Heartbroken

She ran as quickly as she could, her feet pounding one over the other heavily on the pavement underneath her. She cursed under her breath as shoulder length red hair flew into her blazing crystal blue eyes, causing her contacts to sting and water up. Another curse spewed from her plump lips because she did not want the people on the bus to think she was in any way crying. An 'oof' interrupted the curse as the heavy backpack that was slung over her shoulders beat her hard on the back; she felt as if her heart had just burst through her vast chest cavity.

"I hate buses!" she screamed loudly enough to catch an awkward stare from the people she ran past. She yelled again, "I hate school!"

Flat heel black boots hit the pavement uncomfortably as she rounded the corner and sent shooting pain through her legs. The pain, as much as she would have loved to stop, failed to stop her. The bus was already at her stop and she needed to catch it. She came to a halting and painful stop just as the doors closed to the bus. Yelping, the red head beat on the doors with her fist until the driver opened them. From behind a tall rider who was paying his fees, she heard the bus driver speak.

"Next time I ain't openin' the door," came the gruff and annoyed voice. She bounded up the stairs as the doors closed and the bus lurched forward. As it lurched, she lost her balance and fell forward. To her luck, the man in front of her had turned just fast enough to catch her around the waist. Unfortunately for the both of them, her momentum carried them downward onto the floor. The bus driver hollered, "Hey! Get int'a seat already!"

"If you didn't drive so fucking fast we could have!" she hollered back rudely. The driver shook his head, but said nothing, his gaze scanning back to the road. The red haired girl returned her attention to the guy that she happened to be sitting on. All that she caught was the intensely sad emerald eyes that stared pointlessly up at her. They were the saddest eyes that she had ever laid sight upon and just looking at them made her heart leap slightly into her throat. "Hi. Sorry."

He grunted, but said nothing as she climbed to her feet.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Perfect," he mumbled, standing and wiping the dust from his black slacks and sweater. "And you? Are you all right?"

"Thanks to you I am… no offense, but you made a good cushion," she smiled wryly. The two old ladies in their seats beside the isle grinned at the cute young couple.

"I said sit down!" the driver snapped loudly, his voice deep and choppy. "Get a move on!"

"Hey! We'll sit down when we want to sit down dammit!" the red haired young girl whirled on one heel to glare at him through his rearview mirror. "Leave us alone!"

When she turned around to apologize the young man had disappeared. Almost disappointed yet still fuming with over the damned driver, she sat in the only vacant seat next to a elderly woman who appeared to have no clue as to why she had gotten onto the bus in the first place let alone where she was really headed.

Today was definitely and most certainly, not one of her good days. With sheer annoyance, she stumbled down the steps to the subway with the crowd, trying not to be beaten alive by the harshness of it. Once again, she was late for her means of transportation to school and she was beginning to think that she should just turn around and ditch the day. With a shake of her head, she bounded off the last step and began to try to weave her way through the crowd to her platform.

She managed to make it there just as the doors opened to let the lingering crowd in. Being the petite young woman that she was, she was easy bait in the crowd. She tried desperately to stand her ground, but her efforts were fruitless. She was carried away into a car that she preferably did not want to enter because it did not have the seat that she had, when she was bored, written her name on the underside of the seat. It was her favorite spot out of all seven cars and she wanted to be in car two not in car five, but it would have seemed that she had not choice.

A loud yelp expelled forward from her throat as she was pushed roughly against a soft surface.

"You bastard!" she shouted at the person who had pushed her. Strong arms held her in place as the crowd began to move again. She was about to protest, but when she turned around to do so, she found herself looking up into the same sad emerald eyes that she had seen on the bus. Suddenly, car five did not seem as terrible as she thought it was going to be.

"Hello," he murmured, holding her upright against the surge of the crowd.

"Hi."

"You really should learn to take better care of yourself of you may be hurt," he warned her. The doors closed behind them and they found themselves standing. Without thinking, he grabbed a bar with one hand and wrapped the other around her waist, pulling her firm to his chest so as she would not fall. For a long moment she hid her face in the warmth of his sweater as to hide the fire that was running a trail up her neck and into her cheeks. Ignoring her embarrassment, he asked, "What is your name?"

