My life was normal. I didn't get in trouble, I helped others, and I was a good friend. Maybe I was a little too trusting for my own good, and so it happened that on my last semester of high school, I opened my heart for the first time. I've been trying to forget it, but in order to move on. I have to speak. So let me tell you how it went the first time I got my heart broken.

Chapter 2

The First Break

It was the first day of my second semester of senior year. I went to school and walked straight over to see my friends. We were happy to see each other; the day went without any problems. The week turned out to be a great one. We were on the second week of January when I made the first move of the first big mistake of my life. His name was Spencer. He was in advanced placement while I was in the second level academic group at our school. My group might not have had the highest grade point average, but in my opinion, we were the coolest. I was in health class with my friends, Sandy and Mara, talking with the teacher about prom when Spencer passed by and poked my ribs because I was on his way. Three days later I took revenge and poked him back and that's how it all started.

I had studied with Spencer in the first grade. I then moved when the year finished, and I didn't see him again until I went to middle school. We were placed in the same group, but we didn't talk much at first. The days passed, and I began to talk to him. We had lunch together and hung out during recess. We exchanged cell numbers and started talking sometimes in the evenings. At school I even hurried to get out ten minutes after two because that was our free period. I ditched my friends and went to wait for him outside. I asked him about his life and vice versa. We talked a lot. I knew he wasn't perfect, but I thought he was great. One day we gathered at the library, and he checked my broken Mp3 player and fixed it with just a simple check on his laptop. I was amazed!

One afternoon we were out of school, waiting for the bus in the rain, so I took out my umbrella, and he held it for me while I carried his laptop. I was really flattered by this gesture. The days passed. We went to lunch outside school to a Chinese place nearby we went too often. One day he tells me that he needs to talk to me.

''Okay, let's talk'' I said, but it was the end of the lunch break and we both had classes. I had physics, and he had Advanced English, so there was no time to talk.

At free period, I went to our usual spot by the bus stop, and he wasn't there. I asked one of his annoying freshman friends if he had seen him.

''No, he left on the bus twenty minutes ago,'' he replied.

He left without speaking to me; I was both intrigued and worried by this.

I was so hyper the rest of the afternoon wondering what Spencer wanted, but I just decided to forget about it and continue with what I had to do. It was around a quarter to seven when I was finishing my chores that my cell phone rang with the ringtone I had given Spencer. I literally ran to pick it up.

"Hello," I said

"Hi,'' he answered.

"How are you?'' I asked

"I'm fine, just wondering about something I have to tell you''.

"You can tell me anything,'' I told him.

"So what are you up to?" he asked.

"I'm just doing the dishes."

"Oh, you might be worthy in the end then," he replied.

"Okay...what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just joking," he replied.

"So what was that you wanted to say?"

"I was wondering if you would like to be my girlfriend?'' My heart started beating really fast. I was ready for this, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a joke.

"Can you repeat that?" I asked.

"I asked if you wanted to be my girlfriend,'' he said again.

"Yes, of course.''

The next day I went with Spencer to the gas station near school because he wanted a snack. He got a chocolate bar. Halfway back he gave me some of it. All of a sudden he tried to kiss me, but since I wasn't ready, I turned my head, and he missed my mouth.

"Oops,'' I apologized.

"I didn't know. You should have told me what you wanted to do. I'm really sorry''.

"That's okay," he told me. "One part of me wanted the kiss, but I don't know''.

"Oh, okay...'' I said, really ashamed of myself.

So after that awkward moment, everything was okay. He didn't try to kiss me again, but I didn't see anything wrong with that. The days passed and we were so happy.' The only thing that was bothering Spencer was that I couldn't stand his friends. They were all jealous because he was spending time with me. I told him that they were just jealous, and he let the matter go, but that was not the end of it. January passed and February came. This was my favorite month because I was finally turning eighteen in just a few days! I didn't know that Spencer hated this month until I told him about my happiness.

