Chapter 5: Through Cliff's Eyes

This chapter will be told in Cliff's POV.

"There she is," I said to myself as I watched her walk through Rose Square. Every time I see her, I think back to the first time I met her, and how I screwed everything up. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever met. Her auburn hair swayed with every blow of wind, and her green eyes sparkled against the sun's light. I couldn't bear to look at her for a second more because of the guilt that I had in my heart. I picked up my bag and walked into the silent church.

Today is Sunday, the day that Jen said she would come to church with me. I still hope that maybe she will forgive me, and come to the church to be with me, but every time she gives my that cold glance, I know that it will never happen.

"Why did I have to be so stupid!" I cried aloud, burring my head into my hands.

"What's wrong Cliff, do you have something on your mind?" Said a voice from behind me. I spun around to see the smiling face of Carter.

"No" I replied coldly, turning away from Carter once again.

"Don't give me that," He said, "I know when you're upset about something, so why don't you just tell me what it is."

It's Jen..." I said.

"Oh yes... the new girl that moved in at the old farm. Well I thought that things were going good with your two, I saw you not to long ago giving her a tour of the village, did I not?" He asked.

"Yeah, but then I screwed everything up," I replied with a frown. " I well... kissed her..."

"But Cliff, haven't you been going steady with Ann for almost 5 months now?" Carter asked with a stern look on his face.

"Yeah, and that night Jen met Ann," I said, feeling even worse than I had felt when I first arrived. "I love Ann, but it seems that we don't share anything in common. She's great to hang around, but I can never seem to relate. But when I'm with Jen, it's like we have so much in common that I could talk for days with her, but now she's never going to talk to me again."

"Well Cliff, I can't tell you that what you did wasn't wrong, and I can't fix things between you and Jen either. All I can say is that you have to do what you feel is right. I have to get to the confession booth. I hope everything works out for you Cliff," Carter said, and then walked into the dark confessional booth leaving me to think about everything that had happened.

"I never meant to hurt her... so why did I?" I asked myself. Maybe I was just hoping for something new that night, or maybe I was trying to get back at Ann, but every time I tried to think of some excuse for my actions, I always came to the conclusion that I did have feelings for her. There was nobody in Mineral Town like her, and I doubt that there ever will be. Not only was she beautiful, but she had a personality that stood out even more than her green eyes.

My mind wandered from what happened between Jen and I, to my relationship with Ann. Ann.... She was the first girl that ever talked to me when I came to Mineral town, and at first I blew her off. She was much too perky for my taste, but her determination finally won me over. We started dating nearly a week after I met her, and I thought that everything was great. But as the months went by, I found that she was very controlling and possessive.

For nearly a month I had been planning to break up with her, but I never found the heart to do it. Then I met Jen. The minute I laid eyes on her laying on the damp hay in the barn, I knew she was special. Then when I got to know her better after that long day of work, I knew instantly that she was for me. That night when I kissed her, I forgot all about my relationship with Ann, and it seemed that I was living for the moment.

That was the biggest mistake I had ever made.

"Enough of this!" I cried aloud. "Stop this Cliff... you can't change what happened, so just give up." And at that I picked up my bag and stormed out of the church.

Outside, the sun shown brightly in my eyes, as I walked down the cobblestone path toward Rose Square. When I entered, I saw Jen chatting away with Popuri and Karen. As I looked at her, the only thing that I thought was how glad I was to see her smiling.