Twenty Step Guide to Falling

1. The boy falls for the girl.

2. The girl receives roses and lackluster daydreams. She thanks the boy. 

3. The boy, ever hopeful, pursues the girl.

4. The girl, ever lonely, does not see his wistful eyes.

5. The girl meets a boy. Another boy.

6. The girl falls for the boy. 

7. The boy stands by, for her.

8. He waits.

9. And waits.

10. The boy meets a girl. Another girl.

11. The boy realizes what love feels like. It is not the ice cubes clinking against the glass heart he'd know before. It is fireflies at nine o'clock by a bonfire on the rivers edge.

12. The girl, hair mussed and mascara-stained, looks up momentarily. 

13. The girl, ever lonely, looks for the boy with the wistful eyes. 

14. The boy kisses a girl's forehead. The boy does not see the girl.

15. The girl picks strawberries for the boy in a white wicker basket. The girl knows the boy will come. 

16. The girl stands by, for him. 

17. She waits.

18. And waits. 

19. The boy comes to her, introducing another girl with a sparkly ring on her finger. The boy thanks the girl for the strawberries. They taste like Summer. 

20. The boy is unapologetic. The girl was blind. The girl lost the one true thing she had.