He hated February because in the past, he didn't have anyone to spend Valentine's Day with. This year was the exception because he had me, but he wasn't that eager about it. Spencer and I were together every chance we had. Everybody was noticing, and Spencer was getting annoyed because we were secretly dating. He wanted things to be like that since the beginning. I didn't know what to make of it. I had been okay with it, but once I thought about it, why didn't he want everyone to know?

It was finally my birthday. I got out of bed and did my morning routine and went to school like every other day. My friends Ryan, Rose, Emma, Leah, Jackie, Mara, and Sandy greeted and congratulated me when I saw them before the bell rang; the day was okay, nothing out of the ordinary. At lunch Spencer had called and told me he wasn't going to get lunch, so I decided to follow him. I went where he was and sat by him. We were just talking, but after a while, he caressed my cheek, and I just looked at him. My heart started beating so fast it was racing inside of me, and then suddenly he kissed me. It was our first kiss. It was the happiest day of my life.

The days passed and that's when the problems started. As the time went by, graduation drew near, and all of a sudden, Spencer had changed. I don't know what happened to him; out of nowhere he started treating me like I was scum. He humiliated me in front of his friends by saying that I was always following him around like a stalker. When I asked him why he was being this way, he just said that he was doing it as a cover because people started asking him what was going on between us. He told them that nothing was going on because of "our agreement" of not telling anyone. Even though I had agreed to do that at the beginning, now it was hurting me. Was I not worthy? Why was our relationship a secret?

I was so annoyed and upset, but things didn't stop there. When we talked on the phone, he looked for every excuse available to hang up. It was so unfair! The situation was making me upset, but I shut my mouth because I did not want him to have another excuse for a fight or argument. Stupid as I was, I always did what he told me. I was the good girl that never asked him why. I just gave my whole into everything.

School was getting a little bit annoying through the final weeks. I started again with drama club, since I was the co-writer of this year's school play. The scenes had been an assignment, but my group did so good the teacher wanted to present it.

I had to be there for rehearsals because I was also in the play, so in between my drama rehearsals, schoolwork, and Spencer, I was getting frustrated; things got worse on a daily basis. He was so selfish, and he was not caring about my feelings anymore. Emma was a mutual friend. I was also friends with her brother, Joe, although he was way older than we were. He was sometimes there at the bus stop, so he knew about the situation.

''You have a relationship with a great girl, and you are treating her this way. Why are you being so stupid?'' Joe had asked him, but Spencer didn't give him an answer. Joe promised me that he was going to keep insisting until Spencer talked to him.

When we talked on the phone, Spencer complained because according to him, I was getting too dramatic, so he started to take an evasive reaction. I wanted to be with him, but he said that I was "killing the passion." He was the one who did not want to come clean about what was going on. I was trying to save things, not make them worse. I was sick of fighting for something that was not valuable anymore. I was being weak because I loved him and knew that he loved me back or at least that's what I had thought.

I was late for class again. I was on the second floor stairways when I heard my name being called. I turned around and it was Spencer who called me.

''I want to talk to you now,'' he told me.

''Spit it out," I responded sourly.

''Well, I have made my decision about us,'' he said in a cool tone as if he was talking about the weather.

''Well?'' I asked. After all he had done in the past month; nothing he said to me now could hurt me anymore; well, that's what I was thinking while I was standing there in front of him.

''I thought this through and for the both of us, it will be better if we break up." He shot the words like bullets. They crashed directly into my heart, but I acted cool like he hadn't done anything to me. And that was all he said. We never spoke to each other after that. When I went home, I cried my heart out for three weeks. During that time, I didn't eat much, I woke up tired every day, and I even almost messed up my GPA, but I didn't. I went through my days in a semi-zombie state; I went through the motions without really noticing. Days after that I learned how he was in reality; the truth always wheels itself out. Emma and Leah told me that they had something to tell me about Spencer. I eagerly listened to them because they said it was important.