"Sharon, but I prefer to go by Shay," she responded, taking time to take in his entire being. Crimson red hair fell short of his neck, short in the back and thick and long on the top. The edges touched the brim of his long lashes. He had high cheekbones, a slightly pointed nose, and fair skin that appeared flawless. He was so tall that the top of her head just barely reached his slender shoulders. He was built solid in the way that she knew he was strong and could have easily stood his own ground, but his body was soft and warm as if he would have made the world's perfect living teddy bear. She blushed heavily for thinking such thoughts. "You are?"

"Toya, my name is Toya," he said in silky and luscious voice that was filled with as much sadness as his eyes were. She wanted so badly to ask him why she was so sad, but knew that she should not so she refused to say a thing.

"So. Where are you headed?" Shay asked instead, changing her train of thought.

"Downtown."

"Really?" she was surprised even though she knew where the train was headed. "Me, too. I'm going down to UIC. How about you? Do you go to school downtown?"

"I am out of school. I live by Lake Michigan."

"Wow…" she let out a low whistle. "That's expensive property. Are you rich?"

"Hardly," Toya offered up. His gaze was intense on her as he asked, "Why do you ask so many questions?"

"Um… well…" Shay stuttered over the syllables in the words as she tried to think quickly. She sort of glanced downward at their situation and then mumbled, "I'll stop. Sorry."

The subway lurched to its first stop and Toya pulled her closer to him as she started to fall over. People bustled in and out of the train car around them, as Toya remained attached to Shay's hip and the hold-on bar above him. She buried her face into his chest to make sure that he could not see the blush that had crept up from her neck into the base of her cheeks. No amount of make-up could hide the intensely pink flush in her cheeks. She could not begin to explain the bubbling feeling that was welling up inside of her. She tried to push it aside, but it just would not leave her alone.

The rest of the train ride remained in silence between the two awkwardly situated young people. Several times, Shay tried to strike up a conversation, but found that her voice was lost in her throat. She could not figure out if it was the seriousness of his nature or the beauty in his looks, but something about him intimidated her.

"Will…" she started. He looked down at her expectantly. Lost for words, she diverted her gaze shyly, the intensity of his gaze scaring her thought away.

"Yes?" Toya prompted quietly.

"Will you be here tomorrow?"

"No, just today," he whispered, his eyes far away as his thoughts began to drift to a private topic that she would never be a part of; her lips for a quite circle.

"Oh…" she tried staring over her shoulder to see if she could picture what he was staring at. The red head looked down into her sapphire eyes with a smile that did not skim the surface of his emerald ones. She blushed slightly under the smile, but was curious to find out what kept the smile from touching his eyes.

"Is that a problem?" he questioned with interest.

"No… not really…" Shay responded. He smiled and reached into the pocket of her jacket. Before she could protest, he took out her razor phone and flipped it open. He smirked at the picture of Ariel from the Little Mermaid as her home screen. With a raised eyebrow he showed it to her. "Don't laugh. It was a thing with the girls at my old college."

"I am not saying a thing," he nodded. Without a word, he figured out her text messaging and sent a message to someone. "There… now I have your phone number and you have mine. Is that better?"

Shay shook her head up and down, sending her spiked hair flying into her face. Not thinking, Toya reached down and brushed the stray strands from her temple. The motion left his knuckles trailing down her cheeks, sending a rush of heat over her entire body. He smiled again as the train rushed to its seventh stop.

"This is where I have to get off," he told her gently while he let her back on her own feet. Toya walked to the door and gave her another smile… a wary smile, she thought to herself. That was the kind of smile that he had. It was a sad and tired smile as if life was wearing him out. He cocked his head in her direction, "Good bye."

"Good bye…" she practically shouted, but the door was already closed and he was already heading up the stairs and out of the subway. "…good bye…"

Her cell phone jingled noisily in the middle of the night, waking her from a light slumber as it demanded her attention.

" 'ello…?" she grumbled into the phone.

"Have you looked outside?" the smooth voice asked on the other end. It took her a moment to even comprehend the words that whoever he was said.

"Huh?"

"I said have you looked outside?"

"Who the fuck is this?" she snarled, rolling over in her large bed and staring at the emptiness next to her. She longed for someone to be there to fill it up for her.

