From
his place behind the large oak tree in Lila’s yard, Stetson watched as Skylar
pulled up in front of the quaint ranch Lila lived in with her parents. Skylar jumped out of the car, and ran the
short distance from the curb to her front door, pounding on it. It took a minute, but Lila opened the door
and then quickly closed it again, joining Skylar on the porch.
Stetson watched as Skylar pulled a
crumpled piece of notebook paper from his pocket. “What’s this?” he yelled, shoving the paper
toward Lila.
Lila took a step back toward the
door, her response was so quiet, Stetson had to strain to hear it. “Sky, what
are you doing here? It’s late.”
“A letter, Lila? You’re breaking up
with me in a fucking letter?” Sky yelled, not answering Lila’s question.”
“Keep your voice down, you’ll wake
my parents.”
Skylar lowered his voice, but not a
lot. “Why would you do this? I don’t
understand. I thought things were going
well?”
Lila sighed. “They were. Things were going really
well. And then you proposed.”
Skylar threw his hands up in the
air. “I don’t see how me asking you to
spend the rest of our lives together is a bad thing.”
“That’s not a bad thing, it’s
everything that comes with it that’s bad.” Lila took a step toward Sky, taking
his hand in hers. “Sky, I can’t be a
housewife. I don’t want to stay home and
raise babies. That’s not who I am. I thought you understood this.”
“I do understand, and I never asked
you to do any of that. I love you, and I
want you to be happy. I would never
expect you to do anything that would make you unhappy.”
Lila moved even closer to Skylar
placing a hand on his cheek, making him look at her. “That’s the thing, I know you would never ask
me to, but I also know you could never be happy with me.”
They both were quiet for a
minute. The only sound that could be
heard were the cicadas and crickets in the night air.
“This is about Stetson isn’t it?”
Skylar accused.
Stetson startled at the mention of
of his name. Lila startled and took a
step back. “What?”
Skylar’s face contorted into a
sneer. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
Lila took her hand from his and took
another step back. “This has nothing to
do with Stetson.”
Skylar wasn’t listening. He was becoming visibly upset. “He’s finally worn you down, you’re leaving
me for him.”
“Skylar!” Lila yelled, interrupting
him. “I’m not leaving you for Stetson! I
don’t know where that came from, but that thought is just insane. What’s gotten into you?”
Stetson watched as Skylar crumpled
before Lila, his body wracked with sobs.
It was a sight he hadn’t seen since the War, after they lost most of
their platoon in a fire fight.
“You’re everything to me,” Skylar
cried. “I don’t know what I’m going to
do without you. You’re my whole world.”
Lila had her own set of tears making
their way down her cheeks. She wiped
them away, taking a step closer to her boyfriend. “Sky, I--”
“I need to go,” Skylar turned
hastily and started walking toward his car.
Lila hesitate for a split second
before running after him, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. “Sky, wait,
let’s talk some more.”
Skylar didn’t turn around. Stetson could no longer see his face in the
darkness, but he could hear a slight tinge of hope when Sky said quietly, “Are
you going to agree to marry me?’
Lila took a shuddering breath. “Sky, you know I can’t--”
Skylar wrenched away from Lila’s
grip. “Then there’s no point talking
any more.” Without turning around, he
walked the rest of the way to his car, quickly climbing in and starting it.
Lila stood frozen on the lawn. “Sky, Sky!” she cried feebly running after
him, but it was too late. He was already pulling away from the curb and driving
off.
Lila fell to her knees on the grass
next to the street and sobbed. Stetson took that opportunity to move from
behind the tree and walk toward her.
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