They told me the truth about our relationship. They said that everything he did to me was in revenge because of all the times he has been rejected and dumped by his other ex-girlfriends that never lasted more than 2 months. So in his desire for revenge, he decided to ruin my life. He was so immature! I was glad that finally, I knew the truth. After that I decided that I didn't have to cry for him anymore. One day I woke up and suddenly I didn't remembered what had happened. I continued my life like he had never existed and ignored him for the final weeks of school. Because of what he did to me, he lost the friendship of Emma and her brother, Joe. Joe was furious; he sided with me and never answered his calls again. He lost a great friend.

So days went on, and it was time to say goodbye to high school. The end of the school year arrived, the day we had been waiting for since freshman year. I was still a bit sentimental since everything that had happened with Spencer, and this day hit me like lightning. I didn't want to say goodbye to my friends. We had been together since the tenth grade. Emma and I had been friends since elementary school and all through junior high. My classmates and I were more than friends; we were like brothers and sisters. But time was not our side and the clock hit the final hour for us.

We were not going to see each other much after this, and for me that was awful because I knew I was going to miss my friends. I was the first one to leave; I hugged my friends and told them that no matter where we were, I would never forget them. We had a lot of memories; they were all good, nothing bad ever happened between us. I also told them that I would always have a place for them in my heart, and that they could count on me. After I said my goodbyes, I hurried to the car without looking back. I didn't want to see them crying. After three years it was hard to say goodbye.

On graduation day, I woke up early because the ceremony was at nine in the morning sharp. I dressed, had breakfast, did my makeup, and hurried to the car. Mom came out a few minutes later, and we were on our way. We took an alternate route that took us less time. When I got there, all of my classmates and friends were lined up in pairs. I ended up next to Sandy. She had hurt her ankle the day before, so she held onto my arm while we entered together. We both fought back our tears. We had been best friends since she came as new student in junior year.

The ceremony followed its course. I was just a little emotive, and the masters of ceremony started calling names for the awards:

''And now we will give the names for the drama medal: Gabriella Elizabeth Swan, Sandy Marie Evans, and Spencer Carmichael Smith were our most valuable actors and helpers.''

I also got a medal for my GPA and a medal for English.

After the awards, there was a special performance, and after that they called out the names for the diplomas.

''And last but not least, Miss Gabriella Elizabeth Swan''

"Well now let's receive on the stage our school headmaster and headmistress" the master of ceremony said.

"Good morning, parents, friends, and class, this is a very important day.''

They gave a short speech, and they concluded saying, ''And finally the moment you all have been waiting for. With the power that the school district gives me, I declare you officially graduated. Congratulations, class of 2009!'' We all started shouting and graduation caps flew everywhere. I threw mine as high as I could. It flew for a few seconds and then it landed by my side.

That was it; that was the end of high school. These were the last hours we'd have together. I couldn't believe that after all these years it was actually happening! I hugged Sandy, Emma, Tiara, Rose, and some of my other classmates. We were all very sentimental, but I did not cry. Maybe it was because I was dry after all those crying nights where I wasted my tears on Spencer. We went of the banquet hall where the ceremony had been held and out to the hallway to say goodbye. I promised all my friends that we'd see each other at prom and then we all left.

It was the night of nights. I was excited because this was supposed to be the best night of senior year, and because I knew that a certain person wasn't going to be there, I knew this because he had told me weeks ago that he just paid the expenses needed for graduation only. It was going to be the best night ever; I arrived at eight o'clock sharp like it said on the invitation. Emma had come with me. I gave her a ride. While we waited for the rest of our friends to arrive, we started taking pictures. The night went without any problem. We had dinner around nine thirty, and prom picked up after that. The music started to get louder and we hurried to the dance floor. We danced as a group since we did not have dates.

Who needs a guy? I thought to myself.

It was the best night ever; I danced until I could barely stand on my feet! It was really what I expected and more. I had a great time. I think I deserved it after all that I had gone through in the last weeks of the semester. I didn't let that get to me, yeah it still hurt a little, but I had time to heal and I did. It took me the whole summer, but when August came back, and I was ready for college, I was myself again, all bad memories gone —only the good ones stayed.