"My name is Toya and we met on the subway train."

"Toya… Toya…" she lulled the name in her mind, attempting to remember the name. It came back to her as the red head from the bus and train over a week ago. He had taken quite some time to get back to her. "Oh…. hello."

"Hello. Did I wake you?" he asked from the other end. His voice came across amused and intrigued at her sleepiness.

"What do you think?" she grumbled harshly. His laughter came over the other end melodically. She growled once more and seriously contemplated hanging up the phone. "Is there something that you wanted?"

"Yes… look out the window of your apartment."

"How did you know I lived in an apartment?"

"Do not ask… just look."

"Uhm…" she rolled over and stared at the edge of her bed. I don wanna… she thought to herself as she slowly moved her weary body toward the end of the bed. Shay winced as her bare feet touched the cold wood floor and the chilled air kissed her mostly bare skin. She mentally took a note to stop wearing t-shirts to bed and to start wearing real pajamas. Her feet padded quietly over to the window, where she pulled back black curtains and stared out at the park across from her apartment. "What… am I staring at?"

"Look up," he commanded of her over the fuzzy line. She did.

"Oh… my God…" her voice was caught in her throat as she gazed up at the diamond speckled sky. Everywhere she turned her head all she saw was the crystal stars folded neatly in a blanket of darkness. The luminous moon left the pond of the park sparkling in waves of silver light. Shay whispered, "It's beautiful…"

"Do you like it?" Toya asked with genuine curiosity.

"Do I like it?" she repeated. A bright smile lit up her face as she closed the curtain. In her mind's eye she pictured him in the room, grinning at her with that sad smile. Something crossed her face, a shadow of sorts, as she thought about how sad his eyes were. She slid down the wall, the curtain draping over her shoulders like a velvet blanket. "I love it. Thank you."

"You are most welcome," she could almost hear the sad smile in his voice once again. "Go get some sleep. Good night, angel."

Before she could respond the same to him the other line went dead. She could not help but wonder what had possessed him to call her on this night. Nor could she help but wonder why and how he knew where she lived. Was it possible that he had been following her? If so, how rude! The least he could have done was make himself known to her. It was not like she would bit him… at least not that hard.

The next morning, while she showered, he called again. Due to being soaked from head to toe, she was unable to grab the phone in time. Moments passed and her phone vibrated again. He had left a message. Eagerly, she listened to it.

"Hello, Shay, this is Toya. I wanted to apologize for calling you so late last night. I honestly did not think you to be the type of girl who would go to sleep so early. Again, I apologize for calling you so late. If you are up for it I would like to invite you to a late breakfast. Seeing as how you still have not answered the phone, I hope you get this message. If you do meet me here…" he rattled off directions to some restaurant. Shay scrambled quickly for a piece of paper and a pen. Listening to the message again, she wrote down the instructions and stared at them because they meant nothing to her. At the end of the message he said, "If you feel like you will get lost, let me know and I will come pick you up."

She dialed the number that she had written down on the other side of the sheet of paper. The phone rang several times.

"Hello?" his smooth voice came over the other end. She hung up the phone without a second thought about it.

"Fuck…" she swore quietly as she stared at the phone. Almost at once it began to vibrate in her hand. She squealed and tossed it onto the bed, knowing it was him who was calling. With another loud squeal, she threw herself stomach first onto the bed and scrambled for the phone. Breathlessly, "Hello?"

"Hello," Toya said with a slight laugh. Her bare legs swung in the air with excitement like a girl who was experiencing a phone call from a boy for the first time in her life.

"Hi, how are you?" she asked as if nothing had just occurred between them. She refused to acknowledge that she had indeed just hung up on him.

"Perfect except for a little confused as to why you hung up on me," he replied smoothly. She grimaced as she tried to come up with a good excuse as to why she did what she did. She had nothing.

"I really don't know what you are talking about," Shay resorted to faking it.

"Really?" came the skepticism.

"Honestly."

"Of course," again with the skepticism. "How are you?"

She pondered an intelligent and mysterious answer because she did not want to come across as a plain Jane.

"Fresh," was what she settled for.

"Fresh?" he questioned.

"Yes, fresh. Do you have a problem with that?" Shay demanded with mock anger.

