Life is like a box of chocolates. Sweet and tangy at times; unpleasant and bitter at others. I never quite believed the phrase myself. I mean, whose life is like a stupid box of chocolates? I care more about actually eating the chocolate than I do using it in a metaphor.

That is, I never believed the phrase until I bit into one of those unpleasant and bitter chocolates last year. Boy, was that a horrid time.

I was the model student, with poise and grace, a sparkling record, and the highest gradesin the school. I had no flaws whatsoever.if I did, I hid them behind my smile and they weren't visible.

I was never one of those stupid girls who giggle every time a boy walks into a room and flashes them a smile. I never giggled insanely over magazines and tried doing my hair in odd little ways. I never even expected to fall in love. Who would've thought? I was too serious and bookish. Romance and all of life's other little quirks never seemed to visit my thoughts and dreams. I was determined to remain that way for the rest of my time on earth; I didn't need any affection to keep happy.

Until I saw him. The one boy who changed it all. I can't even say his name. It seems to roll off my tongue and I swoon. I always thought he was an insufferable prat, treating my friends and I like he did. Never in my wildest imagination would I expect him to look as wonderful and god-like as he did.

His blonde hair swept into his face in a wistful manner. He had stopped using all those hair products.and I must admit, it made him look all the more rugged. His silvery blonde eyes had a mysterious air about them and had some sort of hidden depth that beckoned you to search for. His lips. Oh, his lips looked incredibly kissable. I've had to restrain myself at times to keep from running up to him and kissing him. They also have a small smile playing at the corners, like he knows some little secret that you don't.

His body was lithe, graceful.almost cat-like. He had one of those bodies you could only dream about. He stood tall and proud, silent and resilient to the world around him.

By no means would I have thought him intelligent. I used to think he was just an arrogant show-off, who pranced around the school as though he owned the place because of his extensive bank account. But no.I had judged him completely wrongly. He was the most intellectual person I've ever met. He actually cared about his studies and what was to become of him once he left school. Unlike most of the people at school, he listened in class and paid attention and asked though-provoking questions.

It was this man that created a flaw in me.I had fallen in love with the forbidden shadow, and I had no take in it. I couldn't change my emotions. They just existed as a part of me, completing my image. I couldn't tell my best friends. They'd turn against me and call me crazy. Who could fall in love with that? they would mock.

But who couldn't fall in love with him? I'm most certain I don't know one young woman who couldn't. I became one of those swooning girls who followed his every move, just veiled in darkness, so no one could detect the fatal imperfection I worked so hard to keep safe.

My dreams were shattered, though. I though if I could just be his, and he, mine, the world would be forever perfect. But it seemed to not be so. He began to court another girl. My heart fell into pieces on the floor, dripping with pain and thoughts of unhappiness. Yet, no matter how upset I was, I had only myself to blame.

I had never told him how I felt. Never once even met his gaze or conversed with him in a real conversation. Forever, I knew, I'd live in that guilt that left a painful bruise upon my swelling heart. Sure, people said you always move on from heartbreak. But this is a time when I believe otherwise. My world is crashing and burning around me, while I sit amidst the despair and cry in anguish for problems unsolved.

He was one of those amazing little chocolates you get in a box. Not completely unpleasant, nor sweet and heavenly. He was more of a sinfully delicious chocolate that tasted so delectable that you couldn't help but wonder if it was a trap.

Though I've told myself he was one of those unpleasant chocolates, my love tells me otherwise. My heart says it was one of those pleasant yet agonizing experiences that we all go through once in our life. I guess I've had my turn. Life's funny like that. Letting you think you're perfect and nothing can ever go wrong.then dropping a bombshell and leaving you to clean up the remains.

Life is like a box of chocolates. And now I've had the chance to experience all the flavors life can offer. The bitter, the sweet. But I know, if I had one chance, I'd go back to the bitter, heart-rending chocolate.for reasons all my own, which I intend to keep locked up in the back of my mind, for no one to ever acknowledge.

Who knows? Maybe I'll see him once more. Then life can go on and I'll greet a new day again.