Chpt 3

Dashing out of the trailer, Marissa sighed she was going to be late again. Her teachers had given her a little bit lee way since Johnny's accident but now that he was better, she wasn't getting off so easily.

Ten minutes later and a quick stop for coffee, she made it just in time for class with only a few moments to spare.

Unfortunately the only seat left was next to Ryan. Not that she minded sitting next to him, it was just so awkward. He had called her a few times but the conversations had petered out after a while and they had both been left with nothing to say to one another.

The void she had thought that was between them before was just getting wider and wider, with college just around the corner Marissa had begun to look to the future.

Her past with Ryan was just too complicated too deal with for the moment. Johnny had been trying to ring her but every time she decided to finally pick up, she chickened out at the last moment.

He was important to her but she wasn't prepared to face him yet not when she didn't know how she felt about him. Did she love him as a friend or more?

She slid into the chair next to Ryan, whose face showed a mixture of expression. Marissa couldn't decide whether he was annoyed or pleased to see her.

However the rest of her day ran smoothly and Marissa even managed to avoid Ryan but she couldn't be sure he was doing the exact same thing.

Arriving home, Marissa pushed open the door to find Johnny sitting on her couch in her trailer. Marissa did not know where to look or what to do.

He was here in her home. What was going on? 'Hey' he said. Marissa looked everywhere but at him. Then in three steps he strode towards her and simply hugged her.

All the confusion Marissa had had just seemed to disappear, here he was her Johnny and he was hugging her. Falling into the hug Marissa realised just how much she had missed him but in the back of her mind Marissa started to feel like she didn't need anything more from him.

But why then had she missed him so much? In amidst her turmoil, Marissa had almost forgotten Johnny was even there. So when Johnny suddenly took a step back, she found herself following gravity to the floor and lying in a crumpled heap.

Johnny immediately helped her to her feet but he avoided eye contact with her. What was wrong with him?

Marissa stated this last thought out loud and to her surprise he answered immediately,

'Marissa I know you don't love me and that's what got us into this situation in the first place. But I wanted you to know that I still love you. I've been stuck in hospital with all this time on my hands and I decided when I saw you the first thing I would say to you was that I love you and I won't give up but now I'm here standing in front of you and all I can say is that I don't think we should see each other anymore. Let's face it you belong with Ryan, you were never supposed to be with me. Even if what we… I mean I felt was real, it couldn't last because you know as well as I do that you could never truly forget Ryan and I could never forget how much you loved him or still do. So you see Marissa, I do love you but I can't ever see you again because it's just too hard. I'm sorry Marissa for everything I've put you through. Goodbye.'

And with that he ran out of her trailer and her life for what she feared to be the last time because as Johnny had been saying those things, her heart had started to ache and when he said goodbye it had seemed to break.