"No, of course not. However, I will admit that it is a bit strange…" his voice trailed off as he spoke. She covered her mouth to hide a short burst of laughter. Indeed it was strange, but at that moment, it was all that had entered her mind. Now that she thought about, she wished that she could have come up with something a little more intellectual to say. He seemed the sort that always would have something intelligent and smart to say; that is, if he decided to say anything at all.

"Yeah… it was a bit strange, wasn't it?" she laughed out loud and offered a wide smile that, unfortunately, he could not see. "Okay, I'm doing just fine. Thank you very much."

"You are most welcome."

"You are far too polite, you know that."

"I try my best to be."

"Why bother so much?" she found herself asking when she really should not have cared. In fact, she should have been pleased to hear that he was such a polite gentleman.

"Because," came the vague answer. He said nothing more on the topic.

"Well, what's this about a late breakfast?" she continued after realizing that she was going to get no more out of him on the previous topic.

"Yes, seeing as how you have called me, do you feel like you will get lost?" he asked innocently, though the underlying mocking tone was apparent to her.

"Probably. I don't know the city very well."

"Would you like me to pick you up?"

"Well, now that we're on the topic, would you mind telling me just exactly how you know where I live," she stipulated in a slightly harsh tone. The fact that he knew so much about her whereabouts bothered her immensely.

"Because…"

"Because is not an answer. Not for this it isn't."

"Well, if you must know, I was curious where someone like you lived."

"Someone… like me?" Shay repeated slowly, mulling the words in her head. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean."

"Well, I was curious as to knowing where someone as exuberant as yourself lived so I followed you home one day."

"What day?"

"Tuesday."

"Tuesday?"

"Yes, Tuesday."

"Why Tuesday?"

"Because I happen to like the day Tuesday."

"Why do you like the day Tuesday?"

"Because I find Tuesday to be erotic."

The answer made her reel in response. A gasp stuck in the back of her throat along with another bout of laughter.

"You're serious, aren't you…"

"Of course I am not serious!" Toya replied with exasperation. "I merely said it to get your attention. You are being ridiculous did you know that? What does it matter what day and why I picked that day to follow you. I just did."

"Well… it mattered to me."

"Mattered as in past tense."

"Yes mattered because it stopped mattering to me after I found out that you think a day of the week is erotic!" she teased.

"Oh, stop that, I do not."

"Oh, yes you do!"

"Enough about this, what about breakfast?"

"I don't know… is this a date?"

The line responded with pure and golden silence. She mentally cursed herself for thinking such a thing. Of course he would not mean it to be a date. Dammit! Dammit

Finally, "Was that a line?"

She burst out in laughter, a long and genuine bout of real laughter that she had not let out of her in a long time. It took her several minutes before Shay was able to regain control of herself and recompose her serene stature.

"You think a day of the week is erotic and you make fun of me for using a line on you?!" she demanded ludicrously. She could not help the small laughter that forced itself through her lips.

"I do not think a day of the week is erotic!" he snapped harshly. She chuckled and he scowled at the other end.

"Yes you do and you're laughing at me."

"I am not laughing at you. I merely asked a question: was that a line?"

"And if it was?"

"That is fine by me."

"Fine, then it's a date!" Shay exclaimed. He huffed on the other end.

"Well fine, if you insist!"

"Oh, but you don't want it to be a date?"

"Yes I want it to be a date!"

"But you said only if I insist."

"I never said the word only," he explained very slowly as if he was speaking to a child.

"No you didn't but you implied it," she countered just as slowly and arrogantly.

"Oh, will you stop being so impish!"

That shut her up in her tracks as she mulled over the word impish. Did he really just say impish? she asked herself.

"Did you just say impish?" she questioned softly.

"Possibly, why?"

"Oh nothing, I'll see you in an hour," she hung up the phone, quietly laughing to herself. Staring at her dark room she said to herself, "Did he really just say impish?"

A moment later her phone vibrated again and this time it was a text message from him reading:

WEAR SOMETHING NICE…

What the hell did she have to wear that was nice that she could wear to breakfast? Desperation began to eat away at her. She threw herself on the bed after her phone and scrambled to dial her friend Megan's phone number. As soon as Megan answered, she cried out,

"Help me!"