I smiled, with tears coming to my eyes, and replied “I’m in love with you too, Selle.” I was in great pain the day she told me she loved me. I had gotten 8 teeth pulled out, and I was lying in bed, with blood dripping from my mouth. Kriselle was keeping me company. She was looking at me, crying, and then she whispered love you.” I had said it a few times before, mostly letting it slip out, but she never replied, too scared to commit to those words. Before all that, we used to say “I heart you” or “I like you.” But the day she told me “I love you” for the first time, I felt a glow in my heart that I haven’t stopped feeling, a sort of light that eased all my pain. “I love you too” I said.
7
TOGETHER
- A Love Letter by Miles Malbog