Goodbye, Valerie

The party was for Valerie. She was departing for warmer weather. It made sense. Despite being a programmer and board gamer, she loved to surf.

Me? I was a quintessential nerd and living proof that making a girl laugh, doesn't mean she will be attracted to you. I had lived with my crush on Valerie for seven years. She knew about it but I had never pressured her into outright rejection.

The last couple of years our friendship had grown more and more tenuous as we saw each other less and less.

Now she was sitting on a couch in the middle of a going away party for her, looking sad and alone.

I made my way over to her, dodging around the people cluttering up the walk ways. When I stood in front of her she looked up at me and said, “I love you.”

Grabbing her into a tight hug, I replied that I loved her too but in that moment I was sad and bitter and a part of me hated her because I knew that nothing had changed. She was still leaving and this wasn't an invitation to follow.

I squeezed her tighter against me,